There are certain virtues a decent leader should show. The more obvious ones are honor, courage, integrity, excellence, prudence, and assertiveness. A good ruler also exhibits compassion, respect, humility, grace, empathy, generosity, authenticity, cooperation, gratitude, adaptability, tenacity, contentment, kindness, loyalty, and forgiveness. A great ruler demonstrates honesty, tact, and patience.
Prince Yixing had a good number of these virtues. He was a kind, well-loved prince who cared deeply for his people. However, one virtue he lacked was tact. He was a brutally honest man who didn’t think about how his words affected others. He was extremely opinionated and wasn’t afraid to let people know what was on his mind. For certain things, that was great; for other things, not so much.
You were one of the top seamstresses on the continent. Most royal families and their nobility sought out your designs. One of your best, and favorite, customers was Prince Baekhyun. He was such a puppy and always had something positive to say about the outfit you were working on. He also liked to introduce you to his friends, boosting your income.
That’s how you came to know the dashing Prince Yixing. Baekhyun had brought him in to find a suit for an upcoming ball. It needed to, as Baekhyun so eloquently put it, impress the ladies. Although, with a face like Prince Yixing’s, he wouldn’t need one. Nonetheless, you had laughed, inviting them down to discuss patterns and measurements.
Nothing prepared you for when Baekhyun and Prince Yixing stepped into your shop. You had to physically restrain yourself from letting your jaw hit the floor. The media did him no justice. You were momentarily star struck before Baekhyun wrapped you in a tight hug.
“Hi Y/N!” he shouted in your ear.
“Hello Baek,” you greeted with a giggle. He pulled back, hands resting on your shoulders.
“Y/N, I’d like you to meet Prince Yixing.” He stepped to the side, gesturing to the Prince. You bowed. “Oh, you’re always so formal Y/N.” You chuckled.
“In case you forgot Baek, I’m below status. I have to be formal, unless instructed otherwise,” you reminded him, ruffling his hair. He giggled, swatting your hand away. You turned to the Prince. “Prince Yixing, how may I service you?” He smiled, and you could have melted into a puddle right then and there when you saw those dimples.
“I appreciate you taking time out of your day to help us, Y/N.” You nodded, smiling. “Baekhyun speaks highly of you, I hope you don’t disappoint.” His words rubbed you wrong, but you brushed it off.
“Did you already have something in mind, or would you like to browse?” you inquired clasping your hands behind your back.
“I don’t have the time to browse,” Prince Yixing stated plainly. You blinked, glancing over at Baekhyun. He shrugged, smiling. “Could you suggest something in your professional opinion?”
“Of course,” you replied. “May I know what the ball is being held for?”
“It’s for me to find my future queen.” You were slightly taken aback. You’d designed outfits before for such balls, but never had any of your customers been so unbothered by the fact.
“Oh, um, well I have some designs here,” you said pulling out a sketchbook full of old designs. You handed it to Prince Yixing. He flipped through it haphazardly, then handed it back.
“Do you have anything better?” You stood there, your jaw dropping slightly. “Y/N?” You turned to Baekhyun, quirking a brow. “Y/N, can you hear me?” You turned back to his Royal Highness.
“Uh-huh,” you replied unimpressed. Suddenly, Prince Yixing wasn’t as attractive as you once thought. “I have some other designs here. Here. Here. And here.” Each “here” was followed by you dropping three to five sketchbooks full of ideas. He stared wide eyed at the books.
“I don’t have time to go through all these,” he told you. You narrowed your eyes.
“Uh, Y/N! Why don’t you custom design Lay’s suit?” Baekhyun suggested feeling the growing tension. “I’m sure that will be a lot faster.” You grabbed a sketchbook, flipping to a blank page. You took a seat behind your desk, motioning for Prince Yixing and Baekhyun to do the same.
“Okay, all you need to do is tell me the pattern you want, the cut of the suit jacket, and what kind of lapels you want,” you told him. He rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue.
“I didn’t understand half of that,” Yixing said annoyed. Baekhyun opened his mouth to say something, but you cut him off.
“Lapels,” you said pointing them out. “Cut.” You showed him the three different cuts. “Patterns.” You flopped down your pattern board. Baekhyun glanced between you and his Royal Bratness.
“I don’t appreciate your tone.” You narrowed your eyes at Prince Yixing. He didn’t appreciate your tone? Oh, you’d show him tone.
“I don’t appreciate being told how to do my job, or how I do my job isn’t up to your standards,” you shot back. “If you don’t like how I do things, there’s the door.” Both him and Baekhyun were staring at you with dropped jaws, but that didn’t stop you. “Not only that, you lack any type of patience. Patience is a virtue, and any decent person would at least have some for someone who is giving up their free time to hand sew you a suit. I’m doing this as a favor to Baekhyun, although I don’t know how he’s friends with you. You probably treat him better since he’s your equal.
“And don’t think just because you hold some fancy title I won’t put you in your place. I’ve heard some amazing things about you, but I heard them from your equals and fan club. The way you treat those below you truly defines who you are, and, from what I’ve gathered, I pity the poor girls competing for your hand.”
You were surprised at yourself. You had had some rude customers before, but you’d never lost your temper at them. That would have ended up with you in the gallows, but you refused to take back what you said. After all, honesty was a virtue as well. What surprised you and Baekhyun both was when Prince Yixing started laughing. Not a chuckle, like, full on laughing. His entire body was shaking. He looked at you, his whole face glowing.
“In all my years, which there haven’t been many, no one has ever spoken to me the way you have. Told me how they feel really. They walk on eggshells around me because of the title I hold. Yet you, knowing full and well I could have you beheaded, told me how you really felt. Thank you,” he told you. You stared at him brows furrowed and your jaw slightly dropped. “Thank you for being honest, Y/N. I’m sorry for any disrespect I have shown you.”
