She quickly turned her face away, retching dryly in agony. James’s handsome face darkened so much <b>it </b>looked like he could mChapter 357 I’m Not Your Puppy, Woman
<b>10 </b><b>Free </b>Coins
How <i>could </i>a plush <i>puppy </i><i>talk</i><i>? </i><i>Could </i><i>it </i><i>have </i><ie </i><i>to </i><i>life </i><i>or </i><i>turned </i><i>into </i>some kind of spirit<i>? </i>That fuzzy thought flitted through Lily’s drowsy mind, but before she could make sense of it, sleep tugged her back under.
All she wanted was to do what she always did, fall asleep hugging her plush puppy.
She wrapped her armspletely around him and mumbled, half–asleep, “Puppy, let me hold you….”
Her sudden full–body hug shoved James down against the edge of the bed.
His expression darkened; the air around him turned dangerous.
<i>Puppy</i>… She really thought he was Jackson!
Jealousy burned through him, searing his chest like acid.
Irritated and agitated, he pulled her hands off him again. “I told you–I’m not your puppy. Quit touching me!”
This time, Lily heard him clearly.
But she was still convinced she was dreaming. After all, how could a plush dog turn into a spirit and talk?
And in dreams, she was in control. Why would she be afraid of a disobedient plush toy acting up in <i>her </i>dream?
Her cheeks puffed with defiance. A rebellious streak red up, and she grabbed <i>at </i>his abs with both hands. “I want to touch them…”
Just grabbing his abs didn’t feel satisfying enough.
Her hands slid upward, groping at his chest, again and again.
<i>So </i><i>firm</i><i>, </i>so <i>springy</i>. The sensation was addictive; she couldn’t stop.
In her dream, she had already crowned herself awless queen. Chin lifted in arrogance, she ordered, “Puppy, take your shirt off!”
James fell silent.
<i>She </i><i>wanted </i><i>to </i><i>touch </i><i>Jackson </i><i>through </i>his shirt<i>, </i><i>and </i><i>that </i><i>wasn’t </i><i>enough </i><i>for </i><i>her</i>? <i>Now </i>she
<i>ted </i><i>him </i><i>to </i><i>take </i>it <i>off</i>?
James’s face turned dark green, then ck. He clenched his jaw so hard it looked like he’d transform into a beast and tear someone limb from limb.
Lily, meanwhile, sensed none of the danger.
In her dream, she was a queen, and this was her domain, <i>How </i><i>dare </i><i>the </i><i>puppy </i><i>disobey</i>?
Her hands continued downward without care or precision. With a punishing grip, she grabbed him again and scolded him with a fierce, but entirely unthreatening tone, “If you don’t take it off, I’ll do it for you!”
<b>1/3 </b>
Tour Puppy, Woman
As she spoke, shetched onto the hem of his shirt and refused to let go.
Too tired to put up any real strength, she rolled over, flopping on top of him like an octopus.
With him as her pillow, she felt wonderfullyfortable.
She squirmed up a little higher, wrapped her arms tight around him again, and mumbled, “Too tired to touch… just wanna hold you… hold… puppy…”
<i>Puppy </i><i>again</i>… James couldn’t take it
With a sudden movement, he
more.
Over and caged her beneath his strong arms and body.
His voice was cold as steel–yet scorching hot, full of tension and heat. “Lily, say it again. Who do you want to hold?”
<i>This </i><i>plush </i><i>dog </i><i>spirit </i><i>is </i><i>so </i><i>dumb</i>.
