Murong Yi-er groaned in the cave, hugging herself. The drug had been very strong. That gangster, Lumien, seemed determined to have her tonight. Were it not for the young male waiter helping her to escape, she would now be trapped on that dirty man's bed, forced to be with him until he was satisfied.
Damn her boyfriend, Beibi, for selling her to the gangster for a wad of cash. She should never have trusted him either. The moment she realised where he was bringing her, she should have made a run for it.
A man entered the cave and immediately turned around at the sight of her naked body huddled in a corner.
"Miss, I brought you some spare clothes. I'll leave them here. Quickly put them on. You can't stay here. Lumian will come looking for you soon. I'll bring you somewhere safer."
Murong Yi-er slapped her own cheeks until a thread of clarity appeared, enough for her to do as she was told and followed the nervous waiter, biting her lip of the side of her hand to try and keep herself rational. She followed the waiter and the torchlight he was shining on the ground, trying to concentrate on her breathing or every careful footstep she was taking, but the transmission of force from her feet to her pelvis with every step was only stimulating a certain part of her. She could feel moisture pooling and beginning to trickle slowly down her legs, hidden by her skirt, cooling in the wind.
She was barely able to keep track of where she was or where the waiter was taking her, so when she found herself in a storage room and the nervous waiter touching her, she wasn't too surprised. In fact, she was nearing desperation, agreeing to nearly everything the waiter was saying or suggesting, without understanding what he was saying. She just wanted him to get on with it.
And then, she found herself without her clothes, tightly bound by entwined ropes, with one irritating rope between her legs, not even enough to satisfy her.
"Wait until I'm off shift," the waiter told her. "I have to get back before they miss me. Make do with this for now. When I finish work, I'll take you home and keep you safe."
Murong Yi-er had only been able to groan and hiss at the loss of the warmth of his hand and his little kiss, feeling frustrated that the man had stirred up her feelings but not taken them anywhere. It was torture. Torture of the exquisite kind.
Rubbing herself up against the rope at her crotch while she swung lightly, toes only just barely brushing the ground, Murong Yi-er only noticed other people had come into storage room after hearing a man bark for people to turn around. A coat was draped around her body and there was a commotion while the group of men sought for a way to untie the rope and free her.
"At least we know why the alarm was tripped now," said a voice.
Eventually, they managed to free her and she whimpered, curling up with her hand between her legs, mumbling and begging for them to help her, but unable to exert any strength to get up and throw herself at any of them.
An ambulance and police were called and she was strapped whimpering into a stretcher bed. Eventually ending up in the hospital where she was sedated while the medical staff worked to find a solution or antidote to the drug that she had been given.
Murong Yi-er remembered nothing of all that. Only waking to find herself in an unfamiliar room, no longer in the hospital.
She sat up, discovered she was bereft of clothes and held her throbbing head, trying to recall the scattered memories following being hidden by the waiter after Lumian had sent her out to another room to wait for the drug to take effect and he was done with his business. She couldn't remember anything helpful. The memories were all scattered fragments of light, dark, scents and textures.
Looking around the room, Murong Yi-er found no clothes. The wardrobe was empty. She found the bathroom and wrapped herself in the towel she found there.
When she came out of the bathroom, she was startled by a stranger's presence and with a yelp, darted back into the bathroom holding onto the towel that came apart and closing the door.
"I'm sorry," said a calm tenor voice. "I'm glad you're finally awake though. How are you feeling?"
Murong Yi-er, held a hand to her chest, trying to calm her racing heart and catch her breath.
"Miss?"
"I'm - I'm fine. You just startled me. Just a headache and feeling sore all over. What happened? Who are you? How did I get here?"
"We received an alarm that someone had trespassed on our property and found you drugged and tied up there. We had you sent to the hospital and the doctors, after checking on you and discovering you had been given a large dose of an illegal street drug, only kept you a few days until they were sure you hadn't been otherwise harmed. Seeing you seemed otherwise healthy, they asked us to take you home to keep an eye on you. We presumed you going missing is what upset Lumian and his people, causing him to recklessly search the city, causing enough trouble that he made a few mistakes and allowed the police to find the evidence to arrest him and his most of his gang. The waiter who helped you was found and he confesses he was originally planning to let you go, but then had alternative thoughts, leading to tying you up and leaving you on our property, without realising there was a silent alarm there."
Murong Yi-er carefully tucked the towel around her body again.
"What will happen to me now?" she asked carefully.
