"Let's take a walk in the late afternoon sun before we retire to our rooms," A-Xu had said and Wen Kexing, stupid idiot that he was, hadn't even spared a thought about what hidden meaning those words might have. Instead, he'd just smiled, nodded, and grabbed A-Xu's arm as he was led away from civilization.
They were barely out of sight of the village when Wen Kexing's back hit the tree behind him with a rather satisfying sound and hard enough to drive the breath from his lungs.
"A-Xu!" he cried in delight as soon as he'd gotten his voice back. It still sounded high and breathy and he noticed with interest how A-Xu's eyes narrowed at that. "What's gotten into you to treat your wife with such violence?" He licked his lips and let his eyes wander over the feast right in front of him.
He had the distinct feeling that A-Xu was laughing at him, despite his face keeping its usual, serene expression.
"If my wife," and oh that was an interesting inflection in that word, "insists on being overly affectionate with other men he only has himself to blame for the consequences."
Oh. Oh. A-Xu was jealous. Over some harmless back-and-forth with a vendor.
As revelations went this was a rather earth-shattering one, in Wen Kexing's opinion, and he grinned in manic delight as he got back on is feet, careful to keep his back to the tree. If he was pushed again he didn't want to end up on the ground next to it.
"My A-Xu wants me for himself!" He was sure that he looked like the idiot A-Xu regularly accused him of being but he didn't care. Any scrap of affection was something to be deeply cherished and while A-Xu wasn't nearly as stringy with it as he'd used to be his outright jealousy was a sight to behold.
Instead of a verbal answer he received a rather gentle swat to his arm. "Of course I do. I can't let you inflict yourself on people who aren't used to dealing with you. Menace," he added after a moment, making the word sound like an endearment.
Wen Kexing beamed back. "Yours and yours alone," he promised. As a reward he got pushed back into the tree. The slight pain of the back of his head hitting the bark made him laugh out loud. "Are you throwing me against the nearest tree to ravish me and show me my place?" He didn't dare to think about it too much, scared that the scene right in front of his eyes might vanish like a mirage. His arousal was already stirring and he knew that his body and his eyes were begging without his conscious approval. He'd gotten soft in controlling his body's responses but this was how A-Xu liked him so he indulged them both in this new, safe, and immortal live of theirs.
He liked the spark of interest his suggestion put into A-Xu's eyes. The push might have been rather hard but his hands on Wen Kexing's waist were as gentle as always as he was tugged closer into something that was almost an embrace. As if he was afraid he might hurt Wen Kexing. As if he ever could, in any way that wasn't appreciated. Still, it was only one of the many, many things he loved about his A-Xu.
"Everybody could see us," A-Xu murmured, which wasn't a 'no'. Interesting. Wen Kexing's whole body perked up even more at that and the low simmer of arousal that had taken over him the moment he'd been pushed against the tree flared up rather spectacularly. He bit his lower lip to keep an embarrassing whimper inside, well-knowing that A-Xu wouldn't be fooled for even a moment.
As if he could read his thoughts A-Xu put a hand on his cheek. "Lao Wen," he chided softly.
I want to hear you, he'd told Wen Kexing over and over again. He was only allowed to silence himself when A-Xu told him to, which wasn't often. One of the lessons that hadn't quite sunk in, yet, but A-Xu was a patient teacher and very indulgent with almost all of Wen Kexing's faults.
"Isn't that what you want?" he goaded, trying to get back to the high ground he'd held only moments before. "To show me and the whole world that I belong to you and you alone?" He lowered his eyes and relaxed his body, allowing it to sink down the tree a bit until A-Xu was towering over him. "You can." He widened his eyes and looked up. "I want you to."
A-Xu laughed at that.
"Of course you do. You're shameless and willing to flaunt your beauty everywhere you go."
Now even compliments? What had gotten into A-Xu today? Wen Kexing was delighted, yes, but wasn't sure if he could trust this sudden good fortune.
"Being taken like a whore in the middle of the road, in broad daylight, though? That's a little bit crass, even for you, isn't it?" The words were harsh but A-Xu was smiling at him as he leaned down just the tiniest bit to kiss Wen Kexing. It was a chaste, fleeting thing - over almost the moment it had started but it was enough to make Wen Kexing whimper. "So needy," A-Xu murmured. "I'll have to get you off the street and into a proper bed. I'm going to fuck you until you can't walk anymore and I'm not going to throw out my back by carrying you back home."
