Luo He still amused by their earlier exchange, activated Shadow Step and his invisibility once more and followed his wife unseen through the quiet corridors of the estate.
The afternoon light slanted through carved windows, painting gold across the stone floor. Servants passed nearby without noticing the invisible figure gliding between shadows. Ahead of him, Jin Mulan entered their chamber.
She had returned from the bath wrapped only in a light cloth and was standing before an open wardrobe, selecting a dress with calm, practiced movements. Her damp hair rested across her bare shoulders, and the room still carried the faint scent of oils and warm water.
Luo He considered the moment. Then chose badly. He stepped behind her silently and wrapped both arms around her waist when she puts down her towel to get dressed. The cold surface of his armor pressed against her bare skin.
Jin Mulan reacted instantly. Her elbow shot backward toward his ribs while her fist turned for a second strike aimed at his jaw. Luo He didn't even released her yet easily slipped aside just in time.
The punch cut through empty air with enough force to make the sleeves hanging nearby sway. He whistled softly.
"Is that all." She spun around, eyes blazing. "You idiot."
Her back kick came next fast, sharp, merciless. He dodged again, with out even retreating a step.
Luo He: "Don't act rashly. One day you'll hurt someone for real."
Jin Mulan: "How is breaking a few teeth off a creep who grabs me from behind a bad thing?"
Luo He: "Because that creep is expensive to repair."
Another kick came. He effortlessly hopped aside.
Luo He: "Careful, I am wearing armor."
With a smooth motion the black and red armour withdrew into his body like liquid metals, folding away until only his normal clothing remained.
Luo He: "If those strikes landed fully, you would have injured yourself."
She paused. That annoyed her most because he was right. Her fists slowly unclenched.
Jin Mulan: "Then stop sneaking up on me."
Luo He: "But the technique demands practice."
Jin Mulan: "Practice on enemies."
Luo He: "You really want me sneaking up on Xu Min. You considered her an enemy? don't you?"
She gave him a look sharp enough to split timber. Then turned back toward the wardrobe.
He stepped close again this time openly and rested his hands lightly on her shoulders.
Luo He: "Do you need a massage?"
Her face changed at once. Not soft exactly. But less hostile. The smallest hesitation betrayed interest. She tried to preserve dignity.
Jin Mulan: "You caused the tension."
Luo He: "Then I should resolve it."
Jin Mulan: "Your logic is criminal."
Luo He: "Stand still." She did.
He smiled privately. Then, to her surprise, he became serious. His hands worked slowly across her shoulders, pressing precise points that released knots from training. The lingering strain from spear drills melted beneath practiced fingers.
Jin Mulan's posture lowered by a fraction. He moved to the base of her neck, thumbs easing tension there, then down along either side of her spine with careful pressure. Every motion was controlled. No teasing. No games.
Only skill.
She hated how quickly it worked.
Jin Mulan: "Where did you learn this?"
Luo He: "Medicine."
Jin Mulan: "Suspicious answer."
Luo He: "Would you prefer mystery?"
He continued downward along her back, correcting stiffness from repeated sparring and travel. A quiet moan escaped her before she could stop it.
He heard it. Said nothing. Wise for once.
She knew he enjoyed the moment as much as she did. Any man with sense would have considered such intimacy with a woman like her as a privilege worth spilling blood for.
But what surprised her was that he was not behaving like a man chasing advantage. He was behaving like someone pleased simply to care for his loving wife. Nothing more as he didn't make and attempts to move any further along that line. That unsettled her more than flirting ever had.
When he finished, he rested his chin lightly near her shoulder.
Luo He: "Better?"
She rolled one shoulder experimentally.
The pain was gone.
Jin Mulan: "Acceptable."
Luo He: "High praise for woman that tight."
She turned halfway toward him as if she noticed something he didn't.
Jin Mulan: "Do it again tomorrow."
Luo He grinned.
Luo He: "So annoying."
Jin Mulan: "Or I resume not to follow the family tradition."
Luo He: "Violence?"
Jin Mulan: "Correction."
He laughed.
Luo He let his hands rest on her shoulders for one last moment, feeling the tension he had worked free no longer there. Then he stepped back.
His gaze moved over her once not hungrily, but with open satisfaction. She stood straighter now, hair still damp, skin warm from the bath, expression carefully composed despite how much better she felt. He knew. She knew he knew.
That was enough to irritate her slightly.
"Get dressed and come down for dinner."
Luo He said with a calming voice. His tone was yet casual for him, almost lazy. As if he had not just turned the room upside down twice in one afternoon.
He started toward the door. As he passed behind her, he gave her a smooth tap on the ass. Sharp enough to surprise. Light enough to be deliberate. She turned immediately, eyes widening. "Didi..." {(meaning little bro. That's what she often called him when she's pleased with him. Like a pet name.) Luo He really didn't mind what she called him, it was never a problem in his book.}
Luo He kept walking. Then stopped at the doorway and looked back over one shoulder. The humor in his face faded not into anger, but into clarity. "Don't enjoy this too much." He said firmly. She narrowed her eyes.
"You do not deserve to be treated this well today." He continued his voice calm and calculated with no anger. Silence settled. His voice remained calm, but still firmer. "You struck me earlier without holding back." He tapped the frame of the doorway with two fingers.
"Do not expect me to laugh about it every single time." That landed harder than if he had raised his voice. Because Luo He almost never needed to. He joked often.
Provoked constantly. Pushed every boundary he could find.
But when he drew one of his own he made it unmistakably clear. Jin Mulan said nothing. She stood still beside the wardrobe, robe gathered loosely around her body, pride urging a sharp reply to rise from her throat. None came.
Because she understood exactly what had happened. He was not punishing her. He was defining terms. There was affection between them now, desire, trust, even playfulness. But not permission. Not for everything. Not without limits.
And that was part of what made him difficult to handle. He could be shameless one moment, laughing the next, teasing like a reckless boy.
Then suddenly become immovable as stone.
Jin Mulan had grown up around loud men, proud men, controlling men, weak men pretending to be strong. Luo He was different. He bent often. But never where it mattered. That unsettled her more than she liked to admit.
Because some part of her knew if she truly crossed one of those unseen lines
he would respond. Calmly. Decisively.
And without apology. She did not know what form that would take. Distance.
Coldness. Authority. Or maybe something sharper. That uncertainty was enough. Not fear exactly.
Something more complicated. Respect sharpened by caution. Which, to a woman like Jin Mulan, was dangerously close to attraction. At the door, Luo He waited one second longer. Then his expression softened slightly. "Come before the food gets cold." He added with loving care.
And just like that the severity vanished.
He walked out. Leaving her alone in the room, pulse strangely unsettled. Jin Mulan stared at the closed door. Then muttered under her breath "Insufferable man."
A pause.
Then quite, Jin Mulan said to her self "He is right though." That annoyed her most of all but she didn't have the courage to push back. She dressed carefully for dinner. And went to their personal dining room.