Chapter 20: His Hands, Her Offering
The lanternlight flickered softly in the stillness of the room, casting slow-moving shadows across the stone walls. The fragrance of lotus and powdered amber hung in the air, a scent Lin Mu had come to associate with nights like this—nights of quiet shame.
Xue Lan lay atop the bed, naked beneath the sheer throw of translucent silk that she hadn't bothered to secure. Her arms rested behind her head, her long black hair spread across the pillow like ink spilled across snow. Her legs were parted naturally, casually, as if already expecting someone else to fill the space between them.
She wasn't glowing from sex—not yet.
She was glowing in anticipation of it.
But not with her husband.
With another man.
Lin Mu knelt on the polished floor beside the bed, a small ceramic vial of warmed oil resting in his palm. He had stripped his outer robe hours ago. His underrobes now clung to him with a sheen of sweat, and beneath the thin fabric, his cock throbbed stiffly—betraying him with every pulse.
It wasn't for him.
It never would be.
And that, more than anything, made him harder.
He bowed his head.