Roses in Flames

After knocking for a while, the door was opened.

A tall figure appeared before Ye Yuntang's eyes.

The man had probably just finished working out; he was wearing a black vest, the close-fitting fabric outlining his strong and muscular physique. His arms had smooth, sharp lines, and his biceps bulged slightly as he wiped away sweat.

The outline of his chest muscles was faintly visible under the vest, and every inch of it exuded a powerful sense of hormones.

On the night of their one-night stand, he turned off the lights, and she didn't get a chance to properly admire his good physique.

But she touched it.

It's exciting and full of sexual tension.

Recalling the scene from that night, her throat tightened.

Xiao Lin picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His dark eyes fixed on the woman staring intently at him, and he spoke in a cold, hard voice, "What is it?"

Ye Yuntang's red lips curved slightly, like a seductive red rose. "Captain Xiao, were you just working out?"

"Get to the point." The man's tone was harsh and unapproachable.

Ye Yuntang took a step closer to him, and with her slender white fingertips, hooked his belt.

"Why are you being so fierce? Are you sexually frustrated?"

Her voice was soft and seductive, clearly trying to seduce him.

Xiao Lin slapped away the woman's fingers that were hooked on his belt, leaned his tall and wild body against the door frame, crossed his arms, and narrowed his dark eyes.

"Don't touch me."

Looking at his cold, stern, and serious demeanor, Ye Yuntang couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

"Don't pretend you don't know me. I know how many moles you have on your hip."

Xiao Lin pressed his tongue against his back teeth. "I don't have a mole on my hip."

Ye Yuntang raised an eyebrow, her beautiful peach blossom eyes shimmering with a captivating, alluring charm. "Then, let me see?"

Realizing she was deliberately provoking him, he stretched out his long finger and pressed it against her shoulder as she leaned towards him. "Ye Yuntang, don't try to be a bully just because you're pretty. I'm not falling for that."

Ye Yuntang pouted, "I saw you eating with great gusto that night."

Xiao Lin, "..."

Perhaps because he had never encountered a woman as wild, seductive, and shameless as her, he was almost laughing out of anger.

"Didn't you say the transaction was settled on a cash-on-delivery basis? What, you want to back out?"

Before Ye Yuntang could say anything, he coldly added, "Stop flirting. I'm not interested in you."

Looking at the man's cold, rugged, and handsome face, Ye Yuntang's eyes were alluring and seductive. "Not interested. You slept with him again and again that night. You really are hard all over."

She glanced at his abs, seemingly casually.

Xiao Lin paused, his ears involuntarily burning. "Have some shame."

"Do you even have the nerve to sleep with Captain Xiao?"

Xiao Lin's jawline tightened, and his dark, narrow eyes shifted from the woman's alluring face. "What brings you here?"

Ye Yuntang is someone who knows when to quit while he's ahead.

If she keeps flirting like this, it will probably make the man feel disgusted.

She held up her phone in front of the man. "I've been trying to add you on WeChat for over an hour. Are you deliberately ignoring it, or are you just pretending not to see it? Even if we're not going to be friends with benefits, we'll still need to communicate about work on WeChat, right?"

Having said that, she tiptoed and whispered in the man's ear, "Or is it that Captain Xiao intends to blur the lines between public and private matters?"

A warm breath, mixed with the fresh scent of her after her bath, wafted towards me.

An indescribable, enchanting ambiguity permeated the air.

Xiao Lin's broad back pressed against the door frame, his sharp, sexy Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

He gripped the woman's slender, soft waist with his large hand, his gaze sweeping over her long, slender, white legs beneath her nightgown.

That night, she clung to him.

As he contemplated those inappropriate images, a sudden tightness gripped his lower abdomen.

With a slight push of his palm, he sent the woman flying.

"It will be approved shortly."

After saying that, he slammed the door shut.

Ye Yuntang's delicate nose almost bumped into the door.

She angrily raised her fist and swung it forcefully at the closed door frame.

That scoundrel of a man, he'd better keep being so tough.

Ye Yuntang returned to the apartment across the street.

She waited for almost half an hour before the man finally approved her application.

Humph.

She is aloof and arrogant.

……

In the middle of the night, there was thunder and lightning.

In the deep alley, a woman in a white dress ran forward in a panic.

Several men behind him laughed wildly and evilly.

She ran breathlessly, but in the end they still managed to grab her long hair tightly.

Her clothes were torn open, the world spun around her, and she was dragged into the abyss.

