Chapter 186

Chapter 187

James was still laughing. I hid under the covers and yelled at him to leave: "Get out already!"

He laughed for a long time.

I got angry and shouted: "Get out!"

Seeing that I was really angry, he finally got up and left.

I sulked under the covers, and before I knew it, I fell asleep while being mad.

The next morning, I opened my eyes.

Sunlight filtered through the curtain gaps, falling on the ceiling.

I moved a bit—my whole body was sore, like I'd been beaten up.

Memories slowly came back, those tangled scenes in the car appearing one by one...

I covered my face with my hands.

Then I looked down at myself—the exposed skin was covered with kiss marks.

I cursed James in my head.

What would people think if they saw these marks on me when I went out?

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I wanted to bite James hard right now to vent my frustration.

I threw off the covers to get out of bed, but as soon as my feet touched the floor, my legs went weak, and I almost fell to my knees.

The door opened.

Aura walked in carrying a tray with a glass of water and some bread on it.

She saw me and ran over with the tray: "Mommy, you're awake!"

She put the tray on the nightstand, climbed onto the bed, and knelt beside me, her eyes bright as she looked at me.

"Mommy, Daddy said you were really tired last night and told me not to come in and bother you."

"I thought you'd wake up soon, but you slept all the way until noon."

I hugged Aura and pulled her close: "Sorry, baby, Mommy was really tired last night, so I slept in a bit."

Aura's eyes fell on my exposed neck: "Mommy, why does your skin look so weird? There's so much red stuff."

I looked down and my face burned hot, my mind racing: "Well..."

Aura leaned in closer, looking serious.

"Mommy, are you having an allergic reaction, or did bugs bite you? Do you need medicine?"

"No need..." My voice was weak, my brain spinning fast, "It's not an allergic reaction."

"Then what is it?"

"It's..." I forced myself to say, "Mosquito bites."

Aura blinked: "Are there really that many mosquitoes now? I don't feel like there are that many."

"Yes, there were lots of mosquitoes yesterday. Summer's coming, so there are more mosquitoes."

Aura looked suspicious, staring at those red marks for a while.

"Mosquito bites are itchy. Does it itch, Mommy?"

"No."

"But mosquito bites are supposed to be really itchy; you can't help scratching them. Could it be some other bug? Should we go to the hospital to check?"

I was stumped.

Why did Aura have so many questions?

I stammered: "Maybe it really was some other bug."

Aura was half-convinced, but she believed me.

She got up, went to her room, and came back with a tube of ointment: "Let me put medicine on it for you."

"No need, really."

She had already unscrewed the cap and squeezed some ointment onto her finger, carefully applying it to my neck.

A cool sensation.

I didn't refuse anymore and let her apply it.

She was very careful, her little eyebrows furrowed like she was doing delicate work.

While applying it, she gently blew on it, just like when she fell as a little kid, and I'd blow on her wounds.

"Mommy, you need to close the windows when you sleep so those bugs can't get in."

"Okay."

"If any bugs try to bite you again, just call me, and I'll kill them for you."

"Okay."

After finishing my collarbone, she tried to lift my collar to apply it inside.

I held her hand, my face red: "No need to apply it inside."

"Why not?"

"Because..." my brain raced, "because I can apply it inside myself, no need to trouble Aura."

Aura thought about it and nodded: "Okay then."

She put away the ointment and climbed down from the bed.

"Daddy told me to bring you breakfast. He'll come in a bit."

Just as she finished speaking, the door opened.

James walked in.

He was already dressed, wearing a light gray loungewear set, his hair still a bit damp like he'd just showered.

His gaze fell on me, then he saw the ointment on my collarbone and paused.

"What happened?"

Aura answered first: "Mommy got bitten by bugs! She's all red, so I put medicine on her!"

James glanced at me, his lips curving slightly: "Yes, there are so many bugs lately. Your mommy was really careless."

I glared at him hard.

He looked away, pretending not to see.

"I got bitten because of you. If you hadn't left the window open, would I have gotten bitten?"

Seeing me throw the blame on him, James didn't get angry—the corner of his mouth even curved up a bit.

"Aura, go play for now. I need to talk to Mommy."

Aura looked at him, then at me, and nodded.

"Okay, Mommy, you rest well. Aura will check if the windows are closed."

She looked at the window, saw it was closed properly, and ran out, gently closing the door.

Only James and I were left in the room.

He walked to the bed and sat down.

I didn't look at him.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked.

"What?"

His gaze moved down a bit.

I realized what he meant, and my face burned again.

I snapped in embarrassment: "James, look what you did! If you dare do this again, I won't let you off!"

"You mean there can be a next time?" He reached out and touched my collarbone, his fingertip brushing over those marks, very lightly, like a feather.

"Next time, you can leave marks on me, too. I'd be happy to."

I condemned him hard with my eyes.

He reached out, and I immediately dodged back.

"I brought medicine." He picked up an ointment from nearby. "This one works better than Aura's."

"No need, I can do it myself."

He looked at me.

"Can you reach your back?"

I was stuck.

He opened the ointment and squeezed some onto his finger: "Turn around."

I didn't move, clutching my clothes tightly.

He said with amusement, "Sophia, I'm not controlled by lust. You don't need to be so defensive."

I hesitated, but finally turned around with my back to him.

He lifted the clothes off my back.

A cool sensation touched my skin. His fingers were very light, spreading the ointment bit by bit.

When his fingertips brushed across my skin, the slight calluses felt a bit itchy.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke.

"Last night..."

"Don't talk about it." I cut him off.

He laughed softly.

"Fine, I won't."

He continued applying the medicine.

After finishing my back, he said: "You can do the front yourself."

I straightened my clothes and took the ointment from him.

He looked at me, his gaze heavy.

"Sophia."

"What?"

"This situation between us isn't really proper. I think you should give me a title."

I froze: "What happened last night? We were helping each other out. How can you be so petty and ask me for payment?"

He didn't say anything, just looked at me.

I felt uncomfortable under his gaze and looked away: "We're both adults. You were happy, I was happy—isn't that enough? Why do we need to worry about all that?"