“You’re--you’re welcome Pri--”
“Please, call me Lay. You have earned that right.” You just stared at him, nodding dumbly. “Use your professional opinion and choose what you think would be best. I trust your opinion.” He stood up, bowing to you. “It was an honor to meet you, Y/N. I hope to see you again.” He nodded his head with a smile, his dimples showing again. Then he left. You were left staring at your door in utter amazement. Baekhyun let out a laugh.
“That was something else,” he said. He stood up, pulling you up to wrap you in another hug. You hugged back half heartedly, still staring at your door.
“What the hell just happened?” you asked, turning to Baekhyun. He grinned, nudging you slightly.
“Mmm, Yixing…”
Zhang Yixing looked down in dismay, watching as you lovingly faked your way through another orgasm. You were very good at it—soft and sweet, and imminently realistic. No glass-shattering screeches, or siren-like banshee wails. In fact, if he hadn’t been inside of you when it happened, he would have sworn that it had been real. His pleasure greatly diminished, he rolled over onto his side, and pulled your body tightly against his. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pressing the length of your body to him. He could sense the tension strumming through you, so he gently stroked your smooth, curving bottom until you relaxed.
Your face was buried in his neck, his hand still tangled in your hair. He knew that you loved him, just as he knew that you were aroused by him. But here you were, on the last week of your three-week honeymoon and, to his knowledge, you had yet to have an orgasm. At first, he wasn’t surprised. You had been a virgin when you married, so he knew that the first few times would be an adjustment for you. However, now he was starting to worry.
You didn’t dislike sex…he knew that as truly as he knew his own name. He knew that you loved being with him almost as much as he enjoyed you. Within three weeks, he had seen you blossom from shy, sweet, eager virgin, to generous, willing, sensual lover. Yixing couldn’t understand why you had yet to climax. You had done a number of things…in a number of positions…in a number of places, but within several days, he started to suspect that you weren’t reaching your peak.
Unlike you, Yixing was no virgin when you wed. He had never been too wild, but he had been in a few sexual relationships—enough to know how it felt when a woman came on his cock. He remembered feeling dry-mouthed at your wedding reception just thinking about your sweet little butterfly flutters moving up and down his hard shaft while you softly breathed his name in his ear.
He sighed. He just didn’t know what was wrong. You had yet to say no to any of his advances—in fact, several times, you had seduced him. While you were together, your body told him that you were aroused. The flush under your bronze skin, your tight little cinnamon nipples, your dilated pupils and darkened irises, your accelerated breathing, your elevated pulse, your writhing, trembling body, not to mention the delectable wetness that literally dripped–dripped–from your swollen sex, down your soft thighs, all told him that you wanted him. Yixing was a biology professor at Duke University, whose Ph.D from Tsinghua University had been on human sexual response. He knew what arousal looked like.
You had been a law student when you two met, though you both waited until you had graduated before seriously dating, in order to quell any rumours on the surprisingly small campus. The first few times that you had been in each other’s company, he had thought you cold and methodical. Upon seeing you more and more however, he realized that, though you were methodical, cold couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Once you opened up, you were charming, loyal, conscientious, and…as he had learned in the last two weeks, exceedingly passionate. Yixing kissed your warm shoulder, while you purred, and snuggled closer, breathing slowly regulating into that of sleep.
He didn’t know why you weren’t reaching your release, but he was going to find out before the honeymoon was over, and real life came between you.
**************************************************
Yixing awoke to the enchanting sight of you bent over, plump caramel buttocks, courtesy of a Kenyan grandmother, peeking insouciantly out of your cream-coloured lace boy-shorts as you reached between your legs to attach your garters to your silken stockings.
“Good morning to me,” he slurred in a sleep-roughened baritone. You glanced at him from between your legs, then slid a hand under your long, thick, wavy, warm chocolate brown hair to help flip it back over your shoulders as you straightened. Smiling invitingly, wearing nothing but a matching creamy lace bra, panty, and garter belt set, and pale, golden, finely worked silk fishnet stockings, you slowly crawled up the bed to him. Straddling his hips you slowly stroked your hands up and down the sides of his chest.
“Good morning to you, lover,” you responded, leaning in for a kiss.
Yixing turned his head and stilled your arms. “Ehhh…not before I’ve showered. You smell amazing,” here he inhaled the warm, humid air that still held notes of your blood orange whipped bath soap, “and I’m chock full of morning breath, and fresh urine.”
You wrinkled your nose and laughed, gracefully removing one leg and letting yourself fall on your back beside him. “Oh, Dr. Zhang, you always know just what to say.”
He lasciviously grabbed a handful of smooth, soft thigh, and squeezed before rolling out of bed, and sauntering to the bathroom. “A gentleman knows never to touch a lady while he’s unshowered, unbrushed, and still covered in questionable substances from the previous night.” He turned in the bathroom doorway to face you. “I’m filthy–”
You rolled quickly and easily to your knees, hands planted on the bed, looking for all the world like something straight out of his most fevered transition year fantasies. “I like it when you make me dirty, Dr. Zhang,” you purred dulcetly, in your husky Southern drawl.
He laughed, delighted. “Behave yourself, you impertinent young chit! I’m a man, not a sex-machine!”
You fell back on the bed, rolling with laughter, while Yixing affected a long-suffering expression, and went in for his shower.
When he emerged, you were fully dressed in a figure-hugging cream wool pencil skirt, five inch black leather heels, and an iridescent golden-ebony silk button-down shirt. He held the towel negligently around his narrow hips, water still dripping from his raven hair. “I just don’t know, darling,” he started, shaking his head sadly, while his black eyes twinkled. “Are you sure that I’m not overdressed?” he finished, indicating his lack of clothing.
