His eyes closed for a split second, and for that all-too-quick moment, he wore an expression of utter rapture.
"I like when you say it."
She liked the joy he drew from something so simple.
A shiver slipped along her spine.
But in the next flash, that all-too-quick moment now passed, his countenance returned to normal.
That hint of pleasure vanished from his features, as if he didn't trust himself with the emotion.
"Danika will—"
"Get me some water," Xu Ling finished for him. "For the pills."
"Yes. I'll get it."
Danika picked up the empty glass from the floor.
She stumbled into the bathroom.
The sound of running water filled Xu Ling's ears, then Danika was standing beside her again, holding out the glass.
Once again, Jiang Lang confiscated it.
He gave Danika a suspicious look, then raised Xu Ling's head and held the cup to her lips.
She tossed the pills onto her tongue and swallowed a mouthful of cool, refreshing liquid.
Everything slid down her welcoming throat with only the slightest hint of soreness.
"Thank you," she told them.
"It's done, then. I'll escort the girl back to Luo Chen," Yan Lie finally said, his voice so harsh it nearly made her eardrums raw.
"The 'girl' has a name," Danika snapped.
"What is it? Lippy?" he muttered, grabbing her arm and tugging her from the room.
Obviously, the man had no manners and no idea how to treat a woman.
If Xu Ling really decided to stay here, she'd have to fix that. "Wait!" she called.
They didn't.
"Is she going to be okay?"
There was a slight hesitation. "Yes," Jiang Lang said.
"Good," she said, her voice echoing off the walls.
That was the moment she realized she was alone with Jiang Lang.
Of course, that was also the moment she became aware of the awful taste in her mouth.
God, she must look like roadkill and smell worse.
Mortification heated her cheeks. "I, uh, need to use the bathroom."
"I'll help." He scooped her up as if she were merely a bag of feathers and stood.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, his strength and warmth flooding all the way to her bones.
He carried her past the threshold and stopped in the center of the bathroom. Suspecting he meant to stay, she shook her head and fought a wave of dizziness.
"I can do it on my own."
"You might fall."
She might, but there was no way she was going to let him stay with her, watching. "I'm fine."
His expression was doubtful, but he said, "Call if you need me. I'll be waiting right outside the door."
He slowly lowered her legs down his hard body.
Her feet hit the floor, and her knees almost buckled.
She told herself she would not fall.
She reached around Jiang Lang and grabbed the doorknob, using it to steady herself. "Back up, please," she said.
He did go, but he didn't go happily.
When he stood outside, she shut the thick, polished wood in his face.
"Five minutes," he said.
She flipped the lock, muttering, "I'll take as long as I need."
"No, you will not. In five minutes, I'm coming in whether you're done or not. The lock means nothing."
"Stubborn."
"Concerned."
Sweet. With a half smile, she rinsed off as best she could and used one of the toothbrushes she found in the cabinet to clean her teeth.
Twice she almost fell.
She used the facilities, brushed the tangles from her hair, and decided, after studying her pale reflection in the mirror, that there was nothing more she could do for her appearance without heavy makeup.
With one minute to spare, she unlocked the door and called for Jiang Lang.
Her voice was weak, but he threw open the wood as if she'd shouted.
His expression was tense.
She closed her eyes against the intensifying dizziness.
"You pushed yourself too far." He tsked. Once again, he scooped her up.
He carried her to the bed and laid her on the soft mattress before easing down beside her.
She peeked at him through her lashes.
More than treating her with care, Jiang Lang was the first man ever to lie on a bed with her.
The first man to truly desire her.
She'd tried to date occasionally, but the voices had bombarded her every time.
To quiet them, she'd attempted the deep breathing and meditation she'd learned.
The men had always assumed she was ignoring them, hyperventilating, or having a panic attack and had wanted nothing more to do with her.
Once, she'd even gone on a date with a colleague from the Institute, thinking he would at least understand her, if not sympathize.
The next day, she'd heard his whispered conversation with another coworker.
He had called her a freak and said she was impossible to be with.
After that, she'd given up dating altogether.
"Feel better?" Jiang Lang asked.
He drew her into the curve of his body, exactly where she wanted to be.
That delicious warmth enveloped her, and she uttered a contented sigh.
She'd searched her entire life, but it had taken a possessed immortal to show her this slice of silent, lust-filled heaven on earth.
"Better?" he repeated.
"Much." She yawned. Warm, safe, and clean, pain almost completely gone, she felt exhaustion settle over her, beckoning her to sleep.
Her eyelids fluttered closed.
She forced them open.
She wasn't ready to end this reprieve with Jiang Lang.
"We have much more to discuss," he said.
He sounded far away, and she struggled to pull herself out of the drugging lethargy weaving through her from head to toe. "I know."
If he replied, she didn't hear.
She was sinking deeper and deeper.
Gently, he kissed her cheek.
His lips were firm but soft, and fire burned between them on contact.
A voice in her head urged her to open her eyes, hoping he might kiss her on the mouth.
She tried, truly she did.
But though her mind was willing, her body was weak.
"We will talk later," Jiang Lang said softly. "Sleep now."
"You'll stay?" She wondered how she could need him like this when she hadn't even known him a full day.
"Yes. Now, sleep for me."
Helpless to do otherwise, she obeyed.