Chapter six
Mei fell to the ground and wanted to cry with gratitude. She was exhausted and hungry and felt like she would never be clean again.While Xin went to check her room, she sank on a bench just outside the motel office. rice field. He had been quiet from the moment she woke up, refusing to be drawn into the conversations she had attempted, until she finally gave up and asked him as much as he was clearly fed up with her.
I decided I was sick of it. The morning sun warmed her face, and she tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and tried not to think of waking up in Xin's arms. I was surprised to find her with a drape over her chest, arms wrapped around her, and legs entwined. She remained in his arms for a long time while he continued to sleep and enjoyed the tactile pleasure of his body. rice field.
Well before their divorce a year ago, she and Loi had stopped seeking solace in each other's hugs. Xin's heartbeat was strong, reassuring compared to his own. For a moment Mei closed her eyes, and she imagined that she had just made sweet love as she lay in her pretty bed with silky sheets.
She jumped as Xin left the office with her two keys. Her cheeks were burning with reverie. "You're in room 104. I'm in room 110," he said, handing her her key. "I'll shower, eat, and then decide how to get back to Kansas City. Please come to my room when you finish cleaning up. I'll figure out what to do next." She nodded and they parted.
No sooner had Mei entered the small, uncluttered room than she peered at the telephone on her desk. She rushed there, dialed an outside line, and then dialed her home number. Her heart pounded with fear as she waited for the other party to answer. "Hi?" Hearing a familiar voice, Mei squeezed her phone and her relief flooded her. "Andrew, Honey, it's Mama." "Mama! Where are you? Me and Daddy were so worried! "I was grateful to hear him say that he hadn't even taken the time to correct his grammar. "That's a long story, darling, but I'll be home sometime tonight."One more night without my son.
I didn't mean to spend it." "Are you okay? Is your father there? Is he taking care of you?" "Yes, Mom, we are fine. "I've seen it. Where are you?" "I'll explain everything when I get there," she replied. "Can I talk to your father?" "Yes, wait. "Mei, are you okay? where are they? Is Xin with you? We were worried." "We're fine. Xin is with me and I'll explain everything tonight. Please wait for us there, Loi.
Don't go anywhere until I return." "But where are you?" he asked. She briefly explained what had happened. "It's all my fault," Loi said sadly when she finished. "You're mad at me, aren't you?" You wouldn't have known that." Without asking you first," Mei sighed wearily.
"I'll handle that later, Loi. I'm powerless for now. She hung up the phone and went to the shower, confident that Andrew was safe and that Loi would be able to handle her son by the time she got home." I was relieved.
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A short time later she was under a hot but sporadic spray, lathering copiously with a small bar of soap provided by the motel. While she lathered her hair twice before rinsing it thoroughly, she stood under the water enjoying the sensual warmth. Her mind wandered. She imagined Xin's fingers caressing her body, the flames of her lust penetrating her... Soap slipped from her fingers and fell to the bottom of the bathtub. What was she thinking? Apparently, the days and nights in the forest had a terrible effect on her brain.
She turned off the water and grabbed her one of the crumbly white towels. She didn't want to think of Xin, and she didn't want to imagine his long, strong fingers dancing across her skin. She quickly dried her body, hoping to get rid of Xin's thoughts as effectively as she would banish the moisture from her skin, but he would be banished from her memory. refused. She fell asleep in his arms the night before, slept without dreams or fears, and was relieved by his power. increased several times. She had always known that she had a strong physical attraction to Xin, but that attraction was tempered by the fact that she was a married woman. married woman.
She didn't want to like Xin. But when I slept in a man's arms, learned previously unknown nuances of his personality, and caught a glimpse of his vulnerability, it was difficult to sustain my disgust. She quickly got her dressed and thanked Duffle Bag for the clean sweatpants and t-shirt. Brushing her almost dry hair and applying a little lipstick, she felt in control again, her inappropriate thoughts about Xin firmly repressed. All I had to do was hurry back to the city and her son.