You turned, your large hazel eyes widening at the sight of his bare torso, water trickling slowly and lovingly down his sleek frame. Giving a breathless little laugh, you rejoined, “I’m sure that no one would have the temerity to complain against such a well-tailored ensemble.”
Yixing grinned, letting his towel slip casually from his hips as he walked over to pull clothing from his suitcase. Tossing the towel over his shoulder into the bathroom, he savoured the feeling of your eyes on him, as he took his time dressing. Oh, no…whatever the problem, a lack of desire from you were not the cause.
A sudden knock at the door startled Yixing from his thoughts. He turned to you and raised an eyebrow.
“Room service,” you explained. “I know how much playing with me tuckers you out, old man.”
He grinned. Though he was only five years older than you, it was your running joke that he had robbed the cradle while you were busy robbing the grave. He walked over to the door, and opened it to a bright young bellhop who wheeled in the brunch cart. Yixing tipped the bellhop, who playfully saluted him and left, whistling cheerily. Lifting the silver lid from the various dishes on the cart, he looked at you in delight.
You shrugged. “You worked pretty hard last night, Yixing-mine. I thought that you deserved something more than the usual croissant and coffee this morning, so I asked them to make something a bit more substantial for you.”
Yixing happily eyed the fluffy herbed omelette, steaming croissants, rich hot chocolate, and strawberries arranged artfully over creamy yogurt. “Oh, I knew that there was a reason I married you.”
“What can I say?” you asked, sitting on his lap and putting a cool, sweet strawberry to his lips. “I give good room service…”
**************************************************
Stepping out onto the streets of Paris a short time later, you walked arm in arm on your way to go exploring. You had spent each week in a different French city, culminating your honeymoon in the City of Light, and though you knew that you probably should do the culturally relevant thing, and see as many museums as possible, you were really enjoying just finding whatever you could discover on your long walks.
This morning (okay, afternoon) however, you had an appointment to take a boat ride on the Seine. Yixing watched your swaying bottom, as you made your way up the gangplank ahead of him. He suppressed the animalistic urge to drag you under his body and thrust into you until your body had no choice but to give you an orgasm. He shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts. If he kept thinking like that, he’d embarrass you both.
The boat ride passed happily for you two, with you laughing in delight as the wind made short work of your previously artful coif. Shaking your head in surrender, you removed the pins holding up your hair, and let the wind tangle it around your face, making you look like a gamin little fairy. Yixing just watched you. He loved looking at you. Your artless delight with life never failed to make him want to protect you, and join you, in equal parts. It didn’t help that you were a neat foot shorter than he. Though he logically knew that you were well equipped to take care of yourself, having studied krav maga at your father’s knee, there was a primitive part of him that wanted to shield you from the depredations of the world. He sighed and watched as the wind blew your hair straight back, making you look like a wild siren.
After your boat ride, you took a stroll down the Rue Montorgueil, so that you could explore its open-air market. Yixing purchased a wicker basket for you, and then held it as you flitted from stall to stall, slowly filling it with various vibrant fruits, freshly baked pastries, and rich cheeses. You took a meandering walk to the Parc Monceau, found a secluded spot, and shared a leisurely picnic.
Yixing loved to watch you eat. He felt like a secret pervert at mealtimes. You were just such a sensual eater. He didn’t think that such a thing existed until he met you. When you bit into something that you particularly liked, you’d purr, or sometimes give a little soft moan, and close your eyes. Also, in the absence of silverware, if something dripped onto your fingers, your quick little pink tongue would dart out and slowly lave the offending digit, looking like nothing so much as a serious little cat. The best part of it was, you were totally unaware of this behaviour. He’d seen you do the same things when you didn’t know that you were being watched.
He cleared his throat, surreptitiously adjusted himself, and sighed, wishing that you were back at the hotel. You looked up quizzically at him, sensing his mild distress. Yixing smiled reassuringly at you, and took a hearty bite from his crispy, still-warm croque monsieur.
You went wandering around the boulevards, stopping to watch interesting street performers, or to peer down dark, narrow streets like nosy children. At the entrance of the first bookstore that you found, you stopped and sucked in a breath like a child on Christmas morning. Yixing looked around, seeing nothing but stacks upon stacks of dusty old tomes. You moved easily through the claustrophobic shelves, chattering gaily in French with the shopkeeper. Yixing finally leaned against a wall and just watched you as you traced your fingertips over the spines, occasionally stopping to open a book and briefly read what was inside. You ended up buying several first editions of various children’s books for your sister.
He grinned as you left the store. “Fiona just had the baby. He won’t be able to read English for years, let alone French.” You peered at him haughtily over your tortoise-shell spectacles, your hair unbound and wild, and several dusty smudges on your face. “I’ll have you know that my nephew is a genius. While I was playing with him at the wedding, I asked him what the cat says, and do you know what he said, Yixing? He said, ‘Miau’. Does an ordinary three month old know that? No, unless you are as perfect as Aubrey, which is highly doubtful, as he is the pinnacle of everything that a baby should be.”
Yixing stopped you as you started to brush by him, resting his arm above your head on the building behind you, and said low, “And you don’t think that you’re just a little bit biased?”
You looked up at him, smiling beatifically. “No!”
“Should I be jealous?” he smiled down at you, ebony eyes alight with good humour, his fingers gently stroking your jaw.