There was a protesting sound and it took Wen Kexing a moment to realize that it had been him who had produced it. "A-Xu," he begged and pushed against the light, but still restraining, hold pressing him against the tree. "Please," he added for good measure. "I don't care. I'll crawl back home, if I have to."
Another flash in those beautiful eyes but not a good one. Wen Kexing wasn't sure where he'd mis stepped but it was clear that he had.
"No," Zhou Zishu said flatly. "We're not doing that." His tone made it clear that the decision had been made and nothing Wen Kexing could say or do would alter it. "But," he added after moment in a much softer tone and with an indulgent smile. "It doesn't have to be a bed. We can make camp away from the street and spend the night under the stars." He twisted a strand of Wen Kexing's silvery white hair between his fingers. "You always look so lovely under the light of the stars."
What the fuck? Before his mind could even begin to comprehend that statement he was once against pressed against the tree - this time by A-Xu's whole body - and kissed breathless.
"When will it get through your thick skull that I'm never going to abuse you like that?" A-Xu growled and bit his lip. Wen Kexing yelped in pained surprise, just before he melted into the kiss that followed.
"Not even if I want you to?" he asked after he'd gotten enough air back into his lungs. Not that he really wanted that but…
"No!" A-Xu was annoyed now and Wen Kexing just about to get ready for beating himself up for ruining the mood when he took a deep breath and visibly gathered himself. "No," he repeated, much more quietly, almost as if talking to himself. "Not even if you wanted me to. Not that you do." A-Xu stared at him and Wen Kexing had the distinct feeling that he could look right into his soul, all his damage and flaws laid open in front of the one person who knew him completely and still hadn't walked away. The person who had not only stayed but had even came back to and for him over and over again.
His A-Xu. The love of his miserable life who, by some divine miracle, loved him back.
Wen Kexing knew that. Zhou Zishu had proven his love and devotion all over again and again until even Wen Kexing had been forced to acknowledge and accept it for the truth it was.
"Lao Wen." A soft touch on his left cheek and he nuzzled into the tender caress without even thinking about it. "I want you to feel good."
He closed his eyes and gently and slowly breathed out. Only when his lungs were completely empty he breathed in again. His whole body relaxed and his arousal - dampened, yes, but not extinguished - flared up again.
"You always do, A-Xu," he confessed.
Zhou Zishu, after discovering just how damaged Wen Kexing truly was, had been the one to set the boundaries between what was acceptable pain and what was not. He might not have the best standards, or so he said, but they were still leagues above Wen Kexing's.
A-Xu's free hand landed on Wen Kexing's throat and squeezed gently. After a moment the hold eased, only to become tight again. He was forced into a breathing pattern of A-Xu's choosing and he surrendered himself into it without even thinking about it.
"That's good, Lao Wen. Just breathe. Get yourself back under control. I'm not going to take you here, like a whore," his protesting whine was cut off before it could take form, "but in comfort, as my wife, like you deserve."
Another squeeze, this one harder and longer as the others and Wen Kexing allowed his eyes to close as his field of vision began to darken. He was safe, he could relax. How everything went from now on was out of his control - he could and would wait and see what A-Xu had planned for him. For them.
"Breathe," he was told again when the grip around his throat became a barely felt caress but he still didn't take in fresh air. "Keep your eyes closed."
The tone betrayed A-Xu's intent and allowed Wen Kexing to keep his body relaxed when the hand around his throat disappeared and he was swooped up in a secure hold. One arm under his knees, the other on his back, allowing him to rest his head on A-Xu's shoulder. He did so with a soft sigh of contentment.
The memory of the first time A-Xu had been strong enough to pick him up and carry him around as he pleased was one Wen Kexing treasured deeply, even if he himself had still been injured and very weak back then. The couple of times it had happened since he had fully healed had always been very memorable as well and he was looking forwards to what his A-Xu planned to do with him today.
Because this had been planned, he was sure of it now. In retrospect the whole day had the aura of Tian Chuang blended with Siji Manor scheme to it - meticulously planned, herding him into a direction of Zhou Zishu's choosing. He would have followed anyway but being played like that added a whole new layer of deliciousness to the whole thing. Oh, how much he loved it when A-Xu put all of his devious genius towards the goal of making Wen Kexing feel good!
He shivered in happy anticipation and was rewarded with a low laugh.
