Page 59 of The Scholar's Improper Wife

He ignored her, striding toward the bed with the confidence of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. The mattress dipped beneath her as he lowered her onto it, the silk cool against her back, the scent of peach blossoms wrapping around them with the drifting mist.

Yun-si’s mind raced, her thoughts tangling like threads pulled too tight.This is a spring dream.The realization hit her with the force of a dropped inkstone.I’m actually having a spring dream.

She didn’t know whether to be mortified or horrified. But beneath it all, threading through the panic like a stubborn vine, was curiosity. Spring dreams were lustful dreams, the kind that laid bare one’s hidden desires, the kind that proper young ladies wereneversupposed to have, let alone admit to. And by the look of him—by the way Ting-zhi moved, by the knowing glint in his eyes as he loomed over her—he seemed to have plenty of experience with them.

The silk beneath her palms was too real, the weight of him pressing her down too solid. Yun-si’s breath hitched as Ting-zhi’s fingers slid from her waist to cradle the back of her neck, his thumb brushing the sensitive skin beneath her ear. His touch sent a shiver down her spine, sharp and electric.

“Stay.” His words were a command wrapped in velvet. He pressed her firmly onto the mattress, his other hand bracing on her thigh casually, as if it was the most natural thing in theworld. The heat of his palm seeped through the layers of her robe, branding her through the fabric. “Lift your head, Yun-si.”

She lifted her head to give him a piece of her mind but the words froze in her throat when she realized how close he was. The mist curled around them, dampening the edges of the world until there was nothing but his eyes locked on hers, his breath warm against her lips, the scent of ink and spice wrapping around her like a second skin.

“I am going to kiss you now.”

The words hung between them, heavy with promise. Yun-si’s pulse roared in her ears, her fingers twisting into the embroidered coverlet. She should stop this. She should wake up. But her body refused to listen, her traitorous heart hammering against her ribs as if begging for exactly this.

Ting-zhi leaned in—

—and the world fragmented into pieces.

One moment, his lips were a breath away. The next, the bed vanished. The mist dissolved. The weight of his hand on her neck dissolved into thin air, replaced by the stiff embroidery of her own pillow beneath her cheek.

Yun-si gasped, her eyes flying open.

Morning light slanted through the lattice windows of Peach Blossom Courtyard, painting stripes of gold across her rumpled quilts. The air smelled of damp earth and the light fragrance of the flowers in the courtyard, the usual quiet of her chambers broken only by the distant chatter of servants.

She was awake.

And worse—she wasalone.

Yun-si pressed a hand to her chest, as if she could still the frantic rhythm of her heart through sheer will. It didn’t work. Her heart continued its wild pounding, each beat a reminder of the dream’s lingering warmth.

How dare he.

She flopped onto her back, glaring at the ceiling.How dare heinvade her dreams like that, all smug confidence and knowing touches, only to vanish before—before—

Her face burned.

Before she could evenenjoyher first spring dream.

A groan tore from her throat, muffled against her sleeve. This wasridiculous. It was a dream. Only a dream. A dream that hadn’t even had the decency to finish properly!

She threw the quilts aside and sat up, tangling her feet in the bedsheets and nearly toppling off the bed. She caught herself on the edge of the wooden nightstand, sending a stack of books wobbling.

Yun-si froze, her fingers curling around a copy ofA Scholar’s Wicked Proposal. The title mocked her.

With a growl, she yanked the book free and hurled it across the room.

It struck the screen partition with a satisfyingthwack, sending a flutter of loose pages skittering across the floor. The sound did nothing to ease the coil of frustration in her chest.

She wasnotthinking about Ting-zhi.

She wasnotwondering what his lips would’ve felt like.

She wasdefinitelynot imagining the way his voice had dropped, low and dark, when he’d said—

“I am going to kiss you now.”

Yun-si pressed her palms to her scorching cheeks.