"You are currently living in Young Master Gu's private villa for your safety while the rest of Lumian's people are still being rounded up. His right hand man is still at large and likely still helping to search for you. You haven't really been properly conscious or aware of anything although you did wake up briefly a few times in the past week. You are due for a checkup at the hospital again today. I'll have the housekeeper come in to help you get dressed, shall I?"
"Ok."
It was only after the man left that Murong Yi-er realised that the man hadn't introduced himself. At least he had been kind enough to explain the situation to her.
Later, Housekeeper Lan had knocked on the door and given her a change of clothes and underwear, allowing Murong Yi-er to breathe a sigh or relief, feeling like she was now properly covered and armoured against people with ill intent. She wondered if her ex-boyfriend, Beibi, had been taken into police custody for human trafficking.
Once dressed, a woman accompanied Murong Yi-er to the hospital for her checkup. Once pronounced healthy, the doctor advised no further follow up would be required unless Murong Yi-er was feeling unwell again.
Murong Yi-er wanted to go back home, but the woman accompanying her gently but firmly persuaded her to return back to the private with her and the driver. Just in case the gangsters in hiding wanted to target her for revenge.
Reluctantly, Murong Yi-er returned to Young Master Gu's private villa to discover the man himself and his assistant who had also recently returned home. As for the man with the tenor voice who had spoken to her earlier, Murong Yi-er didn't recognise his voice amongst these people or the staff she was introduced to.
"Thank you for your kindness in taking me in during this time," Murong Yi-er bowed to Young Master Gu who looked at her with a polite but aloof gaze. "Thank you for all you've done to keep me safe."
Young Master Gu waved a hand as if to wave her thanks off.
"In the house, don't wander aimlessly," Assistant Huang told Murong Yi-er. "You may go between your bedroom, dining room, lounge area and recreation hall or theatre room, but nowhere else. Understand? If you are found in a place you are not meant to be, you will be expelled from the premises and we will no longer care about your health and safety. Young Master Gu was only willing to help because you were a victim found on our group's property and he felt responsible for your health and safety. There is nothing beyond that."
"I understand," Murong Yi-er bowed again, feeling nervous.
"When Lumian's last few men have been caught and his right hand man is no longer likely to be targeting you anymore, you will be allowed to go home," Assistant Huang said. "Your work has already been informed and leave arranged for you during this time. Just take this as a holiday for now. You may make orders or requests from the kitchen for your preferred meals once a day. Our staff prepare meals according to a timetable Young Master Gu has organised. If there is anything you don't like or are allergic to, inform Yunying who accompanied you to the hospital today. She's your bodyguard during your stay. If there's anything you need, tell her and she will talk to the relevant people to arrange it."
"Oh," Murong Yi-er nodded her head obediently.
"What did the doctor say today at the checkup?" Young Master Gu asked Yunying and got a report, which he listened to attentively. After hearing the report, he gave a small smile and said to Murong Yi-er, "Please enjoy your stay."
And then he and his assistant went to his study - wherever that was, leaving Murong Yi-er in the lounge.
Housekeeper Lan appeared from the dining room.
"Young lady, you haven't had a proper meal for a few days. The chef has cooked you some easily digestible foods. Come and eat and then you can take a walk in the garden or go and rest. You only just woke up properly today and so you may still be feeling a little tired."
Murong Yi-er ate a meal of seafood porridge with her bodyguard, Yunying who had barely talked to her since they had met earlier in the day. And then she felt inexplicably sleepy.
Yunying had helped her back to her bedroom, helped her change into the pyjamas that had been left for her, and then helped her into bed. Murong Yi-er fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and woke up with a start to find the shadow of a stranger leaning over her in the dark of the night, making her startle and scoot away, only to fall out the other side of the bed, making the dark figure give a low chuckle.
It was the man with the tenor voice.
"No need to be scared," the man chuckled. "I was just checking on you and making sure you were ok. It's good that the doctor said you should be fine."
"Who are you?" Murong Yi-er demanded, trying to untangle herself from the bedsheets.
The man came over to help her and then helped her back into bed, carefully smoothing the bedsheets back into place and tucking them around her stuff body. He sat on the edge of her bed.
"Who are you?" Murong Yi-er hissed again.
"Hush, little spitfire," the man chuckled. "I'm just another resident in the villa. Don't mind me."
Murong Yi-er blinked rapidly. There was only one other person in her life that used to call her 'little spitfire' in that tone of voice. Hadn't her old playmate drowned?