"You're so easy, Lao Wen."
He sighed happily and snuggled further into A-Xu's strong arms. "Only for you, A-Xu," he gave back cheerfully. "No one else ever even thought those words when confronted with me."
A kiss to the tip of his nose, which was as good as a verbal confirmation.
"So your whole vanishing act in the town was not only to abandon your poor little wife to the cruel whims of random strangers but to prepare what exactly?"
He could not see but he could feel A-Xu smiling at that. "You'll see," he said serenely. A small shrug, but his tight hold around Wen Kexing's body didn't waver in the least. "Or not. I'll decide when you can open your eyes again."
Another unbidden shiver wracked his body at that. He licked his lips and very carefully considered the possible consequences of his next words. "I might need help with that," he eventually confessed against warm skin, his face pressed against the perfect spot where A-Xu's neck met his shoulder.
A kiss to his hair. "I know, Lao Wen. I will help you but for now just keep them closed and relax. I've got you."
A-Xu was so good to him - he didn't deserve all that care and consideration but he was also greedy and eager to drink up every drop he could get of it.
Relax, A-Xu had told him and despite the anticipation and arousal thrumming through his veins he managed to focus on the feel of the strong arms around him, the feel of the cooling air as night fell unseen around him.
He had long since lost any sense of time of direction when A-Xu's low "you're doing very well, Lao Wen" brought him back to some resemblance of consciousness. "We'll be there soon."
Whatever A-Xu had prepared for them, it was far off the usual paths, hidden deep in the woods. He could feel the untouched forest around him. They would be safe to play, to indulge in all their desires, like they usually only were in the armory.
The idea of being taken apart and possessed in the warmth of a summer night instead of surrounded by ice and snow was appealing and his low-simmering arousal flared up again.
A-Xu, sensitive to his moods as always, laughed at him.
"So eager," he murmured.
So easily betrayed by my own body, Wen Kexing thought, not really unhappy about it but also not truly at ease with it either. That, too, was a recent development after he'd nearly killed himself in saving his Zhiji. One that had been carefully brought to life and then coaxed into full bloom by his lovely, wonderful, patient A-Xu.
He hadn't gone soft, oh no, his beloved A-Xu had put him through a rigorous training regimen the moment he'd deemed Wen Kexing fit enough for it. Wen Kexing was glad for that; without a more than worthy sparring opponent, who knew no mercy, he might have lost most of his martial arts in the wake of his injury, followed by the depleting and the almost-shattering of his meridians.
So, no, he hadn't become an invalid or some pampered courtesan, only good for conversation and sex - now they were the true equals they were always supposed to be. And if his lovely A-Xu decided to use his newly regained strength to pick him up and carry him around before fucking him through whatever surface he was put on?
Wen Kexing was more than happy to oblige him in that regard as well as any other. He'd long since given up on any pretense that Zhou Zishu couldn't take from or do to him whatever he wished.
"You're breathtaking like this, Lao Wen." There was reverence in Zhou Zishu's voice as well as his touches as he gently put Wen Kexing down it something that felt like a nest made out of blankets. "So eager, willing and completely mine."
So it was going to be one of those nights.
A slow, sensual one where every little thing betrayed A-Xu's love and care, where he would take Wen Kexing apart with gentle touches and soft words.
Wen Kexing hadn't been sure. It was either this or one of the violent ones were their coupling could almost double as fighting, where there was shouting, aggression and blood, both eager to rip apart and devour each other in every way possible.
He loved both scenarios equally but had to confess that right now - in the middle of summer, away from home for one of their rare supply runs, after a slow and lazy day spent in the market, buying clothing, jewelry and random trinkets - this suited his desires so much more.
"Raise your head," A-Xu said softly. Wen Kexing did and a moment later there was soft silk covering his eyes. The blindfold was carefully tied on and then his head was guided back down with the help of barely-there pressure. "I knew you would look stunning in blue. It makes your hair stand out even more."
The words, as well as the visuals they evoked, made him want to preen like a peacock. After some time to adjust he'd come to revel in his new, silver-white hair and A-Xu delighted in gifting him jewelry in dark tones to make the contrast especially stark.
Blue. Wen Kexing shivered. It was a dark shade, he was sure of it. Even without being able to see it - the knowledge that Zhou Zishu decorated him with his favorite color sent a rush of heat and pleasure through his whole body.
