El General Todopoderoso de Dragón

Dazed by his kisses, Maja couldn’t even muster a word.
Ian had enveloped her twice in the hot tub, then lifted her up and pressed her against the wall of the changing room. It was as if
he was savoring a feast he knew he wouldn’t have access to for a while.
Maja eventually fell asleep from exhaustion, only to awaken the following evening.
Her body felt limp and drained, and upon seeing the familiar ceiling, she recognized that she was in the Greenfield Gardens.
Images from the night before flashed intermittently in her mind. First it was surprise, then anger that made her chest tremble.
Just as she was about to get out of bed, the door opened, and in walked Ian, carrying a bowl of oatmeal.
“Maja, you’re awake.”
Maja took a deep breath, her expression turning cold.
“Explain.”
Setting the oatmeal aside, he stirred it with a spoon, blew on it gently, and brought it to her lips.
“First, eat.”
Maja turned her head away. She was too angry to speak, let alone eat.
Ian put down the spoon and sighed softly, pulling out the recording from last night.
“This isn’t right.”
“What’s not right about it?”
“You’ll blame me when you sober up.”
“I won’t. I initiated it.”
He lowered his eyelashes and continued stirring the oatmeal, silent, yet his message was clear.
The damn thing was, upon hearing the recording, Maja felt a sudden pang of guilt.

It was she who had initiated it.
Thinking back, she remembered that Ian had warned her not to drink too much last night, but she was distracted by his mention
of the Sanders family and didn’t pay attention.
She couldn’t remember the rest, only the overwhelming sense of pleasure.
Ian had clearly taken care of her last night, but it had been a long night.
Ian remained silent, still stirring the oatmeal.
Maja felt guilty for blaming him, her conscience stinging. She wanted to comfort him, but remembering their complicated
relationship, she closed her mouth again.
Setting the oatmeal back down, he slowly rose. “I’ll have Jeff take you home.”
Her guilt peaked at his words.
“I’m going to work overtime. There’s a lot of work left at the Raymond Corporation.”
Then he moved his bandaged hand slightly.
Maja noticed his palm was wrapped, and several blisters were visible on his fingertips. Frowning, she wondered how he got
these burn blisters.
Ian simply turned and walked to the door, where he bumped into Jeff. Jeff’s voice was clear and loud.
“Mr. Raymond, the soup you’ve been simmering is ready. Should I take it up to Ms. Pennyfeather?”
So he had burned his hand making soup.
Maja wasn’t one to respond to force, but gentleness left her somewhat at a loss.
Ian’s voice rang out just then.
“Maja, I’ll have Jeff take you home. I know you’ve had some misunderstandings about me.”
Indeed, she had always thought Ian was emotionally immature, explosive at the slightest provocation.

If she said anything hurtful, he would not hesitate to say something even more hurtful in his anger.
Even when she just woke up, she thought he had set a trap last night, forcing her, but it turned out that she was charmed by his
handsome face after drinking.
She had always been fond of Ian’s face and his long, slender hands. She often wanted to sketch him.
After getting drunk, she might have done something she wasn’t aware of.
He didn’t explain when he was misunderstood. He just played the recording.
Her heart clenched for a moment. She wanted to apologize, but he had already left.
Maja took a deep breath, slowly rose, and dressed in the clothes that had been prepared for her.
Her body was sore from his endurance in bed. He was just relentless and tireless.
After struggling into her clothes, she slowly made her way to the study, intending to apologize.
After all, she knew what he wanted to do last night. It was a stormy night. He took her to the hot springs and she had indulged
him.
“Ian.”
Before she could finish her sentence, his voice came through the study door.
“Maja, we both need to cool down.”
Maja’s fingers froze on the doorknob. Cooling down was what she had been doing for a while.
She was a rational person. This period was a test for Ian. If he didn’t change his ways, there was no point in them being together.
Now that things had turned out this way, she felt even more uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier.”
“I’m not bothered. You’ve always thought of me as that kind of person.”
That was like a dagger to the heart.

The door opened from the inside, and Jeff appeared with a respectful air.
“Ms. Pennyfeather, let me take you home.”
Maja lowered her eyelashes.
“Mr. Raymond is in a meeting. It’ll be several hours. He’s been very busy lately.”
Maja had no choice but to leave for now.
When Jeff returned to the Greenfield Gardens study, he was still puzzled.
“Mr. Raymond, why did you send Ms. Pennyfeather away?”
He had thought this was a chance for them to reconcile.
Ian had returned to his usual cold demeanor. The hands that had roamed her body last night were now holding a cold steel pen
when he was reviewing documents.
“She responds to tenderness, not force.”
“Ms. Pennyfeather probably won’t be coming over for a while.”
Ian paused, pen in hand, a slight raise of his eyebrows. “But she’ll feel guilty about accusing me unjustly these few days. It’ll nag
at her.”