Lilia gently wrapped both arms around Yiyi’s waist, carefully avoiding her wound, her palms pressing with a soothing warmth against Yiyi’s back, her voice so soft it could melt in water.
“Isn’t it more comfortable sitting like this?”
“It… it is more comfortable… It just feels so weird…”
Yiyi’s cheeks were so hot you could fry an egg on them.
Her gaze darted anxiously to the surface of the water, not daring to meet Lilia’s eyes.
The clean scent of soap from the other clung to her nose, her back pressed tightly against that warm chest.
With every breath, she could feel each other’s heartbeat.
This excessive closeness made her feel completely ill at ease; her tail tip drooped stiffly into the water, afraid to move.
No sooner had she finished speaking than she felt a cool touch at her chest.
Lilia’s slender fingertips landed lightly at the edge of her blood-streaked wound, testing and gentle.
“Wouldn’t the blood here taste even better, Yibao?”
Her voice was languid and coaxing, a trace of shadow flickering in her eyes.
Her fingertips gently stroked the skin around the wound—intimate, ambiguous, and dangerous all at once.
Yiyi froze, struck as if by lightning, unable to move.
Her cheeks flushed so red they might bleed, her voice trembling in panic.
“Lilia! Don’t—don’t say weird things!”
She instinctively tried to shrink back, but Lilia’s embrace held her firmly, leaving her unable to move.
The cool touch at her wound mingled with the other’s warm breath, making her heart race as if it would explode.
Her tail tip tightened uncontrollably, slapping lightly at the water.
“Hey, Hades, where are you bathing?”
Aze’s voice came from outside the bathhouse door, tinged with impatience and the rustle of clothes.
She’d been searching for ages but hadn’t seen a sign of Yiyi, so her tone carried a hint of irritation.
“Hurry up and answer, or I’m coming in!”
“You—go use the other one! Don’t come in, that’s disgusting…”
Yiyi hurriedly replied, her voice flustered and urgent, afraid Aze would really push open the door.
She could already picture Aze’s insufferable expression if she saw this scene—sure to bring a round of teasing.
Yiyi’s blush deepened, her tail tip splashing chaotically under the water.
Outside, Aze was instantly disgruntled by her response and immediately stepped forward to enter.
“Disgusting? How am I disgusting? And besides, this bath is public! Why can you use it but not me?”
Before she finished, the door creaked open.
Aze stood at the threshold in a loose bathrobe, and seeing the two of them snuggled together, her silvery tail instantly stiffened.
“Oh, so this is where you two are being all lovey-dovey. No wonder you won’t let me in.”
Yiyi, caught like a thief, turned red on the spot.
She wanted to push Lilia away but was afraid of pulling at her wound, so she could only freeze in place, flustered as she tried to explain.
“W-we’re just treating a wound! Don’t get any weird ideas!”
“I’m not the one imagining things,” Aze arched her brow, deliberately stepping closer and sitting on a stone bench at the bath’s edge, tossing her robe aside to reveal her sleek shoulder.
“Since you’re treating wounds, I’ll just wait here. When you’re done, I’ll bathe.”
Her gaze landed, intentional or not, on Yiyi’s flushed face, the corners of her mouth quirking in a teasing grin.
“But from the look of things, you two might be a while, huh?”
“You!”
Yiyi puffed up her cheeks in anger.
“Not gonna argue with idiots. I’ll just bathe here. You two carry on—I won’t bother you…”
As she spoke, Aze untied her bathrobe and tossed it on the bench, turning to enter the bath.
Her silver tail swayed behind her, full of deliberate provocation.
“Don’t mind me, keep going…” With that, she closed her eyes, lying quietly in the warm water nearby, letting the gentle currents envelop her body.
The hot water rose to the waists of all three, swirling with warmth and ripples, steam cloaking the bath in a hazy mist.
Lilia still had her arms wrapped around Yiyi’s waist, her palms pressed to her back with a tenderness almost unreal.
Her voice was as soft as water.
“Ignore her. Let’s continue.”
Yiyi’s cheeks were almost smoking, her eyes darting to Aze lying with closed eyes not far away, worried the other would suddenly open them and see something.
Her tail was taut in the water, nervously brushing against Lilia’s wrist.
“B-but she’s right here…”
“It’s fine. She can’t see.”
Lilia leaned down, her warm breath sweeping past Yiyi’s ear, a lazy temptation in her tone.
Her fingertips returned to the edge of Yiyi’s blood-streaked wound, as gentle as touching fragile glass.
“How many times has it been, Yibao, and you’re still this shy 〃∀〃.”
Yiyi looked down at Lilia beneath her, then at the arms around her waist.
She bit her lip, her tail behind her swaying, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m not…”
“Not?”
Lilia laughed softly, the vibration in her chest traveling through their pressed skin, carrying a deadly allure.
“Then why won’t you look me in the eye, Yibao?”
She lifted her hand, her fingertip hooking under Yiyi’s chin, forcing her to meet her gaze, her eyes surging with deep affection and possessiveness.
“See? The moment you look at me, you blush. Still say you’re not shy?”
“I—I just…” She opened her mouth, but couldn’t even get out a full defense, her heart pounding as if it would burst from her chest.
She could only let Lilia’s fingertip lightly trace her chin, the cool sensation following her blood vessels, sending tingling shivers through her body.
At that moment, Lilia suddenly lifted her head.
While Yiyi was still dazed, she dipped down and pressed a kiss to her soft lips.
The warmth vanished in a blink.
Yiyi’s pupils shrank, her whole body stiff with shock.
She stared blankly at Lilia, her cheeks nearly bursting into flames, heart fluttering like a rabbit, both panicked and strangely moved.
“You… I… mm…”
After hesitating for a moment, she seemed to make up her mind, slowly leaning down and initiating a kiss of her own.
The instant their lips met, it was as if even the bathwater stilled.
A look of surprise flashed in Lilia’s eyes, but was instantly overwhelmed by uncontainable joy and possessiveness.
She instinctively tightened her embrace, locking Yiyi in her arms, deepening the kiss.
“Mmm…”
Yiyi meant to pull away, but Lilia’s right hand pressed gently against the nape of her neck, holding her close and letting the kiss grow even deeper.
Meanwhile, her panicked, waving tail behind her was gently grasped by Lilia’s left hand.
With just the right amount of pressure, her fingertips stroked and kneaded along the downy fur of the tail tip.
That tingling sensation raced up Yiyi’s spine, leaving her whole body weak.
Any thought of resisting melted away, and she simply collapsed against Lilia’s chest, passively receiving this searing affection.