"Kongkong? Sun - Sun Dekong?" she stammered in confusion.
"Ah. My little spitfire remembers her old playmate," the man stroked her head.
Murong Yi-er grabbed his wrists and tried to get a better look at the man in the dim light, but all she could see was a dark shadow.
"I thought you were dead? They said you drowned in the flood when the dam broke."
"They presumed I died and that was what everyone was told when I left the village. In reality, I was taken back by the family. I'm sorry I never got to say goodbye."
Murong Yi-er climbed back out of the bed to hammer her fists at the man.
"Do you know how hard I cried? I burned paper money, clothes and food for you, giving up all my pocket money for the next five years for you. I've been burning things for you on the anniversary every year and now you tell me you're alive? Give me back my emotions and pocket money, you liar."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the man chuckled softly, allowing her to hit him and climb onto his lap as he sat on the bed, hugging her lightly. "I'm really, very sorry. I'll give you back the pocket money you lost in buying funeral goods for me. You just tell me how much."
"With interest."
"With interest," Sun Dekong conceded with an amused sigh.
He held Murong Yi-er for a while, feeling her tears wetting his shirt, looking at her figure in his arms with affection. Who would have thought that she would somehow end up coming to Young Master Gu's villa while he was still here. It had to be fate.
Since he had found her again, he planned to never let her go again. Whether she was willing or not. He had already investigated everything that had happened to her since that fateful night when they were forcefully separated.
"Um, Kongkong," said Murong Yi-er, fidgeting a little bit not able to break free from his embrace just yet.
"Yes?"
"There's something sticking into me."
"Oh. Well, don't move too much, ok? I can't help it. I've been thinking of you all these years too and well... We're all grown up now and you didn just climb on to me."
Murong Yi-er swallowed hard and then buried her suddenly blooming hot face into the man's shoulder.
"Ah, my little spitfire is all shy. What should I do? She's still so cute."
Murong Yi-er smacked a fist onto his chest, making him laugh a little. At the same time, that thump had made both of them jolt when certain body parts were affected by the movement and vibrations.
"It's probably still a bit too soon for you to get into another relationship after your last boyfriend sold you off," Sun Dekong said after a long moment of silence, "but I wanted to let you know that I am ready, available and waiting for you. You just let me know if or when you want to get together."
There was a knocking on the bedroom door and they both stiffened.
"Miss Murong?" came the sleepy voice of Yunying. "Are you ok? I thought I heard noises. May I come in?"
Murong Yi-er looked up at Sun Dekong, unsure of what to do.
"Yunying, it's just me," Sun Dekong called. "I just came to check on her and she was having a nightmare. She's fine now. No need to come in. I'll come out once she's settled."
"Oh. That's alright then. I'm going back to bed."
"Goodnight, Yunying."
"Goodnight, Mr Gu."
"Mr Gu?" Murong Yi-er whispered and felt the man shiver beneath her.
"Um. I'm actually Young Master Gu's older brother. Illegitimate brother," Sun Dekong said after a long moment. "It's a bit complicated."
"So what's your real name?" Murong Yi-er asked.
"Why don't you guess?"
"Gu Wukong?" Murong Yi-er teased and guessed. "Gu Sunwu? Gu Sunde?"
"You got it."
"What? Sunwu? No. Sunde. Really? They called you a mistake? Marred virtue? That's so mean."
"Illegitimacy, you know," Sun Dekong shrugged, speaking in a dark tone. "I much prefer the name I went by as a kid when we were in the village together."
"Then I'll continue to call you that," Murong Yi-er said. "Unless you want me to call you Kongkong?"
"You can call me Kongkong. You are the only one allowed to do that, but only when we're in private."
"Then what do you want me to call you in public?" Murong Yi-er asked. "Big brother Gu? Mr Gu? Master Gu? Big Gu?"
With every nickname she suggested, she felt the man shiver and shudder beneath her and the throbbing of a certain part of his body became even more prominent.
"If you keep going, I might not be able to control myself," Sun Dekong murmured, his breath tickling Murong Yi-er's ear. His lips gently nibbles at the edge of her ear, sending shivers down her spine and she wriggled with discomfort only for his arms to tighten around her.
Murong Yi-er swallowed again.
"Kongkong," she hissed.
"Sorry. I can't help it," he said, breathing heavily. "Don't move. Don't say anything. Let me calm down."
