Sacrificial Bride

One room is fine [Mature]

Several hours after what had transpired on the road, the young man and woman finally reached Meili town. Jin had already moved farther away from Shui and dared not touch her waist in front of others. Nonetheless, Shui felt restless. She had an embarrassment and paranoia that came along with the s****l awakening. “Can people tell what we have between us?”, she thought as she shifted her eyes from one pedestrian to another. 

Jin broke her concentration when he said, “if only it did not take so much effort to gather water. Meili town is still prosperous because it is right next to the river. Fanrong town cannot go on much longer without its own water supply.”

Shui nodded in agreement. The sun was starting to descend so Jin asked, “shall we find lodging?” Shui nodded again in agreement. She seemed to have lost her ability to speak after the closeness she had with Jin. 

Jin directed her to an inn close to the borders. He asked if she was agreeable to the inn he picked out. Again, she nodded yes. Inside the inn was a young boy receiving customers at the counter. He politely welcomed the guests.

“Good evening, big brother and sister. Are you here to book a room?” 

Shui looked up at Jin. “Does he want to share a room? We’re not kids anymore, especially after what just happened”, she thought to herself. 

“Yes, one room is fine for me and my wife.”, Jin said.

Shui’s eyes widened and her face turned to look at him. Her eyes spoke to him, “we’ve never had to disguise our identity before. What are you planning?”

Jin only smiled in return and then placed one arm over Shui’s shoulder. 

“Alright, please follow me”, the young receptionist said.

Shui began to feel her heart race. She’s never been this nervous with Jin before. The three people walked upstairs toward the room. The room was plainly decorated with one bed at the end, a wooden tub to the side, and one table with two seats in the center. Jin placed his and Shui’s belongings down on the table before he asked the young receptionist to prepare the bath water. 

“If you’ll excuse me, I will prepare your bath water now”, the young receptionist said before leaving to warm the water. 

After the doors closed, Jin said to Shui, “You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the ground.”

“Oh”, Shui thought, “he wasn’t planning on anything funnier than what happened on the horse.” She was relieved that nothing else was going through Jin’s head. However, she still did not understand that men’s actions do not always portray their desires. She did not know Jin’s internal conflicts and desires of being close to her. 

Shui responded, “Sure. That sounds good.”

Jin’s eyes showed a slight hint of disappointment at her response. Nevertheless, Shui was too tired to observe his response. She was ready for a nap after a long day of traveling. Shui laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. 

“Can you wake me up when dinner is ready? I am tired”, Shui said.

Jin responded simply with “sure”. 

Several moments later, she awoke to the sound of someone humming. She got up slowly. “This song sounds familiar”, she thought as she brushed her hands against her eyes. Her mouth slightly opened at what she saw when her vision cleared. Jin was sitting naked in the tub of water filled with rose petals. 

Shui blushed and turned around saying, “why didn’t you wait until I was awake? I could have left the room to give you privacy.”

Jin didn’t seem embarrassed one bit. He responded, “I didn’t want to disturb you. You said you didn’t want to be awoken until dinner time. I figured I could use your nap time for my own personal self care. Besides, I don’t mind if you catch any glimpse of me.” He then smirked and moved inside the tub toward her direction. 

Shui felt a rush of heat to her face and lower half when she heard him advance. She mustered up her courage to turn around and head toward the door. 

“I’ll be back with dinner”, she said as she hurried out the room. After closing the door behind her, she let out a relieving sigh and said to herself, “this is dangerous. Very dangerous. I can’t let this develop further”. 

Meanwhile, Jin was still in the tub. His face showed amusement. Although he was worried that he had scared Shui off, he was happy to see that she was not oblivious like before. He could tell that she’s understood his s****l desires. To him, this was progress. He licked his lips and pretended that his hands were Shui’s as he rubbed his chest and abdomen. His face became heated when his hands traveled southward to his excited member. With a heavy sigh, he said to himself, “no, you cannot do more than wash yourself. Don’t even think about dirtying this water. Shui has to use it afterward.” He strained to get his hands away from the area and soon grabbed a towel to dry himself. Jin gingerly dressed himself and pretended yet again it was Shui’s hands working on him. He took a drink of wine at the table to calm himself down. Patiently waiting, he wondered when Shui would return. 

Finally, a knock on the door came.

“It’s me. Are you ready for me to come in?”, the voice asked. 

“Yes, come in”, Jin said. 

Shui entered and was glad to see that Jin was no longer in the tub. She noticed that his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were locked onto hers. 

“I got you some roasted duck and egg noodles. It smells delicious”, Shui announced.

Shui walked over to the table, and saw that Jin’s eyes were filled with yearning. She quickly placed the food on the table and retreated back to her bed.

“Why is there just one portion?”, Jin asked.

“I’ve already eaten.”

An awkward silence filled the room. Shui had avoided Jin since the bathtub incident. She had decided to not even share a meal with him. Jin quietly ate and asked himself, “was it a mistake?”

After dinner, Jin asked, “are you going to take a bath? I can leave the room for you.”

Shui responded, “yes, I would like that. I’ll let you know when to come back in.”

Jin left the room and stood guarding the door. His mind started drifting to imaginations of Shui’s naked body and thoughts such as “would her breasts have brown n*****s like mine? How would her breasts taste if I sucked on them? I wonder if I can make her moan…” His member was hardening in public. He cleared his throat to get his mind away from the topic and calm himself down. Minutes passed and he could hear Shui climb out of the tub. Shortly after, the door behind Jin opened. 

Shui appeared behind the door. Her long, black hair was wet and hanging at her waist. Her eyes seemed to sparkle and Jin felt his heart soften. 

Shui said to Jin, “you can come in now.”

Jin followed Shui into the room and saw that a futon had already been laid out for him on the ground. He was not surprised that Shui wanted to keep distance. He told himself that he’s had more than enough today, that he should be grateful for even being this close to Shui. He will keep his word as a man and let Shui take the bed alone. Shui sat down on her bed and looked at Jin with endearing eyes. “Goodnight”, Shui said. Jin had already climbed into his futon by this point. He replied, “goodnight.” The two looked at each other with unspoken desires. Shui then broke their gaze and blew out the candle near her bed. The room became dark and the two began to fall asleep.