The picture of A-Xu carefully selecting the blindfold, touching it, judging its color and quality, deciding that it was the right one, came to life in his mind. All of that devious genius mind focused on just one goal - making Wen Kexing feel good, desired, loved - was more intoxicating than the most potent of wines.
"Oh, Lao Wen," A-Xu laughed, but not at him. You're worth it, the gentle touch on his face told him, as the blindfold was adjusted, it's good planning things for fun, was said when the outer layer of his robes was opened and his arms were carefully manipulated out of the sleeves.
So many more words of love and reassurance, mixed with outright praise, spoken in the silent language of touch. A-Xu wasn't the best at articulating those things out loud, not like Wen Kexing who could and would stand on a mountaintop and scream them out for all the world to hear, but their meaning still came across loud and clear in the silence of the night.
There was no fire to keep them warm, they didn't need it, but Wen Kexing suddenly wished for the crackling of flames and the smell of burning wood. To pretend they were free of pains and aches because they were young and unburdened by life, not because they had defeated death together and stepped over the threshold into immortality.
"Do you remember the night after you let go of your disguise?" he asked, remembering the fire and the playful splashing of water at each other.
"You mean the night you stared at me like I was the most beautiful and fascinating thing you'd ever laid eyes on?" A-Xu asked back, a laugh in his voice. "As if anyone could forget being looked at like they are the center of the world."
"You are," Wen Kexing said simply.
"Even back then?" The question was spoken very low, a hint of insecurity threaded through it. "I was such an asshole to you."
Zhou Zishu had been the light of his life since the moment they'd met as children and finding him again as an adult was a gift he didn't deserve but decided to keep close and treasure anyway. Or stalk and hunt down, as A-Xu had said once, laughing and pleased.
"Even back then," he confirmed. "It would have been easy for you to slip away and leave me behind but for all your protests and grumpy posturing you never did."
"No, I didn't. I thought I was done with everything but you," his mouth was coaxed open by soft lips and he was kissed, deeply and possessively, "had a way of blowing through all of my defenses like the wind blows away smoke."
All the while A-Xu had continued to undress him and now he shivered as a gust of wind caressed his naked body.
A hand landed low on his left side, almost on his hip. A firm grip, yet it was far more intimate than any teasing caress by anyone else could ever feel like. He'd been taken for pleasure or to establish dominance, he'd taken the first - but never the second, he had no taste for that - from the bodies of others for himself, but Zhou Zishu was the only one he ever surrendered himself to.
"I thought you were a beautiful, annoying, pest," A-Xu said conversationally, as if he didn't have an almost naked, painfully aroused, and very willing to be fucked man spread out right in front of him.
Bastard. Wen Kexing grinned and could feel the silk covering his eyes shift with the movement.
"Beautiful enough to keep around despite me being a pest?" he daunted and let his legs fall a little bit apart.
The firm grip became a rather hard squeeze.
"Beautiful enough to throw you down and take you on the spot if Chengling hadn't been with us. You were offering yourself up on a silver platter without a second thought. I could have had you any time I wanted."
Oh, the possibilities back then! Wen Kexing could almost taste them in the night air. It was nothing but the truth and there was no need to confirm it.
"The little idiot is not with us now," he murmured. "You already have me half-naked on the ground. So come and take what you want."
Make me yours all over again, everything inside of him begged but even his famed shamelessness had its limits.
"I also thought that you were the most dangerous man I've ever met," A-Xu continued while he slowly divested Wen Kexing of his last few remaining pieces of clothing.
"Beautiful and dangerous. What a delightful combination." His wonderful A-Xu was nothing less, after all. He didn't add that he'd thought the same thing, he'd made his opinion pretty clear back then and countless times afterwards.
"The best combination for people like us," A-Xu agreed absently. "Hands above your head," he added a moment later in the same tone of voice.
Wen Kexing shivered once again. He had a feeling that in this there would be no help today - no fine silk or coarse rope to hold him, only A-Xu's wishes and his own strength of will to keep him bound. He swallowed hard and followed the command. Even high above his head he only felt soft fabric and no ground. A-Xu must have built a nest the size of a meadow for them. Yet another rush of heat went through his body at that.
"Here," A-Xu said after a moment and carefully guided his hands until the fingers of his right were tightly wrapped around his left wrist. "That should help you." He gently caressed Wen Kexing's hands and wrists before withdrawing. "Hold on tight."
