The words settled between them like a vow more binding than any legal contract. Shuyin leaned forward despite the soreness, pressing her forehead to his, breathing in the scent of him mixed with lingering jasmine. "No more carefully maintained distance," she whispered. "No more hesitation. If we're doing this, we're actually doing this."
"Agreed," Lu Yuze murmured, sealing the promise with a kiss that was tender rather than passionate, acknowledging her current physical state while still conveying the depth of feeling behind it.
They enjoyed this quiet and peaceful moment together.
— — — — — —
Eight o'clock in the morning at Black Water Ridge Penitentiary arrived with harsh fluorescent lights flickering on throughout the cell blocks, the automatic system indifferent to whether prisoners had slept or spent the night in pain-filled wakefulness. In the men's section, Lin Feng lay on his thin mattress, every movement sending fresh agony through his battered body.