“Mmm…maybe,” you flirted. “You know that I’ve always had a thing for short, chubby, bald men!” Laughing, you slid past him. You spent the next few hours flitting through dusty old used book, and ephemera shops. After the last little antique shop, where he had bought you a coquettish little fan, and you had purchased a heavy set of silver and garnet cufflinks for him, he followed you from the store, catching hold of your hand. Smiling at one another, you leisurely made your way to Le Cordon Bleu for an open dinner demonstration.
**************************************************
You sighed wistfully as Yixing knelt before you, removing your shoes, and gently stroking your calves. “Who knew a knife could move so fast! And the designs that he carved into those carrot shavings were so intricate! They looked like filigree! Oh—and that rosemary smoke that he infused into his tuna sashimi amuse-bouche was a transcendent experience, both visually and olfactorily…” You drifted off as you realized that he wasn’t saying much, just looking up at you indulgently, one hand around your right ankle, thumb stroking it gently. You smiled ruefully. “I’m babbling, aren’t I?”
He smiled lazily up at you. “I like to listen you talk.” He traced his fingers slowly up and down the front of your left leg. “You have the cutest little accent.”
“Me?!” you gasped in mock surprise. “Your accent is cuter.”
He grinned mischievously up at you. “I don’t have an accent. I just speak in italics.”
You ruffled his hair playfully. He wrapped his arms around your left leg and leaned his cheek against it. He began placing slow, gentle, sweet kisses on the outside of your knee. “Baobei,” he started softly.
“Hm?” you responded, savouring the feel of his soft lips against your leg.
“I want to talk to you about something, lovely,” he said, his voice low and caressing.
“Hm?” you said dreamily.
“I love you,” he started.
“Love…” you trailed, stroking his hair.
He could feel the heat of your arousal warming his cheek as he knelt at your feet. He smiled, hiding his lips against the outside of your knee. You were terrifyingly articulate. You had a savage intelligence that at times awed him, and you were a mistress of debate, and rhetoric. When you were aroused, however…your level of verbal communication nosedived.
During the first week of your honeymoon, while you were making love, he had slid his hand down to your curls, his fingertips questing for your tight little bud. You had squealed, and then sighed, “Hacienda….”
“Hacienda?” he had queried, bemused. “A Spanish estate plantation?”
“Oh, I don’t know! Don’t know!” you had moaned, arching under him and practically ripping the sheets from the bed.
You didn’t even speak Spanish.
He forced his mind back to the present. “I love you,” he repeated. He slid his right hand slowly up the back of your left leg, cupping the back of your knee as he continued to place soft kisses on the outside of it. He slid his left hand up under your skirt, slowly stroking your right hip. “I love you, and I want you, and I know that you love me…that you want me…”
“Mm-hm,” you nodded in artless agreement.
“I am yours. All I want is to spend the rest of my life making you happy, which is why…we need to discuss why you haven’t had an orgasm when we make love.” He kept up his caresses, watching your face.
A small frown line appeared between your eyebrows. Your head tilted, as if you were contemplating some difficult problem, and then twitched. Your head twitched again, and you slowly shook it, as if to clear yourself of a mental fog. “No…no…” you said softly, your body trying to scoot away from him. Your eyes opened, and you looked confused.
He pulled you closer, not allowing you to move away from him. You made a little sound of distress, and he slid his arms around your hips, and pulled you down into his lap. Nuzzling your ear, he whispered, “Please, baobei…talk to me…” his accent thickening.
You whined, and then turned to him, burying your face in his neck, arms wrapped around him. He stroked your hair and slowly rocked you.
“I’m sorry,” you whispered.
“No—don’t ever be sorry. There’s no need for sorry, you haven’t done anything wrong. However, this is something that we need to talk about before it goes any further.” He rubbed his jaw against your hair. “Before we were married, you told me that you used to masturbate…did you finish then?” You nodded miserably. “Okay…okay. Have you done it since we were married?”
“Oh, no!” you protested, backing up to look into his eyes. “I haven’t needed to do that—you keep me satisfied.”
He smiled ruefully, “Thanks for that, but something is awry, and we need to figure out how to take care of it.” He placed a finger under your chin, gently stroking the soft skin. “You don’t want to go the rest of your life without having an orgasm with me, do you?”
“Well…no…” you replied slowly.
“And isn’t it better to take care of it sooner rather than later?” he cajoled.
“Yes?” you said uncertainly.
“Alright, then,” he said comfortably. “Do you want me?”
You looked up at him, speechless, eyes wide in shock. Then you set your jaw and said, “Zhang Yixing, if you actually think that I don’t want you, why then you’re dumb as a post! Want you?! I can’t stop thinking about you! Your scent, your touch, the sound of your voice, the way you taste… Sometimes we’re out and it’s all I can do to not drag you into a dark alley, climb on top of you, and ride you like Seabiscuit! Would I have married you if I didn’t want you?”
He chuckled. “Fair enough”, he said, hands raised in surrender. “Just making sure that that’s out of the way.”
You harrumphed. He grinned. “So, we know that you’re not sexually indifferent, we know that you want me, am I…” here he paused uncertainly. “Not…good?”
You melted in his arms. ”Yixing…you make me tremble.” You looked down shyly. “You make me…writhe and whimper…you make me tingle…all over…. When I’m with you…I lose language. All I can think of is you, and the feeling of your warm breath ghosting across my skin. The feeling of your hot hands stroking me…caressing me… everywhere. And your voice…it’s so soft, but powerful…it makes me want to do…everything with you…” You finally halted, staring down at your hands, cheeks flaming.
He cleared his throat, momentarily nonplussed. He had been told that he was a good lover before, but never in such an open, vulnerable, honest way. He brought your wrist to his mouth, gently placing a kiss on the warm, delicate inside. Softly, so as not to make you defensive, he asked desperately, “So then…what is it, baobei?”
