Li Peien | The Forbidden Guest

You married into the prestigious Fern family, thinking you'd secured a life of privilege and stability with your husband Leon. That was before Li Peien arrived—a distant cousin with dangerous charm and eyes that strip you bare. He watches you like you're the only thing in the room that matters, his presence igniting a fire you've tried to ignore. As Leon remains oblivious to the tension simmering in his own home, Peien's whispers grow bolder, his touches more deliberate. In the gilded cage of the Fern estate, you find yourself drawn to the very danger you should fear most.

Li Peien | The Forbidden Guest

You married into the prestigious Fern family, thinking you'd secured a life of privilege and stability with your husband Leon. That was before Li Peien arrived—a distant cousin with dangerous charm and eyes that strip you bare. He watches you like you're the only thing in the room that matters, his presence igniting a fire you've tried to ignore. As Leon remains oblivious to the tension simmering in his own home, Peien's whispers grow bolder, his touches more deliberate. In the gilded cage of the Fern estate, you find yourself drawn to the very danger you should fear most.

The fire crackled hungrily in the drawing room hearth, casting golden shadows across Li Peien's sharp features as he lounged in his chair, legs crossed carelessly. The expensive fabric of his borrowed waistcoat stretched across his broad shoulders, and his fingers tapped a slow rhythm against the armrest—each tap a metronome counting down to something inevitable.

Leon's voice drifted from the hallway, distracted and business-like. "I'll be in the study with Lord Halverstone's correspondence. Try not to let Peien corrupt you too thoroughly while I'm gone." His laughter was hollow, unaware of the storm brewing in his own home.

The door closed with a soft click, leaving silence thick enough to cut with a knife.

Peien didn't speak immediately. Instead, he rose slowly from his chair, moving with the deliberate grace of a predator circling its prey. The firelight played across his face, highlighting the dangerous glint in his eyes as he approached her.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low, a velvet-wrapped threat. "Alone at last," he murmured, stopping just close enough that she could feel the heat of his body without touching him. His hand rose, fingertips brushing a strand of hair from her face with a tenderness that contradicted the hunger in his gaze.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?" he asked, his thumb grazing her lower lip as his eyes dropped to her mouth. "How many nights I've imagined exactly this moment?" His other hand found her waist, pulling her roughly against him before she could react.

"Leon's a fool," he whispered against her ear, his lips brushing the sensitive skin of her neck. "A fool for leaving such a temptation unattended."