41_He was Free

It was half past nine in the evening when Li Yao started to stir in her sleep. She blinked her eyes several times before she could see the strong arms wrapping around her waist. For some reason, the arms seemed very protective of her and she found it very safe to be in these arms. She felt protected.

Her eyes trailed down the hands to the good-looking biceps and to the sharp shoulder of Mu Lihai. Then slowly, her eyes met his, which were already opened. Staring straight into her own brown ones. It felt as if her soul was drowned in his gaze and she sucked in a deep breath.

Li Yao could never understand the intensity of his gaze. It was obvious how much love he poured into his gaze towards her and it was just too much. He always looked love-struck and his eyes were gentle whenever he looked at her.

She could feel his love beneath those dark eyes of his. His gaze didn't lie.

"You were bold." he said with that sweet voice, plus with a little bit of husky tone, due to him recently waking up from slumber.

His words rendered Li Yao speechless. But what made her stiffened more was his sexy sweet voice which sounded deeper than usual.

Remembering his remark again, her face turned beet red instantly. Not knowing how to react to his words, she just wriggled and tried to escape. Li Yao felt so embarrassed she could die.

But Mu Lihai wouldn't want to let her go. He circled Li Yao's waist and imprisoned her with his strong muscle arms. She had no way to go when even her last attempt was crushed. Instead, Li Yao decided to do the opposite, she snuggled deeper into Mu Lihai's chest. She wanted to hide her face from him and it actually worked. He couldn't see her face when she dipped it onto his firm chest.

"But I like it." chuckling, Mu Lihai continued his earlier statement. He didn't know that Li Yao had this side of her where a moment she was shy but the next she became daring.

He realized that some times in the future, there were going to be more things to discover when they were together. The thoughts of them being in the relationship that lasted forever sparked a weird tingling sensation within his heart.

He could feel that his love would only grow more and more towards Li Yao. It would never lessen. Not until his death.

"But well.. the fact that we did it early in the afternoon don't change. I guess only when the sun's high up in the sky will your eagerness come to surface..?" Mu Lihai teased. His mischief as clear as day.

"That's-! uh.." Li Yao became tongue-tied. She didn't want to believe it. Did she really become super horny during the day?! Oh goodness..

"But- but.. that's because.." she didn't want to admit defeat. Li Yao wanted to say something but she took it back on the last moment.

"Tell me." noting that she wanted to say something, Mu Lihai hugged Li Yao's body tighter and squeezed her shoulder tenderly. She returned the cuddle without realizing.

".. Because I trust you. I no longer have worries about us. And.." her words got stucked in her throat.

"And..?" Mu Lihai stared at the woman's lovely face.

".. And I thought that as long as I love you, I can be myself with or without my regret." Li Yao herself didn't expect what she was exactly saying right now.

She didn't know that her love for him had soared up higher than before. She found herself loving him more and more each day.

What did he do to her?

Li Yao found him not reacting to her words. She thought she said something weird so her eyes turned to him timidly.

Contrary to what she expected, Mu Lihai's eyes weren't at her, instead they were closed. Was he sleeping?

"Say that again, Li Yao." then she heard him say.

"Huh?"

"I feel like I'm in a dream so please say that again." he slowly opened his eyes again and they went straight into her soul once they reached the retina of her eyes.

Li Yao told him the same thing again and Mu Lihai sighed with relief. His face now facing the ceiling.

"You know what.. I always thought that what happened was my fault. I detested myself so much. I even got nightmares at night, I was weak." Mu Lihai opened up to Li Yao. It was his first time telling someone about his inner feelings regarding that rainy day. He always preferred not to tell a soul but Li Yao changed his principle.

"Those memories kept on haunting me and I developed insomnia. It was hard for me to fall asleep. But you see.. after you have appeared in my life, I feel alive. I feel like I can forget my past whenever you're with me."

Li Yao just listened to Mu Lihai. She never thought that the accident also gave some damage to his life. He looked just fine on the outside. This was unexpected.

But after realizing his reaction when he read the report, she became utterly silent without a word. So it was eating him up inside too..

"I'm sorry, Mu Lihai." Li Yao spoke softly against his chest. Her hot breath fanned him and it gave him tickles and heat.

"It's okay. You don't need to apologize." Mu Lihai felt truly grateful that he didn't get overly worked up over the report although he almost did. He was thankful for his rational thinking that he must listen to Li Yao first.

In his heart, Li Yao was his fairy. If she wasn't there- if she didn't come back soon after he read the report, things might turn into something else. Something bad and unreconcilable for both of them. He might be overthinking things and feeling really guilty for the rest of his life. He might have just dash out of the apartment and disappear.

But the timing was just perfect.

Was this also part of destiny?

To make up for the grief and heartache that both of them experienced in the past six years?

He was very happy. His happiness couldn't be measured by scale. He felt like he was in a cloud. How could there be someone like Li Yao who was fine with him despite his history with her mother?

And for the sake of her trust, Mu Lihai told and chanted to himself over and over again on how he wasn't at fault six years ago. He wanted to believe that he was just there on the wrong time and at the wrong place when the incident happened.

And so, that was what he came to believe.

Mu Lihai finally got the strength to say that whatever happened on that rainy day- it wasn't his fault.

Now he was free.