Mr. Lizard Outside the Window - Chapter 33
Chapter 33: Kiss Him, Cover Him With Your…
Ling Dong, his sleeves rolled up, was helping the elderly woman transplant a rosebush in her courtyard.
He stood in the corner, turning the soil with a hoe, his pale fingers covered in dark mud.
As an aspiring concert pianist, he had been taught from a young age to protect his precious hands, to avoid any strenuous activity.
But as he passed by the old house that evening, seeing the elderly woman struggling with the rosebush in her small courtyard, he had felt a sudden urge to help and had taken the hoe from her hands.
The old courtyard felt strangely familiar.
The darkness of the winter night seemed to recede, and he was back in his grandfather's courtyard, bathed in the warm summer sun.
He had been avoiding Banxia these past few days, the guilt and shame almost suffocating him.
Being here, in this quiet courtyard, offered a moment of respite.
Mrs. Du, leaning on her cane, watched him work, her wrinkled face beaming. "Thank you so much, young man. This is getting too difficult for me to do alone. But I'm old, my time is running out. I wanted to plant these flowers in the ground, so they'll have sunlight and good soil. They'll survive even if I'm…gone."
Ling Dong's hand paused on the hoe. He didn't look at her, his gaze fixed on the soil. "Are you…afraid?" he asked quietly.
So old, so frail, her time drawing near, living alone in this empty house…
"What good would being afraid do? When your time is short, you should cherish every moment, shouldn't you?" the elderly woman's wrinkled face crinkled into a wise smile. "What matters is making the most of the time you have left, doing the things you want to do, saying the things you want to say. Live every day, every second, to the fullest. Don't you agree, young man?"
Ling Dong's long hair fell over his face, hiding his expression. His pale fingers tightened around the hoe handle, then relaxed. He put down the tool and picked up a watering can, gently watering the newly planted rosebush.
A sleek sports car drove past, stopping in front of Ying Jie's apartment building.
Banxia jumped out, a single red rose in her hand.
The bright crimson of the rose, illuminated by the streetlight, caught Ling Dong's eye.
A handsome young man, dressed in fashionable clothes, got out of the driver's seat.
He leaned against the car door, saying something to Banxia, his head bent close to hers.
Banxia's eyes lit up, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
The man smiled and reached out as if to touch her shoulder, then hesitated and withdrew his hand.
Unseen, Ling Dong stood in the shadows, his fists clenching.
The sports car sped away, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Banxia, her footsteps light and quick, disappeared into the apartment building.
He could hear her running up the stairs.
A warm yellow light flickered on in the window on the third floor.
Ling Dong walked to the building and looked up at the lit window, framed by the dark branches of the longan trees.
He could see her placing the red rose in a vase on the table by the window, then picking up her violin.
The melody of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major drifted through the night air.
She had clearly found her own interpretation of the piece, the melody now mature and polished, a beautiful expression of her own unique musical voice.
The music poured from the window, like a poem recited in the lamplight.
A young woman, whispering her first love in the quiet darkness of the night.
Ling Dong stood under the trees, listening.
He had always considered himself rational. He had thought about his situation countless times, calmly and logically.
As a monster, a creature barely human, he should be grateful for the small comforts he had: a warm place to sleep, the soothing sound of her music, the chance to be near her.
He had even imagined the distant future.
Banxia would marry a man, have a family. He would no longer be human, but perhaps she would still pity him, offer him a small kindness, allow him to exist, like a lizard, in the periphery of her life.
He should be grateful, he should be content.
But tonight, a demon whispered in his ear.
A venomous, burning jealousy, consuming him, threatening to break free, to destroy him.
In her apartment, Banxia finished practicing and carefully polished her old violin with a soft cloth.
She took her time, meticulously wiping away the dust and rosin, then bent down and kissed the instrument that had been her companion for so many years.
It was a ritual she performed whenever she was about to do something important.
It calmed her, strengthened her resolve.
Before midnight, Banxia turned off the light and went to bed. She always woke up at 6:00 AM and rarely got a full night's sleep, so she usually slept soundly.
Tonight, like every other night, amidst the noise of the building, she closed her eyes and quickly drifted off.
Hours passed, and the noisy building gradually quieted down, only a few faint sounds and the clatter of mahjong tiles echoing in the night.
A slight rustling at the window, then the curtains were drawn, plunging the room into deeper darkness.
A male figure picked up the pajamas from the floor and put them on, buttoning them slowly, then turned to look at the bed.
In the darkness, his vision was unlike that of ordinary humans. He could see clearly, even without the light.
Banxia lay sleeping peacefully on her pillow, her breathing slow and even.
His gaze softened. He walked to the table, barefoot.
A single red rose stood in a water bottle in the corner, its color surprisingly vibrant even in the dim light.