She grabbed holdalls and left her room to go find room 110. When she found it, she knocked loudly. The door opened and all the inappropriate thoughts about Xin entered her mind. It was evident that he had just gotten out of the shower. Crisp new blue His jeans sat low on his slender hips, his bare chest with lean muscles and dark, curly hair scattered freely. His hair was stroked and half of his face was covered with shaving cream. He waved at her, then went back to the bathroom. "Please take a seat. I'll see you soon." Mei felt that she was not breathing until the bathroom door closed and he was out of sight. Every molecule of air in her room smelled him, and her fresh, clean, masculine scent aroused her senses. She sat down on a small round table in the corner of the room, trying to dispel the striking image of his broad chest, flat stomach, and thin waist.
Sharp and stylishly dressed, Xin Shei was cool and glamorous.Half-dressed, he was sexy, hot, and downright dangerous. what happened to her?
What's wrong with her who can't get that thought out of her head? He was her former brother-in-law and, for Christ's sake, a man who was cold and aloof while she was married to her brother. She let out a sigh of relief as he left the bathroom.
His bare chest was now covered by a stark white T-shirt."Where did you get your clean clothes from?" I asked, looking for a conversation that would calm me down. "The motel owner has his son run errands. He has arranged a rental car and should always be here for our meals." Mei shook her head in surprise. "You sure know how to get things done." He smiled at her lazy half-smile and reinflated her stomach. "Take me out of the woods and I'll be fine. In civilization, money always makes things work."
There was a knock on the door and it was opened by a young man with a paper bag and two Styrofoam boxes. Hunger. That's why her stomach is so upset, she thought. It had nothing to do with Xin's sex appeal. Xin thanked the man and put the things on the table. He opened her bag first, handed her her chocolate shake, and took out a lemonade for himself. When he opened her box and saw her fat cheeseburger and fries, she wanted to cry. She didn't because she was starving, but because she remembered what she said when she got lost.
She wondered how much she had misunderstood Xin in the past. She always thought of him as a cold and callous man.Was she wrong about him? "Thank you." She smiled. "How is your leg?" "Good, the hot shower helped some of the pain. I'm sure you'll be fine. how's your head? " "I'm fine," she said, stroking her head. "Called home. Loi and Andrew are doing well." She put the French fries in her mouth. "I told you they would." "Andrew raved about everything Loi showed us at Twin He Oaks. Anything with swimming holes? " A smile crossed his face. "It was actually a pond. It's Walter North's pond." "It was the largest pond in the area, and on most hot days half the town's children ended up there, much to Walter's dismay." "He didn't like you swimming in his pond?"
"He was chasing us with a shotgun every time he caught us. But it was a game for all of us." "Game?" She tried not to notice how incredibly handsome he was, curling his lips in her smile. "He never chased us away on a hot afternoon. He always came out of the house in the evenings and pretended he had just met us." Xin took a sip of lemonade and laughed. "God, what fun it was. Walter was as skinny as a shotgun. He cursed and waved and we all screamed out of the water." Mei leaned forward, as if she could feel the warmth of happy memories up close. She had never thought of Xin as a warm and friendly man, but the smile on his lips and the humor in his dark gray eyes warmed her.
"I think it was as much a game for Walter as it was for us. threw himself at me and I ran, but he grabbed my back and yelled in my ear. His smile faded and he frowned. "Enough of the nonsense. You had better eat quickly and leave. " They ate in silence and within an hour were in an economy rental on their way back to Kansas City. Mei tried to focus on the scenes they passed by, but her mind, her entire consciousness, was focused on Xin and the time they spent together.
She wished she had seen him as cold, autocratic, and arrogant as she once believed him to be in those two days. She glanced at him and felt the power, the strength emanating from him. She always knew that he was a comfortable man and that he was a man that no one seemed to need.
Mei was always proud that no one needed her. She once believed she needed Loi, but quickly realized that the need was grossly overrated, and that the people she thought she needed inevitably let you down. For the last few days, she wanted to know that Xin was emotionally deprived and physically disgusting.She looked out her window again and sighed. She didn't need anyone. She didn't specifically need her ex-brother-in-law Xin McCarthy. But damn. She damned him for making her want him.