Page 48 of He Is My Bride

“I see he has marked you here.” Wang Guosheng looked inside Li Ying’s collar where Hanjun’s love bite lay. “Do you think being with him makes you untouchable? ”

“Stop!” Li Ying gasped when Wang Guosheng’s other hand landed on his thigh and slid his thumb under his hem, and brushed his skin there. I can’t let him touch me there…

“And here, too?” Wang Guosheng crooned darkly, looking over his shoulder, now finding the love bite that was right above Li Ying’s hemline. “My my.” Wang Guosheng pinched his skin over the bruise.

“Gh…!” Li Ying lifted his foot to stomp on Wang Guosheng’s, kick his shin, anything, but the man pressed his knee against the crook of his, pinning it against the wall and pressing his hips tighter against him in the process.

He was too strong to fight. Wang Guosheng’s hand kept wandering up Li Ying’s skirt, up, further up, stopping to pinch again.

“Stop it!” Li Ying hissed, panic rising now. Not there!

“I know what you’re hiding down here, Li Ying.”

No! You couldn’t know!

“Something Wu Hanjun likes so much he’s ready to hand Wu Pharma over for it.”

“N-no, he loves me!” Li Ying diverted, hopefully. Maybe he doesn’t know…?

Wang Guosheng chuckled. “Hope he truly does, or he will despise you once he realizes he’s lost everything because of you.”

“You want to take over the company.”

“Yes. And you are helping me do it.” That cruel hand was caressing so far up Li Ying’s dress now, brushing the edge of Li Ying’s underpants as it traveled up his inner thigh.

“I will do nothing for you!” Li Ying fought to keep his voice from failing, from trembling.

“But you are, being so helpful to me. I should thank you.” Wang Guosheng purred into his ear, his lips brushing against it and his fingers squeezed the sensitive skin of Li Ying’s inner thigh again, making the smaller man twitch.

“If you touch me, I will scream… ”

“Go on,” Wang Guosheng said without hesitation, “see how that ends.” His voice was too soft, his grasping fingers too cruel as they pinched and twisted and kneaded, making Li Ying hiss and moan under his breath, his grunts dipping in pitch dangerously.

Wang Guosheng gave a mocking laugh, his fingers stopping. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you.” He withdrew his hand, letting his finger caress Li Ying’s skin on its way down. “I don’t want a bruised fruit that Wu Hanjun has already taken a bite out of.” Wang Guosheng released him.

He left, his footsteps quiet on the carpet like a prowling beast.

That’s why I didn’t hear him turn back.

Li Ying marched into the washroom on shaky legs, locked himself into a stall, and sat on the toilet.

His heartbeat was running fast, but he forced himself to take slow breaths to calm down.

He hugged his arms around himself and grimaced.

He felt dirty. He brushed over where Wang Guosheng’s hands had been, as if he could wipe away the lingering memory of his touch.

Fucker! Yet there was a pressing matter to consider, leaving Li Ying no time to dwell on the assault: Does he know? But no one else has suspected anything, how could he know?

What Wang Guosheng had said was very vague. It couldn’t be taken as a certainty that he knew Li Ying was a man. Maybe Wang Guosheng had said what he said just to make Li Ying feel cheap.

Is it because I humiliated your son in front of everyone? Li Ying grinned. Well, you have won nothing proving you’re the same sort of scum as him.

But what had Wang Guosheng meant by ‘he’s ready to hand Wu Pharma over,’ ‘you are helping me do it,’ ‘you are being so helpful to me?’

Do you think Hanjun’s marriage to me would leave the Wus so much weaker?

It seemed like a stretch on Wang Guosheng’s part to think it was so simple to dismantle a dynasty, but it would explain Wu Yiheng’s hesitation; maybe Wu Yiheng feared Wang Guosheng could use the disadvantageous marriage of his nephew to further his goals.

Damage the company’s reputation, force Wu Yiheng’s hand to disinherit Hanjun?

We will prove you wrong, both of you!

Li Ying finished his business and returned to the cabinet as if nothing had happened. Wang Guosheng was still there, but Li Ying ignored him. He went straight to Hanjun, put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered:

“I’m still tired after the flight, should we go straight home?”