He reached for the rose, then stopped, his wrist suddenly gripped by a hand reaching out from behind him.
A warm, soft hand, holding his wrist tightly, pulling his arm behind his back, forcing him closer to the edge of the table.
Preventing him from escaping.
"I want to see you, Xiao Lian," Banxia's voice whispered in the darkness.
His heart stopped.
Banxia held his arm in the darkness.
The room was pitch black, only a sliver of moonlight filtering through the gap in the curtains.
She could barely make out his silhouette.
He was tall, much taller than her, even though she was considered tall for a girl.
His neck was long and slender, his shoulders broad, his back tensing as she grabbed his arm.
His wrist was thin, but his forearm was surprisingly strong.
Physically, he was stronger than her. He could easily break free.
But apart from the initial tensing of his muscles, he didn't resist.
He yielded to her touch.
Banxia's eyes lit up. She tightened her grip on his arm and slowly turned him around.
The muscles in his arm tensed, hard as steel.
But he offered no resistance, allowing her to turn him.
Banxia held her breath and took a step closer. He swayed slightly, his back against the edge of the table, his long legs awkwardly positioned.
He turned his head away from her gaze.
It was too dark to see clearly. She could only make out the faint glimmer of his eyes in the darkness.
Eyes that flickered with an unreadable emotion, then shied away from her gaze.
His nose was straight, his lips slightly parted.
A sliver of moonlight illuminated his long, slender neck, the gentle curve of his throat bobbing nervously.
In the narrow, dark room, the faint sounds of the city mingled with the pounding of their hearts.
Two hearts beating in unison, out of control.
In the shadows, something shifted, something dark and unknown.
A monster clawed its way out of Banxia's heart.
Lost in the moment, her mind clouded with desire, she moved closer, her knee brushing against the chair, her hand on the table, her gaze fixed on the man she had trapped.
He was so close, his lips slightly parted, his breath hot and rapid against her skin.
The world was a blur of darkness, their faces inches apart, their features indistinguishable.
The darkness emboldened her. Words unspoken, desires suppressed, now rose to the surface.
She leaned closer, her lips almost touching his. At the last moment, a flicker of sanity returned.
"Can I…?" she whispered, her voice hoarse.
Her own voice sounded strange, like a sigh lost in the darkness, its meaning unclear.
Can I kiss you? Can I love you? Can I share this moment with you?
I like you. I don't care about anything else. I want to be close to you, like this, in the darkness.
Do you… feel the same way?
But actions spoke louder than words.
All the unspoken questions, the tangled emotions, didn't need to be voiced.
One more inch, one more touch, and everything would change.
In the darkness, the man closed his eyes.
He reached out, his cool fingers gently cupping the back of her head, pulling her closer.
It was an invitation.
And in that instant, Banxia felt fireworks explode in her heart.
There were many kinds of happiness in this world, but this, this moment of pure, unadulterated joy, was unlike anything she had ever experienced.
The desire she had tried so hard to suppress now bloomed, a monster unleashed, a dark, wild creature baring its fangs, a playful malice in its eyes.
She touched his lips with the tip of her tongue, a tentative exploration.
A tremor ran through him, and she smiled, teasing him, her kisses light and playful, a sweet torture.
Until he couldn't take it anymore, his hand tightening on her neck, pulling her closer, his lips claiming hers.
And then, she kissed him deeply, possessively, branding him with her own mark.
She kissed him, her touch intoxicating, drawing him deeper into the swirling vortex of desire.
She teased him, coaxing his tongue to meet hers, then playfully withdrawing, a delicious torment.
His head fell back, his neck arched, his hand knocking over the vase on the table, the red rose petals scattering across the floor, the water spilling onto the tiles.
Neither of them cared. Banxia impatiently swept the vase and the scattered petals aside.
They were so close, their bodies pressed together, their scents mingling. She could smell the faint scent of earth and roses on his skin.
I'm so good at this, she thought, her mind hazy with desire, as their breath mingled.
She remembered the silkworms she had raised as a child, creatures who, without any guidance, instinctively spun intricate cocoons for themselves.
"It's instinct," her mother had told her. "They're born knowing how to do it."
Banxia felt that same instinct within her now.
A primal knowing, a deep, unlearned understanding of what she wanted, of what brought her pleasure.
She had plucked the delicate lotus flower and held it captive in her hand, savoring its sweetness, her lips tracing the curve of his neck.
Until black scales began to appear on his pale skin.
Lost in the moment, Xiao Lian suddenly came to his senses, pushing her away, struggling to escape.
Banxia grabbed his shirt, and they tumbled to the floor together.
The night breeze stirred the curtains, and a sliver of moonlight spilled into the room, illuminating the scene: the man on the floor, his clothes askew, a black tail emerging from beneath them.
Finally🎉
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