There would be bruises around his wrist afterwards, they both knew. A-Xu would take it between his warm hands and prod and poke them until they bloomed to the darkest color possible.
His A-Xu liked leaving him all marked up, and Wen Kexing enjoyed having visual reminders of their lovemaking on his skin, just like he enjoyed feeling the aftereffects being taken with every move, sometimes even every breath the took.
"Make me feel it," he begged.
Gentle hands brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. "Don't I always?"
Wen Kexing, for once, had no words after that, and a moment later his mouth was once again taken in a kiss.
You're giving me too much control over your body, A-Xu had once told him, not long after he'd discovered that he could entice Wen Kexing into consuming ice and snow in turn for being choked.
You can have control over every part of me, Wen Kexing had murmured back, full and blissed out at having all of Zhou Zishu's formidable attention focused on him and him alone. I'm yours in mind, body and soul.
A-Xu had been conspicuously silent at that. Not long after he'd presented Wen Kexing with the boundaries that must be kept when they indulged their… more extreme desires.
You're a menace not only for society but for yourself as well. So I guess it falls to me to keep you in line.
It falls to me to keep you safe, even from yourself - the true meaning of his words could not have been clearer. I'm sorry you didn't find someone worthier of the task.
"There's nobody else," Wen Kexing whispered. "There never could have been. It's always been you and you alone."
"You're lucky your idea of being romantic lines up with my own. Everybody else would have fled from you a long time ago, you possessive pest."
Of course Zhou Zishu knew which turn his thoughts had taken. He managed to bring his old, salacious grin onto his face. "My A-Xu is so possessive himself!" he purred in appreciation, elegantly ignoring the fact that he was just was bad if not worse in that regard.
Even if they weren't secluded, and even if he'd had the chance to look at other men - Wen Kexing would never do that and Zhou Zishu damn well knew it. Still, it was fun playing around with the concept of it and A-Xu's mock-jealousy was always a sight to behold.
The idea of him ever being truly jealous was breathtaking - Wen Kexing was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to move for a long time after A-Xu had shown him his place again. If ever. They had found chains in the armory, after all…
It was a nice fantasy, but it would always stay exactly that. He would - could - never stray from his A-Xu's side, apart from some harmless roleplaying like today. Every fiber of his being rebelled against the mere of idea of it.
He would rather slit his own throat than betray Zhou Zishu ever again and he'd been willing to pay the price for his sins for an eternity, if he hadn't been stopped.
It had taken A-Xu a long time to break Wen Kexing away from his self-punishment by almost-starvation and even now his consumption of ice and snow was carefully monitored.
"Don't." A-Xu's voice called him back from the dark place his thoughts had wandered into without his permission. "If you need to help to focus on the here and now I can take off the blindfold." If you need help to focus on me.
A gentle touch on his temples and a kiss to his forehead.
"Stay with me, Lao Wen."
An order and a plea at the same time.
I would survive without you just as well as you would without me, A-Xu had told him during those first, harrowing days - or had it been weeks? Wen Kexing still didn't know and was too afraid to ask - when it wasn't yet sure if Wen Kexing would even pull through, let alone recover his martial arts.
"Always," he promised back and took a deep breath to vanquish the dark thoughts. "I'm good," he added quickly. "Please, leave it on." He liked the idea of being unable to see and anticipate what would be done to him, even if it robbed him of the vision of beauty that was Zhou Zishu. He just had to reign in his overactive imagination.
He gripped his wrist tighter to ground himself in reality. A-Xu doubtless saw the move but didn't comment. He also didn't do anything else and that was unacceptable.
"Although it's kind of unfair that you can look at me naked like that while I am deprived of seeing you in return," he said after some time had passed where nothing had happened. "You must be an unequaled sight in the moonlight." Was A-Xu completely undressed by now? He'd shed at least some of his clothes but probably not all considering how unnecessarily modest - or rather ashamed of the marks the nails had left on his body - his soulmate had come to be. Coaxing him out of every last bit of clothing had become a hobby of Wen Kexing in this new, rather unspectacular life of theirs.
"I'm admiring the view," A-Xu gave back immediately, the smile in his voice clear to hear for Wen Kexing. "It is a rather nice one."