The two sat together and Murong Yi-er sat stiffly, not realising her breath hitting his neck was preventing him from being able to calm down.
"In the future," Sun Dekong grunted, "just follow how everyone else calls me and call me Mr Gu."
"Alright, Mr Gu," Murong Yi-er said and felt him shudder at that.
"Only you can make me react like this," Sun Dekong groaned. "Damn it."
"Well, I used to always think, if you hadn't drowned in that flood and we had grown up together, I would probably have married you and had kids by now," Murong Yi-er said. "I wouldn't have gone looking for your shadow in so many others. I'm so glad you're still alive."
"That's not helping, Yiyi," Sun Dekong breathed, his breathing having grown heavier. "I really want to kiss you, right now."
"Um," Murong Yi-er coughed and joked half seriously. "And then get married?"
"If that's what you want," Sun Dekong said, capturing her cheeks between his hot and sweaty hands. "If you're being serious, I'm never letting go."
"Are you serious, bro?"
"Dead serious," Sun Dekong smiled in the dark. "I always take your jokes seriously. Have you forgotten? You promised to marry me back then too."
"Yeah. That's probably why I haven't been able to get into a serious relationship ever since," Murong Yi-er agreed. "I was always hoping you'd somehow come back from the dead to claim me."
And then hot lips crashed down onto hers and she lost her breath as Sun Dekong's passionate lips and tongue invaded. When he drew back, Murong Yi-er was in a daze.
That was the hottest kiss she had ever had. It really turned her on. Add to that it was her old playmate and childhood crush. The boy she had had always planned to marry when they had grown up.
"You're mine now," Sun Dekong said in a low voice. "Forever mine. You said it, Yiyi. We're getting married."
And he kissed her again.
Murong Yi-er woke up in the morning and touched her still sore and swollen lips with a slight wince.
He really hadn't gone easy on her last night, had he?
In the toilet, she realised just how wet she had gotten last night as well, making her flush with embarrassment.
With nothing much to do for the day, after breakfast, Murong Yi-er wandered around the villa's garden and then explored the recreation hall, playing games with her bodyguard. They stopped for lunch and decided to watch a movie in the afternoon with a few snacks. Somehow, Murong Yi-er fell asleep during the movie and woke up to find a man wrapping her in a blanket to pick her up.
"Kongkong?" she whispered.
"Mr Gu, remember?" the man whispered back.
"Oh. Mr Gu? I'm sorry. I can walk," Murong Yi-er said and allowed the man to help her up onto her feet.
"It's dinner time," Yunying said from the side. "You fell asleep and Young Master Gu said to move you back to your own bed, so I called Mr Gu to come and help. But since you're awake, why don't you come and eat with everyone?"
"Alright," Murong Yi-er agreed. "Let's go have dinner."
There were two dining tables in the dining room and Murong Yi-er was led to greet her host, who nodded at her, before she was led to the other dining table to eat with the other bodyguards and staff. Sun Dekong sat down beside her.
At the end of the meal, Assistant Huang came over to invite her to the study with Sun Dekong. Yunying didn't need to follow.
In the study, she was invited to sit on one of the visitor's chairs, while Sun Dekong wasn't. He stood behind her seat instead, as if used to this type of treatment.
"My brother told me that the two of you were childhood playmates? You were very close?" You g Master Gu asked with hooded eyes, seeming wary.
"Yes," Murong Yi-er nodded. "I thought he drowned in the dam flood when the dam near the village broke, and was upset for years. I'm so glad to have learned that he's actually alive."
"He said you two want to get married?"
Murong Yi-er blinked and then glanced back and up at the unfamiliar friend she could barely recognise.
"I thought I was dreaming last night," she frowned.
"Do you want to marry my brother?" Young Master Gu asked. "If you do, you will be investigated. If you pass the background check, I will help the two of you with organising the wedding and so on. I'll give you a house in 2nd City for the two of you to settle down and the branch of our company there to manage. Miss Murong, I will help you resign from your current company and arrange you a position in that company, so that you can work closely with my brother."
Murong Yi-er couldn't find any words. She felt a bit breathless as if everything was happening a bit too fast.
"It seems the two of you are fated, having been separated for so many years and yet somehow finding your way back together. My grandfather has been starting to get a bit impatient for my brother and I to get married, and so if you are willing, the two of you and your upcoming wedding will help take the pressure off me for a little longer."
Murong Yi-er still couldn't find her words, but could see that the man behind the desk was growing a little impatient, waiting for her answer. Sun Dekong poked her from behind.