Lily was just a bitter, knocked–up little woman whose husband only loved men and was about to divorce her. <i>Aside </i><i>from </i><i>hugging </i><i>my </i><i>stuffed </i><i>animals </i><i>in </i><i>bed</i><i>, </i><i>who </i><i>else </i><i>could </i><i>I </i><i>hold</i>? <i>It’s </i><i>not </i>like I am dreaming about holding <i>James</i><i>, </i><i>right</i><i>? </i>
She nestled her head against his chest and muttered, “Stupid puppy…”
<i>That </i><i>did </i><i>it</i>. <i>She </i><i>really </i><i>was </i><i>thinking </i><i>about </i><i>Jackson</i>. Jealousy zed through him, obliterating what was left of his sanity. James lowered his head and crushed his lips against hers–savage, hungry, like a wolf descending on its prey.
But biting her lips wasn’t enough to ease the ache inside him.
It couldn’t put out the fire raging in his chest.
Clothes tore.
His lips, burning like wildfire, trailed downward, worshiping her skin with near–reverent passion, setting her ice–cold body aze.
“Lily…”
His long, slender fingerspletely lost control.
Stroke after stroke, like gusts of wind sweeping across rising hills, they stirred the calm waters into a storm.
His grip was too strong; his kisses were too hot, too fierce. Still lost in her dream, Lily soon found herself jolted awake by the intensity.
She struggled to open her eyes and saw a face looming close–handsome and intense.
That face, after ravaging her, quickly rose again, biting down on her slightly parted lips.
Then she heard his voice, cold and sharp, “Lily, who exactly am I?”
<b>2/3 </b>
So dangerous. It felt as if she dared give the wrong answer, he would burn her to ashes with that <b>raging </b><b>fire </b>inside him.
057 1 m Not Your Puppy, Woman
Nothing left, not even bones,
Lily gave a tiny shiver. <i>What </i>was she supposed to say? The way he asked, so fierce, so threatening, way he didn’t just <i>want </i><i>me </i><i>to </i><i>say </i><i>“</i><i>James</i>,<i>” </i><i>did </i><i>he</i><i>? </i>If that was all it took… how childish.
Lily had no idea what to say. She never even got the chance to answer.
Despite how lean he looked, he was nearly six–foot–three and heavy, And now, with his <b>full </b>weight pressing down, especially on her stomach… she couldn’t take it. With her frequent morning sickness, the pressure made her body go stiff.
She waspletely overwhelmed.
3.3anifest an inkwell on the spot. Just now, she’d mistaken him for Jackson, he’d kissed her for that long, and she hadn’t felt the slightest bit nauseated. But the moment she opened <b>her </b>eyes and realized it was him, she threw up again…
Did she <i>really </i>hate <i>being </i>physically <i>close </i><i>to </i><i>me </i><i>that </i><i>much</i><i>? </i>James pondered.
“James, can you please get off me? I’m about to….”
About to <i>be </i>crushed to death<i>! </i>She didn’t even get the rest of the sentence out before she scrunched face and dry–heaved again.
James’s gaze turned dark.
up
her
He didn’t want to let her go; still, seeing her in such pain made it impossible to stay. With a chilling air still clinging to him, he finally moved off her.
Lily didn’t actually throw up.
Once he was no longer pressing on her stomach, her body felt significantly more at ease.
Afraid he might identally press on her again, she scrambled up from the bed and sat in the corner against the wall, putting a safe distance between them.
Once she was fully awake, she remembered, she had fallen asleep tonight on the big bed in his room.
And just now, in that hazy state between sleep and waking, she thought she’d been hugging the plush puppy from her bed. Clearly, she’d mistaken him for that stuffed animal.
She’d clung to him like that, grabbed all over him, even barked at him to take his clothes off…
Lily’s small frame trembled again. Guilt wed so hard at her chest she couldn’t even bring herself to look at him, let alone apologize.
She also realized he must’ve kissed her out of nowhere because she’d pawed at him and triggered one of his… episodes.
It was all her fault. She should’ve just chopped off those damned hands of hers!
Seeing how furious he looked now–ice–cold air radiating off him like someone had dug up the Luke family’s ancestral graves–Lily sucked in a breath and cautiously tried, “James, just now… I’m really sorry.”
She truly felt awful.
He had saved her tonight.