"Only 'rather nice'? I'm disappointed. I thought…" the rest of his words got swallowed by a moan at the sudden and tight grip around his half-hard cock. Where A-Xu had found the time and dexterity to put oil onto his hand Wen Kexing would never now but he appreciated how much easier and more pleasurable it made the whole thing.
"It would be nicer if you were incoherent and begging. Or maybe…" The fingers of the hand that wasn't busy stroking him to full hardness lightly traced his lips. Wen Kexing resisted the urge to bite and just let the touch happen. "… maybe your mouth should be occupied otherwise."
Stop teasing, please, he wanted to say but two fingers slipped inside his mouth, pressing down his tongue and stealing the words before they could be spoken.
"I could fuck your mouth," A-Xu continued, almost idly, and Wen Kexing didn't even try to contain his full-body shiver at that. A gag would be another possibility, but it was one neither of them liked for different reasons, so Wen Kexing could stay unafraid not matter how far his mouth was pried open. He tried to lick A-Xu's fingers but his tongue was still held down until the fingers withdrew completely.
His whine at that made A-Xu laugh again, a beautiful sound he could never get enough of.
"I think I want to hear you tonight," he announced, as if he didn't almost always want that. Even on the rare occasions he didn't he never did more than put his hand over Wen Kexing's mouth. His wet fingers trailed a path down Wen Kexing's throat before pinching his right nipple.
Wen Kexing swallowed hard at that. I am shameless, he reminded himself. If A-Xu wanted to hear him he could and would scream down the whole forest.
Still, a soft moan was the only sound that escaped him and even that was cut short when his left nipple received the same treatment.
A-Xu loved it when he allowed himself to be responsive so Wen Kexing had worked hard on overcoming his instinct to hide and keep all but the most obvious signs of pleasure well hidden.
Still, those instincts had served him well for basically all of his previous life there was only a short tensing of his body, swiftly relaxed again, and a short gasp of surprise when the hand left his cock and two fingers pushed into him at once a moment later.
He could feel A-Xu's pleased smile and grinned back.
Unfair, he mouthed and got a rare, audible laugh for that.
He half-expected a comment at how easily he could take two fingers at once - considering A-Xu's mock-jealousy from before he'd been almost sure there would be one - but instead A-Xu seemed to just wanted to take his time playing with him.
Script changes like that in the middle of their playtime weren't that unusual but Wen Kexing was still contemplating making such a comment himself when his brain descended into white noise as A-Xu, probably guessing his plan, hit that spot with unerring accuracy. There was no way he could hold back his gasp of surprise and the automatic jerk of his body this time.
"I prefer you gasping and moaning, not thinking." The words were hissed into his right ear. "You're so pretty like that."
"I didn't think A-Xu wanted a mindless, pretty plaything," he gasped the moment he could. A-Xu had never before compliment him as often or as explicitly as today and it was starting to get to his head. "I rather thought you like…" Another vicious thrust and his mouth was taken in a brutal kiss. He clenched his fingers around his wrist, as well as around the fingers inside of him, and prayed for this moment to never end.
"So stubborn. I really should have put you on your knees and fucked your mouth earlier."
Wen Kexing licked his lips and grinned. For the first time he was cursing the blindfold that kept him from seeing A-Xu's exquisite features. As fun as the thing had been in the beginning, now he wanted nothing more than to drown in A-Xu's eyes, to drink in every tiny movement.
"You'd be bored if you could shut me up that easily." He bit back the next sentence - Besides, you complained when I was not talking to you - because A-Xu always reacted badly to reminders about the weeks where Wen Kexing was so out of it with pain that he was barely lucid in those few moments he was even awake.
A-Xu traced the grin with his fingers but didn't put them into his mouth this time. Instead, they trailed over the right side of his face and further back until the blindfold was loosened with a quick tug and put to the side.
"I want to see your eyes when I take you," he said simply and leaned down for another kiss. This one was short and simple, full of assurance.
I know what you need. Trust me, I'll take care of you.
Wen Kexing breathed out, slowly and measured even without being told to. He blinked against the dim light of the night and searched out A-Xu's face.
He was greeted with a gentle smile, just a moment before his legs were pushed back. It cost him the rest of his fraying mental capabilities but he just about managed to keep hold of his wrist and keep his hands high above his head. A-Xu hadn't yet given him leave to release his grasp and he was determined to hold on until warm and strong fingers would pry his own open.
Finally.
