CHAPTER 92: CHAPTER 92; I WAS SLEEPING

"I was sleeping," she corrected. "Floating and sleeping. It’s very comfortable, actually. You should try it sometime."

"Sleeping? Floating in a pool? Who does that? How is that even possible...."

He cut himself off abruptly.

Because he’d just realized something.

Something that made his face flush hot despite the cool water still dripping from his hair.

Shuyin was naked.

Completely, utterly naked beneath him.

He’d been so focused on the panic of thinking she’d drowned that he hadn’t registered it. But now, with his body pressed against hers, separated only by his thin, waterlogged silk pajamas, there was no mistaking it.

Her skin was cool and smooth against him, milky white without any blemishes. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck, holding him close. Her jade eyes were watching his face with that unnerving intensity, clearly aware of his realization and completely unbothered by it.

"You’re... you’re not..." Lu Yuze couldn’t form a coherent sentence, his brain short-circuiting somewhere between relief that she was alive and mortification at their current position.

"Wearing clothes?" Shuyin finished for him, still completely calm. "No. Why would I wear clothes to swim? That would be impractical."

"But you.... we’re...." He tried to pull back, to create some distance, but her arms tightened around his neck, keeping him in place.

"Humans are so strange about bodies," she observed, tilting her head slightly as she studied his reddening face. "It’s just skin and anatomy. Nothing shameful about it."

"That’s... that’s not...." Lu Yuze was now thoroughly flustered, his usual composure completely shattered. He carefully avoided looking anywhere but at her face, his eyes fixed firmly on her glowing jade eyes. "This is highly inappropriate...."

"Is it?" She seemed genuinely curious. "You’re my husband. Legally. What’s inappropriate about a husband seeing his wife’s body?"

"We’re..... it’s a contract marriage, we’re not actually....." He was sweating now despite the cool water, his discomfort growing by the second. "Please let me go so I can get you something to cover..."

"Fine," she sighed, releasing him finally. "Though I still think human modesty is ridiculous."

Lu Yuze scrambled backward so quickly he nearly slipped on the wet tile. He turned his back to her immediately, his face burning hot enough to probably cause the remaining water on him to evaporate.

"Stay there," he commanded, trying to regain some semblance of authority despite his complete loss of composure. "Don’t move. I’ll find something....."

He spotted a storage cabinet along the wall and practically ran to it, yanking it open to find stacks of pool towels and several plush robes. He grabbed the largest robe he could find and hurried back, keeping his back firmly turned to her.

"Here," he thrust the robe behind him without looking. "Put this on. Please."

"Your face is very red," Shuyin observed, making no move to take the robe. "Are you ill? Should I be concerned about your cardiovascular health?"

"I’m fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Just, please, put on the robe."

"You’re embarrassed," she said, and there was something almost like fascination in her voice. "Because you saw me naked. Even though you didn’t intend to. Even though it was an accident. Your species finds this shameful somehow."

"It’s not about shame," Lu Yuze tried to explain, still resolutely facing away from her. "It’s about... privacy. Respect. Boundaries. Things that matter in human society."

"Mmm. Interesting." She finally took the robe from his outstretched hand. "Your society has very complicated rules about very simple things."

He heard the rustle of fabric as she stood and wrapped the robe around herself. "You can turn around now. I’m ’decent,’ as you would say."

Lu Yuze turned slowly, and indeed, she was now covered in the oversized robe, her wet hair dripping onto the plush fabric. She looked almost comical, swimming in the too-large garment, but at least she was clothed.

"Thank you," he said, finally able to breathe properly again.

"You’re welcome, though I maintain this was unnecessary." She tilted her head, studying him with those unnerving eyes. "You really thought I was dead? That’s why you jumped in without a care?"

"You were floating face-up, completely motionless, in the middle of a pool," he said, his voice still tight with residual fear and embarrassment. "What was I supposed to think?"

"That I was resting comfortably in my element," she replied simply. "But I suppose humans don’t float naturally the way.." she caught herself, "...the way some people do."

Lu Yuze’s analytical mind, now that the panic and mortification were fading, latched onto that near-slip remark. My element. The way some people do.

She’d spent the entire night in the pool. Floating. Sleeping. Apparently perfectly comfortable and safe.

As if water was more natural to her than air.

As if she belonged there.

"Shuyin," he said carefully, "how long were you in the pool?"

"All night," she answered without hesitation. "It was very restorative. I feel much better now."

"You slept in the water? For hours? Without drowning?"

"Obviously, since I’m standing here talking to you." She began wringing water from her hair casually. "Though I must say, being woken by being dragged out and nearly having CPR performed on me was not the peaceful morning I’d envisioned."

Lu Yuze ran a hand through his own wet hair, water dripping down his face. His silk pajamas clung to his body uncomfortably, and he was creating a puddle on the tile floor.

"I’m sorry," he said finally. "I panicked. I thought you were in trouble."

"I appreciate the concern, even if it was unnecessary." She looked at him more closely, taking in his soaked clothing. "You jumped in fully clothed. Ruined expensive pajamas. All to save me from a danger that didn’t exist."

"Yes, well...." He felt his face heating again for a different reason. "You’re my wife. Contract or not, I wasn’t going to just let you drown."

Something flickered in her jade eyes, surprise, perhaps, or maybe something softer. But it was gone before he could identify it.