She stammered, trying to come up with a suitable answer.
"She'll need to undergo training," said Young Master Gu with a frown. "She'll never survive our relatives if she's like this."
"I'm not planning on her needing to interact with those sharks," Sun Dekong said, placing a comforting and yet possessive hand on Murong Yi-er's shoulder. "In fact, I'd rather not go to 2nd City. Aunt's family is there. I'd rather go somewhere as far as Mountain Border City. There are none of our relatives there and we'd have relative peace."
"The company there is struggling. We were planning to close that branch down to cut our losses," Young Master Gu's frown deepened. "I've never understood you. Why are you so unambitious? What's the point in hiding in my shadow? If you really want it, I'll arrange it. But if that branch's profit and losses don't improve in the next five years, whether you want it or not, that branch will be shut down and you'll be sent wherever we need you. Understand?"
"Got it."
"Then we'll arrange it that way," Young Master Gu said, "if Miss Murong agrees."
"Yiyi," said Sun Dekong's voice in Murong Yi-er's ear, "nod your head."
Murong Yi-er obediently nodded.
"Repeat after me. Thank you, Young Master Gu. I would like to marry Mr Gu and move with him."
Murong Yi-er turned around to glare at the man behind her but he turned her shoulders back to face Young Master Gu.
"Say it."
Taking a deep breath, Murong Yi-er repeated what Sun Dekong told her to say.
"Why does this look like you're forcing her against her will?" Young Master Gu raised an eyebrow.
"Yiyi likes it when I make decisions for her," declared Sun Dekong proudly. "Ow," he drew back the hand she had just pinched hard from his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Young Master Gu," Murong Yi-er said, feeling a bit breathless. "Give me some time to think this over. I'm still coming to terms that Kongkong - I mean, Mr Gu, is still alive, and that he still wants to marry me."
"That sounds a lot more realistic," Young Master Gu released a breath and relaxed back into his office chair's backrest. "Kongkong," he threw a teasing glance at the man standing behind Murong Yi-er, "never stopped talking about you when he was first brought back from your village. He drove me mad with his worries about you. I'm very pleased to finally meet you, Miss Murong. If you are willing to marry him, I can finally kick him out of my house and not need to listen to him continuing to pine for you."
"You missed me that bad, huh?" Murong Yi-er asked the man behind her, half turning in her seat only for him to passionately kiss her in front of his half brother, leaving her unable to catch her breath for a long moment. She smacked his arm until he let her go.
Ok. He missed her. Possibly more than she had missed him.
Young Master Gu threw his head back and laughed.
"Bro, you'd better be careful. The sharks will know she's your weakness. You'd better protect her well."
"I've got Yunying by her side when I'm not around. Don't you worry. I'll not let anyone harm a single hair on her head."
"So Lumian and his gangsters?"
"Will get what's coming to them."
"Good. Glad we're clear on that. Before your little spitfire has made her decision, make sure you give her space and time to process and think things through. You'll need to explain our family and your position in the family clearly so that she knows what trouble she's walking into by marrying you."
"Of course."
"Miss Murong, you have until all the gangsters have been caught and you may leave my house to make your decision. If you can't decide before then, my brother may very well kidnap you. I hope you know what a possessive and obsessive guy he is."
"Bro!"
Murong Yi-er glanced fearfully at her former playmate.
"Don't look at me like that. He's not wrong."
"Are you saying I only have one choice?"
"I'm certain that you will make the correct choice," Sun Dekong smiled at her and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "After all, you've been pining for me too, haven't you?"
"I - I suppose?"
"And bro," Young Master Gu pointed at his half brother, "you are not allowed to conduct any kind of sexual activity with her on my property. You will damn well wait until you're married before you can touch her. Make a mess and dirty my house and I will tell Father."
"Fine," Sun Dekong snarled, and then looked down at Murong Yi-er with pitiful eyes.
"If my brother touches you in a way you are not happy with or that is beyond propriety, feel free to report him to me. I will beat him up for you," Young Master Gu smiled warmly at Murong Yi-er. "Stay here a little longer, Miss Murong. Get out of my study and get moving on your project," he said to Sun Dekong. "I want to see the revised plan in my office at work tomorrow."
"You're such a hard taskmaster," Sun Dekong mumbled and patted Murong Yi-er on the head, leaving the study.
She was now alone with Young Master Gu and Assistant Huang.