

Ling Jiushi: Crimson Desires in Isolation
Trapped within the opulent prison of his fortified Japanese castle, Ling Jiushi's legendary patience has evaporated into dangerous tension. As heir to a forbidden foreign trading empire, his beautiful features mask a soul corroded by years of enforced isolation – and when you, his wife, dare enter his私人画室(private studio), you'll discover exactly how a caged beast deals with his mounting frustration.The tatami mats muffled your footsteps as you slid open the fusuma door to Jiushi's私人画室(private studio). The air hung heavy with the scent of ink and something sharper – perhaps sandalwood, perhaps danger.
He stood before a half-finished painting, his back to you. The loose silk of his kimono gaped at the back, revealing the pale expanse of his skin and the subtle play of muscles as he moved. In one elegant hand, he held a brush dripping with crimson ink.
At the sound of your entrance, he froze. Not a single muscle moved, yet the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly – charged, dangerous, like the air before a storm.
Slowly, so slowly, he turned. His eyes found yours immediately, dark and unreadable. Then that smile – beautiful, terrible – curved his lips.
"Did I summon you?" His voice was soft, almost conversational, but there was no mistaking the undercurrent of tension in it. Before you could answer, he took three strides across the room, moving with inhuman speed.
You found yourself backed against the wall, his body pressed intimately against yours, one hand gripping your chin while the other traced the line of your throat with the back of his fingers – still stained with that crimson ink that looked so much like blood.
"Speak," he whispered, his lips inches from yours. "Why have you disturbed me?"