He almost closed his eyes again in bliss when A-Xu finally pushed his cock into him. He resisted the urge to wrap his legs around A-Xu and allowed himself to be bent almost in half. Foreplay and fingers were nice, yes, but nothing, absolutely nothing came even close to the feeling of taking A-Xu's cock.
Not even fucking A-Xu in return, mindblowing as that was. This, here, right now was what he wanted the most.
"I knew it," A-Xu said, sounding far too composed considering the was in the middle of literally fucking Wen Kexing into the ground, "you look incredible in the moonlight."
The words, together with the possessive yet tender way A-Xu looked at him, proved to be his undoing. Suddenly he wanted the blindfold back. This would be so much easier without sight.
"A-Xu," he managed to choke out, just before a particularly vicious thrust stole the last of his breath and overloaded his senses for good.
Experience told him what would be next and so he was prepared for the hissed "Come for me, damn you" a couple of thrusts later, just before A-Xu grabbed his cock again and gave him one or two rough strokes.
After a day of foreplay and teasing it was more than enough.
Having Wen Kexing come first, and spilling into him when he was already a boneless, fucked out mess had become a point of pride with Zhou Zishu as he recovered his stamina.
Wen Kexing was only too happy to indulge him in this - and pretty much everything else, really. The heady mixture of pleasure and almost-pain inflicted onto his already overstimulated body was something he'd come to truly look forwards to.
A-Xu, freed from the nails and confinements of a mortal life, and back at the height of his strength, had turned out to be extremely possessive and unafraid to simply take what he desired from Wen Kexing's body. It was what Wen Kexing had always dreamed of, what he had always seen the potential for, but had barely dared to hope to ever truly get.
He would have taken A-Xu in any condition, of course, as long as he stayed fucking alive, but this was by far the best possible outcome.
The two of them might not deserve it, but they'd gotten it anyway and Wen Kexing would never let go of it, or his A-Xu, ever again.
"I love you," he whispered, the words wrapped around a whimper as A-Xu pushed into his oversensitive body one more time before coming himself.
A moment later his mouth was once again taken in a bruising kiss.
"You beautiful menace," A-Xu murmured and this time it wasn't a comment on his looks, Wen Kexing knew.
He grinned anyway and blinked innocently. A-Xu huffed in response, not annoyed but full of fond exasperation, before he pulled out. The motion wasn't the most pleasant feeling and Wen Kexing winced but still was quick enough to wrap his legs around A-Xu's waist as he sat back, forcing him to stay close. Just as he'd guessed A-Xu had kept his very last layer on and the urge to grab the sheer fabric to rip it apart was almost impossible to ignore.
"You can let go now," he said but Wen Kexing, despite knowing exactly what A-Xu meant, didn't do anything but taking a deep breath while he waited. After a moment there was a half-annoyed eyeroll, softened by a smile. "I have to do everything for you, you lazy pest."
Despite the words he was exquisitely gentle as he pried Wen Kexing's fingers open from their iron grip around his wrist. A-Xu kissed his right hand before guiding Wen Kexing into resting it in a more comfortable position along the side of his body, a gesture that sent a shiver through his already overtaxed body and forced a soft moan out of him. A-Xu only smiled as he turned his attention to the abused left wrist.
He carefully lifted the right hand to squint at the damage in what little light the moon gave.
He sighed. "You're so careless with yourself, Lao Wen."
Wen Kexing blinked in surprise. This was… not what he had been expecting. Instead of pushing against the bruises and slight cuts where he'd broken the skin with his nails A-Xu traced the very minor wounds with all the concentration a major one would deserve.
After a moment A-Xu pressed a very drawn-out kiss against the pulse point. Near the end there was just the hint of teeth against his skin, not nearly hard enough to hurt, before A-Xu licked the small amount of blood from his skin.
Wen Kexing smiled, more than content. All tenderness aside, there was a wild part inside Zhou Zishu that could never be fully suppressed. He loved the dichotomy in his A-Xu's behavior it led to.
After he'd satiated those urges A-Xu wrapped the silk blindfold tightly around Wen Kexing's wrist. There was absolutely no need for any bandage - or any intervention, really - and they both knew, it but it was still nice being taken care of like that.
At least in this his guess had been correct - it was a blue so dark that it almost looked black in the night. A blindfold, restraints around his wrist, around his throat, maybe tied around his cock - there were so many possibilities and he was sure A-Xu had thought about them all already. It was already the most favorite gift he'd ever received and he could barely wait to see its true color in daylight and see the sun reflect off it.
