His mouth was still on hers when the voice cut through.Smooth and icy. Too close."Jianyu."His eyes flew open. The world snapped back, music and laughter, crystal clinking somewhere in the ballroom. Perfume and smoking curling the ballroom and him.Liang Shen.He stood half in the shadow glass in hand, dark gaze pinned to where Jianyu's body caged hers. Her pulse spiked. Jianyu didn't move or pull away his hand stayed locked on her waist, his thumb stroking the silk as if the interruption meant nothing. A taunt, or maybe a dare. Her lips were still wet, her breath still trapped in his chest. "Liang Shen," Jianyu drawled, finally lifting his head but not letting her go. "You're early."Early, as if this wasn't him caught pressing a woman against a marble wall with his mouth buried in her throat. Liang Shen's jaw ticked once. "And you're… occupied."The word sank sharply into her skin. Yuyan wanted the floor to crack open and eat her whole and burn the shame clawing her lungs. Instead, she stood there pinned and trembling. Her pulse was hammering loud enough that she swore they both could hear it. Jianyu's thumb pressed harder into her hip, as if answering her shiver almost like he wanted it.He then looked down at her, down into her… eyes narrowed behind the black mask. Slow, deliberate, and mocking."You're shaking."She bit her lip, not just from fear.The heat was unbearable. Not the ballroom heat, not the red lantern glow, his heat. The heat he pressed into her body.And Liang Shen saw it. He saw her caught between them, mouth swollen chest rising too fast. Her shame pooled now, heavy like acid tangled with honey.Liang Shen's voice dropped. "Is that your taste now, Jianyu?"Jianyu's smile curved, knife-sharp. His hand left her waist only to capture her wrist pinning it lightly against the wall beside her head. Nor force or rough casual dominance. His thumb brushed the soft side of her wrist, a slow circle like a brand. She bit down harder as her body flinched and her stomach knotted. The smallest sound slipped from her throat. Not a protest, something else.And Liang Shen's gaze snapped to it.And the air fractured.Her cheeks burned, every nerve screamed but not from Jianyu's grip. From the humiliation of being seen like this. Jianyu leaned closer, his breath hot against her temple. "Don't look away now," he murmured, low enough for only her to hear. "He should see."Her breath stuttered. He should see. Her nails dug into her own palm, trying to ground herself. Trying to remember why she was here who she was and what she came for. Not this, never this. But Jianyu's hand kept circling that one spot inside her wrist. Lazy and claiming. Each drag of skin against skin becomes more unbearable than the last.Her knees locked to keep from buckling as she swallowed the shake in her throat.Liang Shen finally stepped closer, slow and dangerous, the clink of his shoes against the marble cutting through the noise of the ballroom. He stopped a breath away his gaze sliding over her and then to Jianyu. "Interesting taste you've acquired, Jianyu." His smile was thin. "Do you even know who she is?"
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Jianyu didn't answer, he didn't even glance his way his arm only pulled tighter around her waist holding, and showing it off. Yuyan froze as her breath stuck. Her chest pressed into her back, warm and solid through her dress. "Does it matter?" Jianyu's voice was low, edged. "She's mine tonight."Mine. The word cut through her.Her lashes shook as her lips parted. "No…"But his hand slipped lower under her gown's edge as the cold drag of his rings traced her thigh slow, bold, and cruel.Her stomach twisted as her heart kept pounding. He was touching her while Liang Shen watched.Heat rushed to her cheeks, her knees gave a little, she tried to move but Jianyu yanked her back, holding her against him."You don't know what you're playing with," Liang Shen said, his voice flat while his glass shook in his hand. Jianyu chuckled, not light, not amused. A sound cut. He leaned to her ear, warm breath, and he gave a sharp bite. She gasped as the sound escaped sound and humiliating. Not meant for anyone to hear. Liang Shen's eyes narrowed as he caught it, he heard the break in her. Jianyu's hand slid higher brushing her lace not all the way just enough to burn."Pretty," he murmured for her alone. His words curling like smoke. "I can feel you shaking. You like this, don't you?"Her lips parted as air caught in them. Her mind screamed no, but her body kept dancing to his rhythm as her thighs pressed tighter around his hand. Shame spread like wildfire through her and she hated the fire pooling low hated how her skin lit up under his touch. "Jianyu," Liang Shen said, voice low like a threat. "You forget whose floor you're standing on."At last, Jianyu looked at him over her shoulder eyes dark and gleaming and he smiled. "That's the point."Before she knew it he gripped her jaw and turned her face as his mouth crashed against hers, tongue forcing her lips apart.She whimpered. The sound slipped out sharp with shame but Jianyu swallowed her noise and kissed her deeper until her knees buckled.Until her fingers clutched his wrist not to push him away but to stay upright.He broke the kiss just to whisper. "She moans for me, not you."Her stomach dropped, Liang Shen's jaw tightened as his glass cracked in his hand, and wine bled across his knuckles. Yuyan's pulse raced as terror tangled with heat. Words stuck in her throat. His mouth dragged to her neck wet and claiming he sucked until she bit back a cry.Her body arched against him and against herself. Liang Shen hurled the glass as the shards burst across the marble. His voice cut like ice. "You'll regret this."Jianyu laughed low and cruel, "She already does."Her knees weakened, but not from his grip. Her knees weakened from the fire under her skin and from the way her body answered him.She shut her eyes wishing to vanish but his whisper burned her ear. "Look at him. Let him see how sweet you are."Her eyes flew open straight to Liang Shen's fury. And Jianyu kissed her again, deeper and dirtier right there until the room spun.
