Sui Luxiao looked at him, in half-doubt as the thought that she really overworked visited her more than once in the short time it took for him to close the door behind him and start moving closer to her desk.
She slowly stood up, seeing the upper part of his figure being illuminated as he passed near the window to the hall and becoming dark again as he moved past it, making her anxious that once he would pass the last window on the way to her he would just not come out of the shadow, making him that was approaching her a figment of her imagination.
He approached her and she circled around the desk while not taking her eyes off of him. As he approached the last window on the way his figure was already slightly lit by the lantern on her desk.
It was the same gaze and same smile that she remembered, that gave her the same feeling of comfort, and care.
"Are you still interested in that answer?"
She then said as her heart started to beat faster and faster, a slight nervousness mixed into the joy.
'What if he doesn't want that answer anymore?'
Was the thought that rang out over and over in her mind.
He smiled as he stopped a step away from her, shattering that thought as she almost screamed out of joy. And yet there was still a tiny voice telling her 'Why does he need you?' in the back of her mind.
In her view, a powerful, intelligent, young and handsome man like him could get a much younger girl, or someone with even higher status than her. Whereas she was a divorced woman who had children.
"If I agree to become your woman, will you accept me?"
"I wouldn't be interested in that answer if I would not, would I?"
"I am much older than you"
"Hmm, age matters little to cultivators, and you might discover that I am not exactly that young, as you probably felt already"
"Which means you are free to love who you want, and it was me who nudged you in that direction"
"Does it take anything away from you as an attractive woman?"
"I... I didn't give you an answer right away"
It was like a natural defensive mechanism took over as she found reasons he would not want her, so as not to feel too much disappointment after. The fear of being rejected even if she heard him say he was still interested in the answer was just too strong.
"Sui Luxiao, instead of telling me why you can't have what you want, tell me what it is that you want"
He chuckled, and looking her straight in the eyes said with a steady and calm voice.
She silently gasped, almost as if she woke up from a trance, and then lowering her gaze slowly collected herself as she took a deep breath and raised her eyes again to look at him, determination in her expression.
"I want you, I want to become your woman, Wu Long. I don't care if I am not the only one anymore, and I don't care about being not good enough, I want to become yours"
Wu Long smiled as he closed that small distance of a step between them that at the same time was a vast abyss with one light step and raising her chin with his fingers put his lips atop hers, extinguishing the last sliver of a doubt she had that she was imagining him being here.
She closed her eyes as her hands went around his waist and clenched his robes on the back, while he embraced her waist with one hand and placed the hand with which he raised her chin to the back of her head. She felt weak in her knees from the drunk blissful feeling as she was wrapped in warmth and comfort of his embrace as well as feeling their first sweet and at the same time passionate kiss.
He moved forward while not breaking the kiss as he pushed her to her desk, allowing her to find some support.
It was at this moment that she knew that she missed him even more than she led herself to believe, as she clung to him, and felt a burst of happiness just from being in his embrace. It was like the world around her turned colorful in a mere moment, becoming beautiful and full of warmth.
As their kiss ended Sui Luxiao opened her eyes and looked up into his, feeling joy and contentment at the sight of tender care in them. She was finally his woman, and all the anxiety she felt just some time ago became a fleeting dream, as it faded into memory.
They smiled at each other and then resumed their kiss, this time he deepened it and she opened her eyes wide and then closed them again as his tongue invaded her mouth and twined around hers.
This second kiss ignited something within her that has been dormant the past year, as her body started heating up while she felt him closer than ever. One of her hands reluctantly left his back and went onto an array on her desk behind her as the door became locked and formations activated all around the room.
"You don't want to go home or to an inn?"
"No, you helped me become a woman again here, and I want you to make me your woman here, please take me in this very office and make me fully yours"
As he noticed the all-too-familiar actions he smiled and broke the kiss to ask her as she replied with a ragged breath, looking at him with a fire of passion already raging in her eyes.
His smile became charming and seductive as a glint appeared in his eyes, making her heart pound even harder and her temperature rise even more.