You shrugged mournfully. "I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I could blame it on nervousness, but I haven’t been nervous since the first time. I thought, maybe because it was because you made me so wet…too wet. But extra friction didn’t help, either.”
He nodded, thinking. “Let’s do an experiment.” You perked up, pressing your breasts to his chest. “Down, little girl—not that sort of experiment!” he laughed.
She pouted charmingly. “But I love playing naughty mad scientist!”
“You love to play, period.” he retorted.
You nodded, grinning mischievously. “You’re not wrong.”
Yixing smiled. No, disinterest was not the problem, here. “I’m going to shower first tonight. You stay out here and…” here he slowly walked his fingers up your inner thigh, and gently tapped at the apex of your thighs. You raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned. Climbing to his feet, with you in his arms, he set you on the bed and began loosening his tie. Walking backwards to the bathroom, he said, “Let’s just see what happens. See you on the other side.” He closed the door, and left you to your personal playtime.
When he exited the bathroom in a cloud of fragrant steam, he found you sitting on the side of the bed, looking thoughtful. “Well?” he gently queried.
You nodded, blowing out a breath. “It worked.” He sat beside you, not even bothering to put on a towel, and you leaned against his warm side, uncaring of his intermittent dripping. “So, what does this mean?” you asked.
“Well,” he sighed, “it’s not physical.”
You were silent. Then your face crumpled. “I just want to be good for you!”
“What?” he asked, bemused by your outburst.
“It’s so frustrating. All I want is to please you, and I can’t even do that!” you said bitterly.
“What do you mean, ‘please’ me?” he questioned.
“I want to keep you aroused,” you answered haltingly.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“I don’t know,” you said dismissively turning away.
“Yes you do,” he coaxed, wrapping his arm around you, and laying your head against his shoulder. “Talk to me, love.”
“I don’t want to bore you. I just don’t understand why my body isn’t cooperating.” You bit your lip.
He was silent. Then, he said slowly, “I think…I think that we’ve just discovered the problem.” You lifted your head to look at him questioningly. He began to slowly rub your arm. “You don’t have to…perform for me. You are my wife, not a contracted…porn star. I think that you’re…so worried about looking, and sounding good that your mind is keeping your body from taking over.” He pulled you into his lap, and wrapped his arms around you.
“Baobei…” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “Sex isn’t entertainment. It’s about loving and giving, cherishing and adoring another person, while you reciprocally love and give, cherish and adore.” You stared at him in shock as he went on. “It’s a physical representation of unconditional love that is supposed to be given exclusively between two people.” He paused to give you a chance to respond.
“I would be inclined to agree with you, but…” You sighed, blowing a stray tendril from your face. You gathered your courage, then plunged on, “Studies have shown that during sex, about the only time a man experiences a surge of oxytocin is during orgasm. After orgasm, a man’s oxytocin levels return to his normally relatively low levels. Conversely, not only do women produce oxytocin during sex, orgasm, and post orgasm, but you also produce higher levels of oxytocin during each stage.” It was his turn to stare at you. “What I’m trying to say is that…sex will not necessarily make you bond with me emotionally, but I know that if I can keep you sexually interested, then you’ll be more inclined to stay because you’ll want to keep having sex with me.”
Silence reigned after your little speech. Your face flushed redder and redder as Yixing continued to stay silent. When he finally spoke, his voice was very soft. “I think that the casually graphic that way sex is portrayed in modern media, has caused you not to regard it as communication, but to instead adopt the idea that it’s primarily for recreation, or even sport. What was lost in the translation was intimacy.” You turned away in embarrassment. He took your hand, and gently stroked your ring finger. “Fifteen days ago, with this ring I thee wed.” He kissed your tawny little knuckle, then stood with you in his arms. Carrying you into the bathroom, he whispered into your hair, “Tonight, with my body I thee worship…”
He stood you next to the tub, and began to gently remove your clothing. When you realized what he was doing, you moved to help him, but he brushed away your hands. “No, baobei, tonight I want to take care of you. Will you let me do that?” You nodded hesitantly while he finished pulling your shirt from your skirt, and patiently undid all of the tiny pearl buttons. He lifted your left wrist and undid your cuff, kissing the round little bone at the outside of your wrist, then moving to the other. You smiled a grateful smile inside when he tossed your shirt into the hamper. Yixing was so neat. It was one of the things that you loved about him. He leaned into you, slowly stroking his hand down your side, brushing it over your ribs and caressing your hip. Bringing his hand back up, he slowly undid the zipper at your side, and let the skirt pool to the floor.
“Step out of it, please,” he asked politely. After tossing it into the hamper, he wrapped his long arms around you, slowly sliding his hands up your spine. Yixing deftly undid your bra, sliding your straps down your arms without moving back, so that the tips of your nipples brushed his chest as you breathed. You leaned forward, nuzzling his neck, and he tilted his head to nuzzle your cheek. Before he became lost, he took a step back, and knelt at your feet, to undo your stockings and toss them with the quickly growing pile. He slowly slid his hands up your naked, sensitive legs, cupping your bottom, and pulling you forward, so that he could bury his face in the soft warmth at the top of your thighs. He breathed deeply, scenting your arousal, and feeling your wetness against his lips. He looked up at you, wearing nothing but your garter belt and panties, your hair framing your face as you looked down at him.
He hooked his fingers into the sides of your panties, and slowly uncovered your curls, placing soft, reverent kisses on them as he dragged your panties lower. After you had stepped out of them, Yixing brought them briefly to his face, inhaling the salty, light scent of your arousal, while looking up at you. Your mouth had fallen slightly open at the sight of your husband at your feet, with your panties held to his face, so he gently placed them in the hamper, resisting the urge to really scandalize you by suddenly letting his tongue slide up your slit.