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Her lips were swollen and her breath uneven as Jianyu's taste still clung to her tongue.And then… he let her go.Her knees almost gave out. She stumbled forward, dragged out of the shadows where his mouth had ruined her. The ballroom glittered on. Music, laughter, and glasses clicking.A thousand eyes were fixed on chandeliers and champagne but some heads turned. They saw her stumble, her mask slipping, her gown clinging too wrong, and her mouth shining too raw. Heat rushed up her back as humiliation burned her skin and yet beneath it all… the fire Jianyu left behind refused to die. Her thighs still throbbed where his rings had scraped her earlier. Her whole body carried his mark.And then… Liang Shen moved. Slow and deliberate into the light like a man taking what was his. He extended his hand toward her, palm open, fingers steady not out of kindness or rescue. A claim.Her heart slammed against her ribs. Everyone could see it and if she touched him, it wouldn't mean freedom. It would mean belonging. Behind her, Jianyu leaned back casually, smirking as if this had all been his plan all along. As if none of this was about her at all, but about the mark she would carry when she returned to the crowd. Yuyan's chest rose and fell too fast. Her palms were damp, her pulse wouldn't slow. Liang Shen's hand waited in the air open and steady like a velvet trap.She couldn't breathe or move. Then Jianyu's voice slid down her spine low and dangerous. "Take it. Let him show them. Let him paint you with his shadow."Her body froze. He wasn't angry, he was mocking her like he wanted to see her drown.Liang Shen's eyes stayed on her cold and possessive like a warning hid beneath the surface… choose me or regret it.Her gaze shifted between them. Liang Shen's hand, Jianyu's smirk.Two devils, both waiting to carve their mark. Her stomach twisted, her skin still burned from Jianyu's touch, his mouth, and his whispers. And now… shame burned hotter because everyone could see her falter.Laughter rose from the orchestra pit. Pearls clicked against glass, but her world had shrunk to this…One hand offered, one devil watching, and one choice that felt like a cage.She lifted her eyes and met Liang Shen's stare. Her pupils darkened, her fingers curled slightly, coaxing and commanding.Her own hand lifted, shaking and slow. Her chest ached with every beat.Jianyu leaned back in his chair elbow draped, smile sharp, he didn't move, didn't stop her, didn't fight. He let her step into another man's hold and it broke her more than his kiss had.Her palm touched Liang Shen's warm and firm. He closed around it, sealed it.A shackles disguised as silk.Gasps rippled through the crowd. Whispers rose, everyone saw it, the claim, the brand.Her throat burned, her chest felt hollow, and Jianyu's smirk hurt even worse than Liang Shen's grip. He had let this happen? No. He had wanted it. Why?Her lips shook, her voice refused to leave her throat.Liang Shen bent close, his breath brushing her temple. "You'll thank me later."She flinched. Thank him? For dragging her into his spotlight? For making her his lawn in front of them all?Before she could speak Jianyu's voice cut through the music dark and smooth. A whip wrapped in silk. "Careful, sweetheart."Her heart stopped, her knees turned weak. She snapped her head toward him. His eyes were locked on her, not Liang Shen, not the crowd. Her.Burning and claiming like she belonged to no one else."You don't realize," Jianyu said, every word slow and deliberate, "Which devil just put you on display."The floor tilted under her feet. Her hand was trapped in Liang Shen's. Her body still burning from Jianyu's mouth, and her name unraveling in whispers around the ballroom.Which devil would she survive? Which mark would she carry? Which cage was hers to step into?