Hanjun sensed something was amiss, worry flashing in his eyes, but he played it cool in front of the others and simply nodded. He stood up and let Li Ying latch onto his arm, and they bid everyone an early farewell.

“I will see you tomorrow, Hanjun, Miss Li,” Hanrong said—they would be visiting the family elders on the first day of the new year, as was tradition.

“See you tomorrow.” Hanjun wrapped Li Ying in his fur and led him out, out of the restaurant and to the elevators, arm firmly around him the whole way down to the lobby, and Li Ying was thankful for his closeness.

“Would you get us a taxi, please?” Hanjun asked the receptionist.

“Can we wait outside?” Li Ying wanted air.

Hanjun led him out to the cool night. It was still snowing gently.

“I’m alright,” Li Ying assured Hanjun. “I just want to go home with you and tell you something.” Li Ying looked and saw that Hanjun was even more worried now. Li Ying managed a smile, although strained. “It’s alright, Hanjun.”

Hanjun seemed awkward. Should Li Ying be the one comforting him right now, he wondered.

Li Ying kept eyeing the hotel entrance, but to his relief, he didn’t see the Wangs before their ride arrived. Hanjun joined Li Ying in the backseat and held him all the way home, and the way Li Ying was clinging to him told Hanjun it was needed.

Finally, in the privacy, comfort, and safety of home , Hanjun helped the fur off Li Ying’s back.

“Should we have tea?” Hanjun asked.

“Yeah, we could have some tea.”

Li Ying sat down in the dining area, watching Hanjun put the kettle on in the kitchen. Li Ying took the tea pets, the ceramic little bunny and the rooster, from the shelf, and played around with them until Hanjun set down the tea tray between them.

“So, do these guys go, like, around here somewhere?” Li Ying walked the rooster to Hanjun’s cup and made it peek into the cup, as if looking for tea in there.

“Top of the tray.”

Li Ying walked the pets in place and watched Hanjun pour some tea on them, the ceramic turning dark as it was made wet. Hanjun then filled their cups.

“Did something happen?” Hanjun asked after they had taken their first sips.

Li Ying drew breath, and came out with it, “Wang Guosheng molested me.”

Li Ying saw first disbelief, then a terrifying rage in Hanjun’s eyes, although the man said nothing and became unmoving, like he had turned into ice.

“I think he wanted to scare me for making his son look like a clown, although Wang Hao doesn’t need my help in that department. Or he wanted to get back at you by harassing me, for hitting the idiot, who knows.”

Hanjun’s knuckles were turning white around his cup, so Li Ying put his hand on his.

“Hanjun,” he spoke gently, and Hanjun’s hold loosened. “Either way, let’s not give him the satisfaction of stooping ourselves to his level. ”

Hanjun was still quiet.

“Can you tell me what you’re thinking?”

“…I want to hurt him.”

“Me too, but we should let it be. He’s a swine, let him roll in his own filth. We don’t need to escalate things.”

Hanjun was quiet for another moment, staring ahead before he finally asked, “What did he do?”

“Does that matter?”

No response. Hanjun only stared at him, or through him, eyes still ablaze with anger.

“Hanjun…” Li Ying said timidly, shifting in discomfort. “Could you just comfort me?”

Hanjun snapped out of it. “I… Are you okay?”

Hanjun was ashamed of his reaction: he was angry that his pride as a man had been insulted, someone laying their hands on his partner, but this wasn’t about him. It was Li Ying who had been the victim of an assault, and he needed Hanjun to comfort him right now, not to nurture revenge fantasies.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Li Ying assured. “He just touched my… legs. Thighs. He pinched, that’s all. I was afraid he would go further, but he said… It doesn’t matter what he said, he was just trying to make me feel cheap.”

Hanjun hesitated, but stood up and walked around the table to kneel before Li Ying, putting his hands on his knees. Li Ying blinked, confused as to what the man intended, but Hanjun only asked in a gentle voice:

“Can I touch you here?”

“Please, please touch me!” Li Ying opened his legs and pulled up his hem. I want you to erase his touch with yours!

Hanjun brushed his hands carefully over the skin of Li Ying’s thighs. Such a light touch made Li Ying shiver.

