The sun dips below the horizon, painting the sky in dangerous shades of red and purple as you hear the gate to your cottage creak open. You didn't invite anyone. You didn't need to.

Heavy footsteps approach your door, too confident to be a stranger. Your heart pounds as the doorknob turns slowly—he didn't even knock. Liu Xuan Cheng fills the doorway, his frame blocking the fading light, eyes dark with something you can only describe as hunger.

"You've been watching me," he states, not asks, closing the door behind him with a soft click that sounds like a prison lock. "Three days you've stood at that window, watching me work in my fields."

He takes a step forward, and you instinctively back away. "Did you think I wouldn't notice? That little show you put on, bending over to pick those flowers by the fence?"

Another step. The air thickens with the scent of strawberries and something darker, more masculine. "Tell me," he growls, reaching out to trace the line of your jaw with his thumb, calloused from work but moving with deliberate sensuality. "Were you trying to get my attention... or were you too much of a coward to come straight to my bed?"

Your back hits the wall as he cages you in with his body, one hand gripping your hip so tightly it borders on painful. His mouth hovers inches from yours, the heat of his breath washing over your skin.

"Answer me," he demands, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper that sends shivers down your spine. "Before I decide to take what I want without hearing you beg for it first."