Heartbeat

Su Xin Yu was sitting with her back against Li Ming Hao, her face flushed red. That sensation of his bare chest against hers was really weird but she did not dislike it. In the whole cave, there were only three sounds, water dripping, rocky panting and their heartbeats.

Since Su Xin Yu was the one in contact with Li Ming Hao's chest, she could clearly feel his racing heart. Her own condition was not much better.

'No Xin Yu, this is just adrenaline messing with your head. Don't mistake it for anything else.' she thought to herself.

Li Ming Hao on the other side was experiencing a totally different discomfort. Her fragrance mixed with the fresh smell of the water was arousing a certain part of his body. He did take a bold step by himself but did not think of the consequences before. He should have known that he had already developed feelings for her.

How was he supposed to control himself now? Or should he give in to his carnal desires? She did not say no to his advances just now. Should he try his luck? He needed to know what the girl thought about him too.

"Are you feeling better?" he whispered seductively in her ears, sending a sweet shiver throughout her body.

"I…," she nodded. Her eyes darted everywhere and she nodded slowly.

"Oh, thank God. Now that Chen Chen is not here, I was worried I made you suffer," he whispered once again, tickling her ears. He really wanted to nibble on them which had turned red. He could not help but chuckle imagining her cute little face all crimson.

His chest reverberated and Su Xin Yu felt that. Why was he laughing? Did he realize her state? She dropped her head even lower.

"I am not making you uncomfortable, am I?" Li Ming Hao decided to take it slowly. It seemed that this girl was slow in the matters of heart but if she was feeling so shy, then she also had some feelings for him. He would use patience to get closer to her then.

But his heart was definitely set on her. 'There will be no other from now on,' he decided in his mind with determination.

"Uh huh, given the conditions, there is no other choice," she finally spoke a few words. Su Xin Yu had completely calmed down too by now. She did love the security she felt for the first time in years with his arms enveloping her.

Perhaps she was secretly hoping for more? No, she just needed to focus on work. She did not need any man in her life, especially not the son of his enemy.

He was totally opposite to his dad, for sure, but that did not mean that he did not harbor ill intentions.

"That's fine then. Let's leave here as soon as the clothes are dry. Do you want to start deciphering the letters there? I will ask rocky to put her tail in water. I don't think it would affect her," he continued in his hoarse magnetic voice.

Su Xin Yu wanted to keep hearing his voice and sitting like this. But she had to indeed control herself. This would not do. She nodded reluctantly, biting her lip.

It was unfortunate that Li Ming Hao could not see her, he was pretty eager to see her cute reactions. He sighed and got up to let her move freely. Su Xin Yu looked up, a slight disappointment plaguing her heart but then she closed her eyes to come back to her senses.

Rocky was waiting for her command from her master but Su Xin Yu called her first gently.

"Rocky, will you do it for us, please?" she asked.

Rocky barked once in agreement and dipped her tail in the water instantaneously.

"You have even won my very hard to tame Rocky ah! What an incredible queen of hearts you are!" Li Ming Hao laughed. It took him so much time to have his dog open up to him. She had been rescued from a puppy mill. She was heavily pregnant when they had found her back during his college days.

He had spent days tirelessly by her side and when she finally did give birth to the puppies, it seemed like she already knew that they won't be with her for long. She had maintained minimal contact with her babies not to fall in love with them.

But Li Ming Hao helped her overcome the trauma. He ensured that all her babies went to good forever homes. He would even take her around once a month to meet her babies who were all happily settled now. After that, she had never left his side.

Even now, he had brought her in his home country after much struggle. But he had no idea why she was here. Who let her out? No one could have handled her apart from himself, and now Su Xin Yu who had won her for some reason in such a short amount of time.

Su Xin Yu ignored the remark from the guy. She gave a really good rub to Rocky who licked her face joyfully. "Thank you," she told the dog.

Li Ming Hao smiled looking at such a harmonious picture. He could see Su Xin Yu was dying to be able to pet Rocky and now she was uber happy.

Then he looked at the text on the walls. He took out his notebook and signaled Su Xin Yu to start. The light from the water was enough for them to be able to see everything. There was still lake in between the cramped space they were in and the wall itself. But they were much closer to the wall, thus it was easier to read.

Thankfully, Su Xin Yu had gotten him a waterproof bag. She had also made sure to wrap important things in plastic bags. The notebook was one of those. Li Ming Hao sat down once again, after putting out the fuel cans.

"Okay, let's see," Su Xin Yu sat down beside Li Ming Hao, being very careful of not invading his personal space. But again, there was not much space in the small flat land to begin with.

"Oh! This is read from right to left! Thankfully, right side is closer to us," she focused inwards and tried to remember what she had learned from the illusion. She was still skeptical about it to be honest, but wanted to give it a try. Anyway, there was time in the clothes getting dried so that they could carry them in Li Ming Hao's bag.

"Once upon a time, there was a prince who ruled this country," she started with the first sentence. It flowed pretty smoothly, it was like this had been her native language all along. She was surprised at herself how easy it was for her.

Did she always know this language and did the illusion make her evoke some memories? Or did she really learn it just now, in a matter of seconds? That would be… weird, right? Definitely not scientifically possible.

"Whoa! You can really read it!" Li Ming Hao exclaimed joyfully as well. Something good came out of it then?

"Yeah, let me continue," she looked at his excited face and giggled before getting back to her deciphering the code.