“I’m sorry.” Hanjun startled, but Li Ying hushed him :

“Shh, love, it’s okay, it just tickled. Here…” Li Ying opened his legs more and touched the bruise Hanjun had left last night. “Your mark, it protected me.” Li Ying smiled, but Hanjun was glaring at him there.

Li Ying looked again and saw there was a faint foreign bruise where Wang Guosheng had pinched him, below Hanjun’s mark. Li Ying hated it.

Suddenly Hanjun’s head was between Li Ying’s thighs and his teeth were on his skin, biting, sucking.

“Ah! Ha-Hanjun—Ow!” Li Ying buried his fingers into Hanjun’s hair but didn’t try to push him away. He felt like with every painful bite Hanjun was exorcising the evil Wang Guosheng had left on his skin. He wanted it, needed it.

He let Hanjun strip him, helping him by untucking himself, and finally Hanjun carried him to the bed.

The bruise Wang Guosheng had left was now covered by a larger, darker one, one that Li Ying cherished. Hanjun laid Li Ying down and came over him, kissing him and touching him. Li Ying felt good being touched, but something was still bothering him.

“Hanjun…” Li Ying said when he managed to tear their lips apart.

“Hm?” Hanjun hummed against his temple and kissed it. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, but there was something else. Hanjun, Wang Guosheng said something that made me fear he might know about me, but I’m not sure.”

Hanjun paused his kisses, but remained close. “What did he say?” he asked.

“That he ‘knows what I’m hiding there’ while feeling me up.

But how could he know? He didn’t touch my crotch and he couldn’t have seen anything.

I think his words and actions were only meant to humiliate me, as a woman.

I just get this feeling whenever he looks at me, like he sees right through me, but I probably panicked for nothing because of the words he used.

” Now that Li Ying had said it out loud, he was truly starting to believe he had just overreacted.

“Are you sure?” Hanjun was still worried.

“I really don’t believe he knows, he just got into my head. He also said that because of me, you are basically handing Wu Pharma over to him.” That’s the other thing Wang Guosheng had said that bothered Li Ying.

Hanjun said nothing, his frown frozen upon his brow.

“It sounds so stupid,” Li Ying said. “As if the company would fall into his hands just because you married a bit unconventionally! It can’t be that simple, right?”

“Even if it were a social outrage,” Hanjun said, “our marriage should not be so singularly game-changing as to lead to acquisitions or other power exchanges.”

“That’s what I thought. You would have to have a pretty scandalous spouse if they were to actually have such an impact on the company’s fate.”

“…Like a man,” Hanjun spoke in a grave tone. “Are you sure Wang Guosheng doesn’t know about you? Suspect? His confidence must spring from him knowing something, or thinking he knows.”

Li Ying forced himself to think back on the incident, trying to figure out if there was any hidden clue in Wang Guosheng’s words that might have indicated he knew the truth.

“He must have just tried to apply some kind of reverse psychology on me.” Li Ying finally deduced.

“Maybe he’s afraid of you finally marrying and producing an heir.

After all, if there’s a new Wu to inherit the executive seat, the Wang offspring will continue to be kept from getting more votes on the board.

Maybe he wanted to scare me away, scare you into sending me away, by pretending that you marrying me would be a great victory for him somehow. ”

“Wang Guosheng is cunning, it’s not impossible he might try to play such mind games, but we can’t be sure what he’s thinking.”

Li Ying shrugged. “Well, that was all of it, all that he said. ”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Hanjun said and pressed kisses on Li Ying’s forehead and hair.

Li Ying was content with that. He wrapped his arms tighter around Hanjun and looked at his lips, until the man understood and kissed him again. Li Ying encouraged him, demanding more until Hanjun’s touch had erased the memory of Wang Guosheng from his skin.

While they made love, the night outside came alight with fireworks, colorful lights filling the skies above Huangpu River, and the distant booms followed with a delay. Li Ying grabbed Hanjun’s face and turned it back towards himself.

“Happy New Year, love! Kiss me, quickly!”

Hanjun obliged, and Li Ying took it as a promise for good things to come for the coming year—and beyond.