Yixing stood, leaned into the stall, and turned on the shower. He helped you into the shower, positioning you to stand with the steaming spray running over your front, while he stood behind you, warming your back, one arm around your waist, his erection nestled between your soft cheeks. Taking a sponge and dipping it into the pot of whipped soap, he began to slowly lather your body from head to toe. When he reached your intimate areas, you made as if to take over, but he stopped you, whispering seductively in your ear, “No, baobei. I take care of what is mine…” You gasped as he slid a warm, soapy cloth between your legs, leisurely cleaning you there, then slipped the cloth between your cheeks. You blushed as the roving cloth slid over your tightly furled rosebud, but you didn’t stop him.
By the time you left the shower, you had been thoroughly bathed, with great attention having been paid to your more…sensitive areas. Yixing wrapped you in a warm, fluffy towel, brushing it over your skin to absorb the shower water. When he was satisfied that you had been thoroughly dried, he gave himself a quick once over with the towel, to rid himself of any extraneous water. Tossing the towel into the hamper, he started for you, his engorged cock insouciantly bouncing from thigh to thigh. You giggled at the sight, and he grinned, briefly making it dance for you.
He stalked toward you again, and you backed toward the bed, sitting with a sudden plop. He grinned again as he moved forward, forcing you to climb backward on the bed, until your back hit the headboard. Yixing wrapped an arm around your waist, and pulled you down onto your back, climbing on top of you. You started to wrap your arms around his neck, but he took your hands from around his shoulders, kissed your wrists, and then drew them over your head. “Lie here, just like that,” he said. He left to procure two of his ties, then returning, used one to deftly bind your wrists to the headboard. You looked up at him, hurt, and he said, “This is to make sure that you don’t drive me mad with those questing little hands of yours. As soon as you put your hands on me…I lose control,” here, he brushed his mouth over yours, continuing, “You make me crazy.”
Mollified, you lay back and let him finish tying you securely. Yixing gazed down at his sweet little wife looking up at him so trustingly. “Close your eyes,” he whispered. Smiling, you did so, and he used his other tie to blindfold you. Looking over you, he gave you a slow, crooked grin, as he whispered, “I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.” Your eyes widened behind the blindfold as you recognized the opening line to one of your favourite Neruda love poems. His mouth descended on yours, and you shivered as he gave you a thorough, probing kiss. His firm lips slid against your soft ones, his tongue rhythmically plunging into your mouth, brushing your tongue, sliding across your teeth, tickling along the seam of your mouth. You groaned low, and Yixing felt a jolt shoot down to his cock as you involuntarily arched, and nipped him, sinking your sharp little teeth into his sensitive bottom lip. He smiled against your mouth as he felt you squirming slowly beneath him.
He dragged his lips down to your throat, placing tender kisses against the delicate skin. Your head fell back as his warm mouth teased the sensitive skin of your throat, making you squirm even more. His hand was buried in your hair, fingertips stroking your sensitive scalp.
He moved his mouth lower, rubbing his cheek along the curve of your right breast. He murmured, “Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.” Looking up to watch your face, Yixing opened his mouth over your breast, and gently bit. His flickering tongue laved your sensitive nipple as his teeth sank into the soft flesh of your full, warm breast. You released a high pitched whine, as your face contorted in pleasure. Sucking hard, his tongue lapping around your puckered areola, he brought his strong left hand to your other breast, palming it a little roughly as his tongue gently stroked. He caressed your breast, brushing over your insistent little nipple with his thumb, even as his hot, wet mouth was busy with its twin. You jerked as jolts of pleasure shot from your breasts down to your swollen clitoris, which was peeking out of its wet little red hood, begging for a soft kiss.
Yixing switched his mouth to the other breast, latching on and sucking powerfully, as he brought his right hand to your left breast, to gently pinch and twist your now-wet nipple. Your mouth worked silently, as he lavished attention on your breasts, his loving ministrations leaving them flushed, nipples hard and sensitive. He moved his head between your breasts, cupping them, so that they brushed against his face as he leisurely kissed, licked, nibbled, and suckled his way back up to your neck.
Against your throat, he hoarsely whispered, “Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.” You sighed as he opened his mouth over your throat, letting his teeth graze your soft skin. He reverently placed small, sucking kisses against your throat, moving to the exquisitely sensitive place along the side of your neck. Growling roughly, Yixing let go and sank his teeth into the softness beneath him. A tortured whimper filtered past his inflamed senses, as your little body softened beneath his, and he smiled inwardly.
His mind idly drifted back to the immense sense of satisfaction he had felt when he learned that you loved being bitten. And you loved to bite… you were the one woman that he had ever met that didn’t care if he left marks on your skin. When had once repeated the question that previous girlfriends had asked him, namely, “What will people think?” to gauge your reaction, you had responded with a neat, dry, “They’ll get over it.”
Yixing opened his mouth, and slowly ran his tongue over the small indentations his teeth had left, while you slowly melted, boneless, into the bed. He began placing slow, suckling kisses down to your collarbone, then dragged his warm mouth over your sternum to your belly, nipping and suckling at your soft, fragrant skin. He rubbed his jaw over the smooth skin of your tummy, like a cat marking his territory, covering you with his scent.
He briefly paused, fantasizing, before being distracted by the slow rolling of your hips underneath his chest. Softly, reverently kissing his way to your right hip bone, he slowly dragged his tongue along the sensitive hollow between your hip bone and the side of your curls. You purred, then arched sharply, as he sank his teeth into the soft flesh. He lazily traced his lapping tongue down, where your thigh met your sex, using his long, veiny, gentle hands to slowly open your legs.