He’d kindly made her chicken soup, even let <i>her </i>stay in his room so someone would be there if her fever worsened in the middle of the night.
And how did she repay him? By triggering his trauma.
<b>1/3 </b>
She was worse than an animal.
<b>410 </b>Free Coins
Stealing a guilty nce at his impossiblyposed profile, she continued, “I think I grabbed onto <b>you </b>earlier…. and… well, anyway, I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you. I… I only hugged you and touched <b>you </b>
you were a little dog.”
because I thought
She really had mistaken him for a stand–in for Jackson.
A flood of bitterness surged in James’s chest–violent, raging, and all–consuming; it nearly swallowed his soul whole.
He didn’t want to be anyone’s stand–in–least of all some stuffed dog.
But more than that, he couldn’t bear to let go.
After silently fuming for a few moments, he finally spoke, his voice low and firm. “Lily, stay away from that dog of yours from now on.”
“Huh?”
<i>Was </i><i>he </i><i>seriously </i>so <i>worried </i><i>I’d </i><i>mistake </i><i>him </i><i>for the </i><i>dog </i><i>again </i><i>that </i><i>he </i><i>wouldn’t </i><i>even </i><i>let </i><i>me </i><i>sleep </i>with a stuffed animal <i>anymore</i><i>? </i><i>That </i>was so <i>controlling</i>. Before she could recover from the shock, she heard him say, “Don’t think about hugging him, don’t think about touching him, don’t think about him at all, ever again.”
“I…”
Lily puffed out her cheeks. She wanted to say that the stuffed puppy really was soft and cute.
Lately, she’d gotten used to hugging it when she fell asleep. Without it, she worried she wouldn’t be able to
rest.
She knew how much he hated physical contact between them. If she told the truth, he’d probably think she was looking for another excuse to grope him. But she really loved that puppy, so instead of backing down, she decided to dig her heels in.
“I want to hug the puppy…”
To reassure him, she quickly added, “Don’t worry, I won’t mistake you for it again. I won’t hug you anymore, or touch you, or have any physical contact with you at all. I’ll make sure not to do anything else – that might cross the line.”
<i>I </i><i>won’t </i><i>do </i><i>anything </i><i>to </i><i>cross </i><i>the </i><i>line </i><i>ever </i><i>again</i><i>… </i><i>So </i><i>from </i><i>now </i><i>on</i><i>, </i><i>she </i><i>only </i><i>wanted </i><i>to </i><i>hug </i><i>Jackson </i><i>instead</i>? <i>She </i><i>could </i><i>forget </i><i>it</i>. James thought.
Seeing her plush red lips part slightly–clearly about to draw another boundary between them, he cut her off with a cold, firmmand. “Come here.”
“What?”
Lily blinked, confused. <i>Is </i><i>he that </i><i>angry </i><i>over </i>what <i>I’d </i>just <i>done</i><i>? </i><i>Is </i><i>he </i><i>kicking </i><i>me </i><b><i>out </i></b><i>of </i>his <b><i>bed </i></b><i>for </i><i>good</i><i>? </i>
Only now did it hit her–her/sleepwear had practically turned to shreds, leaving barely anything covered There was no way she could go out into the hallway looking like this.
<b>2/3 </b>
She didn’t obediently get out of bed; instead, she awkwardly raised her arms in an attempt to cover herself, wishing she could melt into the wall behind her.
James looked down and caught sight of her disheveled state.
That peach–pink silk nightgown–torn and fluttering like scattered flower petals–draped loosely over <b>her </b>body. Like blushing spring blossoms scattered on fresh snow.
Innocent yet alluring, with a quiet maism that pulled like the tide. The way she sat there–soft, timid, curled into the corner of the bed–she looked like a creature born of myth, out of her depth but eager to test the waters. Like a fish out of water staring wide–eyed at a brand–new pond, she was part wonder, part temptation, and all mystery.
nug You Again