Lying on the bed, Ye Yuntang had a fine layer of cold sweat on her forehead and her face was pale.

Her hands, resting on the silk quilt, were clasped tightly together.

She was caught in a nightmare.

The scene suddenly changed.

A woman in a white dress lies in the cold woods.

Large patches of blood soaked her body, her pupils were wide open, and she died with her eyes open in disbelief.

A deafening roar erupted, followed by a thunderclap outside the window.

Ye Yuntang opened her eyes and suddenly sat up in bed.

Her pajamas were soaked with cold sweat, and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.

She pressed her fingers against her chest, which ached as if she were suffocating, and gasped for breath.

After a while, she got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

……

Xiao Lin was half asleep when he heard a knock on the door.

He hasn't been getting enough rest lately while investigating a case. He finally manages to get a few hours of sleep, but then he gets woken up by someone, which makes him a bit irritable.

He pressed his long fingers to his temples, ignoring the knocking at the door.

Even a fool could guess that it was that woman causing trouble again.

Doesn't she want anyone to get any sleep in the middle of the night?

After a while, when the knocking stopped, he assumed she had gone back to the apartment across the street.

Then, the sound of a video call started playing on the phone.

Xiao Lin didn't answer. His face was tense as he put on his dark blue bathrobe, took long strides, and walked to the front door.

"Ye Yuntang, can you please stop acting like this..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw a woman outside the door, clutching a pillow, her hair disheveled, and a few tears still clinging to her face. His words came to an abrupt halt.

Something's wrong with her.

She usually has a bright, outgoing, and energetic demeanor.

But now, her face was pale, her eyes were red, and she was swaying precariously, looking like a broken rag doll.

"What's wrong with you?" Xiao Lin asked in a deep voice.

Ye Yuntang's long eyelashes, damp with moisture, trembled slightly. "Captain Xiao, can I sleep here tonight?"

Xiao Lin's thin lips pressed into a straight line. "No."

"I won't do anything to you, I just want you to keep me company."

Xiao Lin's dark eyes were deep and unfathomable. "Don't tell me that you, as a forensic doctor, are afraid of thunder and rain."

Ye Yuntang didn't speak again. She bit her red lips with her pearly white teeth, her long eyelashes drooped, and tears slid down her cheeks again.

Xiao Lin, "..."

Hey!

He cursed under his breath and stepped back.

Seeing that he had finally stopped turning her away, Ye Yuntang hugged her pillow and quickly walked into the house.

After closing the door, Xiao Lin pointed to the guest room and said, "You'll sleep in this one."

The apartment layouts were all the same, so Ye Yuntang knew where the master bedroom was. She ignored Xiao Lin and went straight into the master bedroom.

When Xiao Lin saw her audaciously enter the master bedroom, he quickly followed after her.

"Ye Yuntang, I said I wouldn't do this with my colleagues again—"

Ye Yuntang turned to look at the man, her peach blossom eyes misty with tears, looking aggrieved and pitiful. "Captain Xiao, why is your brain full of dirty thoughts? I didn't mean to have anything happen between us again, so don't flatter yourself."

Xiao Lin was so angry he almost laughed.

In the dead of night, she knocked on his door wearing a nightgown, asking him to sleep in his master bedroom and telling him not to overthink it.

Seeing the man's wary and cold expression, Ye Yuntang poked his chest with her finger. "Don't worry, I'm not in a good mood tonight, so I won't crave your body anymore."

Xiao Lin, "..."

He thanked her.

He slept on a two-meter-wide gray top-grain cowhide floating bed, understated and simple yet exuding a sense of luxury.

The room was sparsely furnished, and its neatness and meticulousness reflected his personality.

Ye Yuntang hugged her pillow and lay down on the bed. She glanced at the man standing in the doorway, pursed her lips, and said, "You either sleep in the bed with me, or you sleep on the floor."

Xiao Lin: "Dream on, I'm going to sleep in the guest room."

Another clap of thunder sounded outside the window.

Ye Yuntang's face paled even more. "Captain Xiao, for the sake of our past friendship, please stay with me, okay?"

Xiao Lin works in criminal investigation; he understands psychology.

It was obvious that the woman, who was usually so flamboyant and unrestrained, was genuinely afraid at this moment.

He went into the dressing room, took a quilt, and spread it out next to the bed.

Seeing that the man preferred to sleep on the floor rather than in bed, Ye Yuntang was so angry that she threw his pillow at him.

"One day, I'll make you beg to get into my bed."

Xiao Lin, "..."