He could feel the anticipation thrumming through you as his warm breath ruffled your curls. He chuckled to himself, deep and low, before moving his face to nuzzle the curving hollow of your left inner thigh. You relaxed under him, your left calf resting against his back as he nuzzled, kissed, and stroked his way over the soft skin. He slid his warm palms slowly up your thighs, up your hips, as he switched his attentions your right thigh. Just as he sensed your complete relaxation, he struck, closing his mouth over your skin, his sharp white teeth sinking deeply into the flushed, warm flesh of the inside of your thigh. Your reaction was immediate and satisfying, as you threw back your head, arching and panting. Yixing loved teasing you like this. Building you up, letting you relax…and then building you up again. It made you wild, transforming you from a cool little logician into a panting, writhing, arching slave of his ardent love.
He transferred his mouth to your other thigh, nipping and suckling the soft skin, rubbing his warm cheek over you. He could smell the scent of your arousal, salty and clean, and he had to shut his eyes tightly against the insistent pulse in his groin. He looked up at the shining wetness, coating your swollen lips, and dug his fingers roughly into the side of your thigh. He let go when you moaned, realizing that, in his distraction, he was gripping you too tightly. Though you liked it when he lost control, when he gripped you too tightly, and kissed you too roughly, tonight he would control himself. At least…for now… He made his way down your body with soft kisses along the insides of your thighs, your knees, your calves. He lifted each delicate foot, and pressed soft, loving kisses against your ankles, adoring every part of your exquisite little body.
He crawled slowly back up your body, briefly sparing a longing look at your inviting sex then, removing himself from temptation, draped himself over you. Running his hands over your waist and hips, he moved lower, to slide his fingers behind your knees. He gently massaged the backs of your knees in slow circles while you opened your legs and artlessly moved your hips against him, panting lightly. Yixing had discovered this little erogenous zone of yours on your third night together. He pressed his chest tightly to yours, as he ran warm his palms over your rounded calves, cupping them as he gently massaged. You relaxed, as he glided his hands back up your thighs, up your hips, up your waist, up your delicate ribs, and up the soft, sensitive insides of your arms.
He took his time, gently tracing his fingertips along your soft, pale skin of your inner arms, as he kissed and suckled your shoulder. “I hunger for your sleek laugh, your hands the colour of a savage harvest, hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,” he whispered against the side of your throat. He climbed to his knees, and let his mouth follow the path that his left hand had taken, suckling the sensitive skin of your inner arm. He ran his tongue in slow circles against the crook of your elbow as you softly sighed and squirmed at his thorough attention. Yixing nipped and suckled his way up your arm until he could lavish your delicate wrist with the wet, suckling heat of his open mouth and tracing tongue.
He transferred his mouth to your other wrist, nipping down and licking against the almost translucent skin. He slowly made his way down the inside of your arm, pausing to treat the inside of this elbow to the same slow, wet, warm affection as the other. As he continued his way down, his mouth open and suckling against your underarm, he slid his hand up your arm and used his fingertips to gently stroke the soft, private skin between your fingers.
He nuzzled close to you, deepening his voice as he purred in your ear, “…I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.” You moaned at this pronouncement, writhing under his hand as he slowly ran it between your breasts, down your warm belly, over your soft curls, only to let his fingertips lazily explore your wet little slit. He rested on his side, pressed tightly to yours, as he leisurely stroked up and down your slit, his fingers spreading your slipperiness over your full, pink and golden lips. He slid his fingertips to your opening, circling it slowly, agonizingly as he placed gentle kisses along the shell of your ear. You shuddered as you felt him stroke his fingertips shallowly into your wet heat, teasing the slick flesh of your opening. He rested his palm against your curls, your swollen bud rubbing against his hand as he petted you, teased you, stroked you. He slid his tongue into your ear, making you tremble uncontrollably as he licked. He moved his mouth to your earlobe, dragging the tip of his tongue around the edge, and then sucking it into his mouth, as his clever little fingers slid inside and firmly caressed your G-spot. He had discovered that little sensual surprise on your tenth night together.
As your hips rolled and writhed under his hand, he whispered in your ear, low and hot, “I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body, the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,” You could feel the tingles in your body, slowly coalescing into an insistent throb. You were so close, but not there, not yet… Yixing removed his hand from your wet, hot, soft sex. Your eyes opened wide behind the blindfold, and you sucked in a small breath, as you heard the slow, wet noise of him sucking clean every single one of the fingers that had just touched you so sweetly.
He lay against you for a while, panting into the crook of your neck, his arm wrapped heavily around your waist, as he willed his clamouring body to calm. He softly stroked your waist and hip, gently lulling you. His hand drifted to your face, tracing the bone of your nose, stroking your cheek, gliding along your jawline as he hoarsely whispered, “I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,” his hand cupping your jaw as his thumb caressed your moist, plump lips.
Gathering his willpower, he climbed back over you, opening your legs gently, but firmly, as he kissed his way slowly back down your body. Yixing brought his face in line with your sex, swollen and open to his gaze, the glistening hood thrown back from the plump pearl, the inner lips rosy and inviting. He swallowed hard, looking up at you, at your face framed (given his position) by your plump, almond-tipped breasts, and breathed, “…and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight, hunting for you, for your hot heart, like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.”