Before A-Xu had come back into his life there hadn't been anyone for so long that every small gesture of being taken care of made Wen Kexing's heart race like he'd just finished a battle for his very survival.
"One day I'm going to bind you in silk all over," A-Xu promised as the pushed and pulled a groaning Wen Kexing into a sitting position. So while Wen Kexing had been fantasizing about fictional chains A-Xu had been busy making far more realistic plans. Good to know. "Move, you lazy thing. You're not going to lie in the mess you made."
Ah yes, as if A-Xu hadn't contributed to the mess himself. Wen Kexing rolled his eyes and winced when the movement of his body reminded him that he'd just been fucked rather vigorously.
"I wasn't the only one making a mess," he complained. In fact, he could feel A-Xu's contribution to it leaking out of him right now. He grimaced and A-Xu laughed at him.
"The price you pay for getting fucked," he said mercilessly before rolling his eyes. As if he hadn't prepared even for that - even while he spoke A-Xu procured some cloth from somewhere and cleaned Wen Kexing up with quick and efficient, yet gentle motions.
Not too long after Wen Kexing found himself bundled up in his inner robe, resting with his back against A-Xu's chest and strong arms around his body, holding him in securely.
"Lao Wen," A-Xu said in that special tone he had and Wen Kexing, well trained at this point, opened his mouth as a cup of water was pushed against his lips. It was almost too warm for what they now were but he drank it down without frowning or any other sign of protest.
A-Xu had promised to feed him for the rest of their eternity together and Wen Kexing was far too selfish and clingy to not take advantage of a fantastic deal like that.
The cup vanished and A-Xu softly stroked his throat as a reward for his compliance. Ice went easier down than snow or even cold water, but they were too far away from any ice here.
"I know it's too warm," he whispered into Wen Kexing's ear. "I'll give you ice as soon as we're home again."
In the morning they would return to the village and their rented room there, pack up their purchases and wander back home where they belonged. This, right here and now, was a beautiful timeout but no longer their reality.
Before that A-Xu would probably take him again, in the early morning light.
Wen Kexing shivered in happy anticipation. He raised his left arm and looked as the silk tightly wrapped around his wrist.
There were a myriad of conflicting emotions warring inside of him - tenderness and love, gratitude but also some fear, all mixed with a fierce protectiveness and the need to take, stake his claim just like he'd been claimed today.
In the end, words failed him to articulate anything of it. After letting go of his masks and pretenses he'd found that it had become harder to find the right words - poetry, the words of other people, were no longer enough and he often couldn't find his own to say what he wanted.
He knew that he'd become quieter since almost dying and that A-Xu wasn't really happy about that, despite all his protests of Wen Kexing being too loud in the past, but there was nothing to be done about it.
A-Xu idly played with a strand of white hair, twisting it around his fingers and humming. "I hope my wife is now reminded of his place. If he strays again I will be happy to remind him over and over again whom he belongs to." He tugged none too gently on the strand of hair.
The teasing startled a laugh out of Wen Kexing.
"A-Xu!" he cried. "And you say I am the impossible one of the two of us!"
"Hmm." He could hear the smile in the sound. A-Xu brushed aside his hair on the right side and nuzzled into his neck, licking and nibbling at the pulse point there. "I want to claim and mark you as my own like you did from the moment we've met. You are a bad influence on me, Lao Wen."
"Hmm," Wen Kexing echoed. He could say the same, but he was still to blissed out to search for the proper words. "Likewise," he murmured eventually. "You've made me lazy and willing to lounge around the whole day in your arms when before I was full of energy and ready for action at a moment's…"
A-Xu bit him, hard, on the spot where neck met shoulder. "You're as lazy as a cat that's well-fed after a successful hunt, Lao Wen. Enjoy the spoils of your efforts and let yourself be pampered by your husband."
You deserve it.
Wen Kexing grinned. As if he'd been doing anything else but live inside a beautiful dream ever since being brought back from the brink of death by Zhou Zishu's power of will and his insanely strong qi.
He grabbed for A-Xu's right hand, and entwined their fingers while A-Xu's left arm still held him tightly.
Tomorrow, they would retreat back into their new, cold mountain home, he knew, but tonight they would enjoy the warmth of the night, taking the memory of summer with them into the eternal winter that had become their shelter from a world that no longer fit them.