The Favored Heiress
Chapter 418: It’s Not That I Don’t Want To, It’s That I Dare Not

Chapter 418: Chapter 418: It’s Not That I Don’t Want To, It’s That I Dare Not

Gunshot wounds are not like ordinary wounds, as even after healing, they leave behind scars of burned muscle tissue.

Her heart ached again.

Li Qiao reapplied his bandages, her gaze earnest and focused.

Suddenly, warmth brushed against her cheek, and she looked at Shang Yu in a daze, pausing in her movements, "Does it hurt a lot?"

Li Qiao’s eyes were filled with undisguised tenderness, the corners red, as if countless emotions were hidden in her eyes, unable to be dispelled or cut away.

She looked straight into the man’s eyes, and after a few seconds of not hearing him speak, she bowed her head and continued bandaging him on her own.

Having finally dealt with his wound, Li Qiao realized that her back was coated with a thin layer of sweat.

She looked at the impossibly clean white bandage wrapped around the man’s shoulder again, her fingers gently rubbing the edge of the gauze, her voice low and slow, soft and hoarse, "Don’t move around anymore, if the wound bursts open too many times, it will no longer be... mmm."

Li Qiao sometimes felt she and Shang Yu were truly alike.

Equally domineering, equally self-centered.

Just as she was saying he shouldn’t move, in the blink of an eye, the man had pulled her into his embrace, and the deep kiss was unrelenting.

Li Qiao sat ramrod straight, her palms sweaty as she instinctively pressed against his left forearm.

The man sensed her divided attention and kissed her even more dominantly, pulling her into his embrace, twisting around until her tongue went numb.

After a long while, Shang Yu finally released her.

Li Qiao sat on his lap, her body stiff and upright, her cheeks a faint red.

She took a moment to collect herself and tried to get off him, but he pressed down on her waist and abdomen again, his bewitching and clear breath on her ear, "Why did you say last night that you had no right to stand by my side?"

Li Qiao turned her head, her gaze distant as she met his, just about to speak, when his left thumb landed on her lips, wiping the traces of their kiss while he hoarsely asked, "When have I ever given you that impression? Hm?"

The trailing tone of his voice seemed to convey a sense of ludicrous self-mockery.

Shang Yu’s eyes held a rare tenderness as he lifted his eyelids to meet her small deer-like eyes, his thumb pressing down at the corner of her lips, "Why aren’t you speaking?"

Li Qiao cleared her throat, as the ambiguous atmosphere enveloped them, she turned her head away, forcing a smile, "Perhaps... it was said in anger."

"Is that so?" The man turned her face toward him with his finger, "Are you sure it wasn’t something you truly felt inside that made you say such angry words?"

The distance between them was very close, close enough to clearly see their reflected shapes in each other’s eyes.

Li Qiao was at a loss for words, confronted with the man’s deep and profound gaze, as if her soul could be seen through.

Maybe it was said in anger, or perhaps it was indeed a subconscious feeling unknown to others.

In that moment, Shang Yu watched Li Qiao intently, without missing any subtle expression of hers.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as his fingers pinched her chin, "No matter how strong you are, as your boyfriend, it’s also my responsibility to protect you. It’s not that I don’t want you by my side, I’m just afraid."

Afraid that she would get into trouble, afraid that she would get hurt, so he would rather take the injury himself to ensure her safety.

She was indeed his Achilles’ heel, but even more so, she was his vulnerable spot.

Even the toughest of men, once they have a vulnerability, refrain from taking even the slightest risk with it.

Li Qiao mumbled a response, hearing Shang Yu analyze his inner world for the first time, her senses and emotions fluctuating with each word he said.

She truly never heard him mention these things, and that phrase ’not that I can’t, but that I dare not’ touched the softest corner of her heart.

How proud and arrogant he was, Li Qiao knew all too well.

Yet such a domineering man, declaring in front of you that he wouldn’t dare to take risks with you, could sway even the coldest of hearts.

Li Qiao didn’t say much else, sitting in his embrace and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

She buried her face in Shang Yu’s neck, inhaling the familiar scent, saying nothing, hugging tighter and tighter.

The man’s hands circled around her lower back and gradually moved up her spine, patting gently, authoritative yet considerate.

Then, in less than half a minute, Shang Yu’s gaze flicked over the brocade box and he kissed her earlobe, asking softly, "Where did you go tonight?"

Although Li Qiao was a bit groggy from not sleeping all night, she still lifted her head from his embrace and teasingly asked, "Didn’t Luoyu tell you?"

"Not much." The man narrowed his eyes, a hint of danger in them, "What’s the matter that you don’t want others to know about?"

Li Qiao looked straight into Shang Yu’s dangerous eyes, but couldn’t suppress her upturned lips, "So, that’s why you came?"

She admitted that she had indeed said so on purpose.

The man’s eyebrows lifted, his nimble fingers somehow finding their way under the hem of her shirt, circling on her waist, his tone not without threat: "Changing the subject?"

Li Qiao stiffened slightly, pressing down his mischievous wrist, her eyes smiling and clearing the gloom.

She gestured with her lips towards the round table in front of her and seizing the opportunity, picked up the brocade box, "It’s from a friend in Myanmar, who just happened to be in Chong City on business, and brought me something."

As Li Qiao spoke, she opened the brocade box and took out the toolkit to show him.

Shang Yu glanced at it and slowly looked back at Li Qiao, "What friend?"

"Bo Tingxiao’s brother, Bo Tingsu." She played with the toolkit in her hand, adding, "They are from the Myanmar Special Operations Team and are usually stationed at the border between Myanmar and the frontier.

Brother Xiao designed the latest military toolkit and knowing I was in Chong City, he had his brother deliver one to me."

Uh-huh, Brother Xiao!

Shang Yu regarded Li Qiao’s serene features, asking casually, "How does he know you’re in Chong City?"

Her fingers paused in toying with the toolkit, and she turned to look at him, "I didn’t ask."

The man met her gaze, his thick eyebrows arching slightly, "Didn’t see him?"

Li Qiao shook her head, "He didn’t come; I just had a drink with his brother."

Shang Yu said no more, lost in thought as he stared at the toolkit in her hand, a meaningful gleam in his eyes.

Even though he was actually in Chong City, he said he hadn’t been there.

The Myanmar Special Operations Team and the domestic special forces units have an international military competition coming up, and Bo Tingxiao is currently in Chong City.

Since he apparently didn’t want to meet Qiaoqiao, Shang Yu naturally held his tongue.

He draped his shirt back over his shoulders, examining Li Qiao’s faintly red eyes, his fingertips brushing them lightly, "Didn’t sleep well last night?"

Li Qiao blinked, "Um, when are you going back to the South Sea?"

Shang Yu glanced at the large bed in the room, gently patted her lower back signaling her to lie down, "Once you’ve slept, I’ll leave."

"Oh." Li Qiao smoothed her brow, eyeing Shang Yu, hesitating to speak.

The man curved his index finger over her cheek, "What do you want to say?"

"Will it be too late to go back tomorrow?" Li Qiao’s gaze fell to his shoulder, her words still on her lips when Shang Yu’s chest rumbled with a deep, mellow laugh, "Don’t want me to go?"