You relaxed at these last words, a satisfied smile lighting up your face. He smiled at you, though you couldn’t see it, then slowly lowered his open mouth to your waiting lips. At the first burning kiss, your hips rose sharply, and your thighs clasped his head. “No, no, baobei,” he instructed, pulling your legs over his broad shoulders, and caressing your thighs, “Keep your legs open…”
He brought his lips back down to your waiting wetness, and slowly licked the flat of his tongue from your perineum to your hood, smiling as he heard you trying to stifle a moan. He used his soft tongue to trace your opening, then gently lapped at your inner lips, his lips never breaking contact with your hungry sex. He could feel the warm, slippery, swollen flesh sliding over his mouth, over his tongue as you tried to push yourself closer, ever closer. He smiled against you, reveling in your desire for him. His eyes were closed, as he poured all of concentration into kissing you, licking you, teasing you. Your hips were moving rhythmically against his mouth, and he used his lips to nibble your juicy, warm hood.
When he gently used the top of his teeth to tickle the top of your clit, you arched so sharply that, if he hadn’t had a firm grip on your warm, soft thighs, you would have bucked him off onto the floor. He shuddered against you, his excitement mounting as he realized just how excited you were. He felt his control slipping as he rested his cheek on your thigh, indulging in your clean, spicy aroma, like an animal scenting his mate.
Clenching his jaw to supplement his control, he moved back. Moaning against you, his deep voice sending vibrations through your most sensitive places, his slid his hands up to your hips, pulling you closer to his mouth, as if he couldn’t taste enough, smell enough, lick enough to satisfy him. You let out a broken moan, and he realized by the frantic writhing of your hips that you were close. He pulled up himself beside you, and sank his teeth into your neck, as he slid his fingers inside your hungry sex, roughly massaging your G-spot as his thumb firmly massaged your clit. Your stomach muscles clenched, and for a second, you didn’t move, you didn’t even breathe. A breathless, high pitched wail broke free as your first orgasm with your husband crashed over you. “I…I…I…I’m falling! Help me–XingXing–I’m falling!”
“I’ve got you; you’re safe baobei, you’re not going anywhere,” he rasped in your ear, one arm wrapped tightly around your waist, the other holding still between your legs, letting you ride out your pleasure on his slick fingers. He could feel you clenching his fingers deep inside, and he growled with satisfaction.
You strained against your bonds as your head lifted, then fell back, body still tightening around his fingers. He put his lips to your shoulder and stayed still as your frantic movements slowly lessened. An almost overwhelming sense of accomplishment washed over him as he listened to your halting whimpers.
He slowly pulled his fingers out of you, pausing each time you whimpered, crooning in your ear, “I know, baobei, I know it’s sensitive.” Once his hand was free of your body, well…he couldn’t resist such a perfect treat. He brought his hand to his nose and breathed in the clean, heady aroma of his satisfied woman. Closing his eyes, he gave into temptation and slid his fingers into his mouth, licking off the sweet remnants of your pleasure. Feeling a little dizzy when he finished, he moved to untie you. Your hands fell to his shoulders, deceptively delicate fingers gripping him tightly, as he pulled in off your blindfold, uncovering your seductive eyes shining up at him, lids heavy with satisfaction.
You laced your fingers behind his neck, urging him closer, “XingXing…”
“Mm?” he murmured, busying himself with kissing your arms, your breasts, anything that his mouth could reach. You undulated against him and he stiffened.
“Yixing…” you said again, your voice husky.
“Shhh,” he murmured against your breasts. “I’m not finished with you, yet. I’m going to work you all up again, lovely.”
You slid a warm, moist thigh over his hip, caressing his body with yours. “Want…” you whispered.
Yixing was busy nuzzling your neck, patiently intent on slowly coaxing you back to the edge. “Mmm,” he breathed against your neck. “Not yet, baobei…”
Your hands wound through his hair and you tugged it, sending a pleasurable hum through his scalp. Your hands were wandering everywhere, gripping, caressing, clutching, scratching, and as he had predicted, it was becoming harder to think. “Want…” you breathed again, raking your fingernails over his sensitive nipples. You seemed to try to gather your wits, and said, “Yixing, if you hurry, I think that I can finish again.”
He froze against you as that simple statement shot straight to his hindbrain. He paused to try to understand it, but then you wrapped your hands under his arms and raked your nails sharply down his back and he was lost.
He moved between your legs, your hands on his taut cheeks, nails digging in, urging him. You wrapped your thighs around his waist, and his mind stopped thinking. All he knew was that his body was telling him that you wanted it, to give it to you, to thrust, thrust, thrust, until you gave him what he wanted. In one last moment of clarity, he looked into your eyes, the smoky combination of satisfaction and anticipation driving him wild. He pushed inside of you, inside of your tightness, your heat, your wet, slick, grasping body. Your mouth opened wordlessly, as you felt yourself stretch around his thick cock, but you kept your eyes on his. You wrapped one hand around the back of his neck, and buried the nails of the other into his waist, spurring him.
Yixing groaned, desperately trying to go slow, to give you the slow, hard, steady strokes you needed.
You pulled his head down to yours, and he lay on your body, feeling your soft breasts and tight little nipples grinding into his chest. “Yixing,” you purred. “Faster.”
He paused, taking a moment to let your imperious little order sink into his conscious mind. Then he grinned. Sliding his left arm under your right knee, he pulled it up so that your thigh grazed his ribs. Then, clenching his jaw, he lost control. Growling, thrusting, nipping and licking at your collarbones, at your shoulders, at your neck, he gave himself over to you. Your body jerked involuntarily, each thrust sending a mind-numbing electric shock of pleasure through you, and you held onto his arms as if he were the only thing in your world. Your breaths shuddered in his ear, and that drove him mad. Pulling you roughly closer, as close as he could, he thrust deep into you, his powerful hips slamming demandingly against you, drumming home just to whom you belonged, even as you clutched him closer, and took what was yours.
You were close, but when your husband changed the angle of his hips so that his body was now grinding against your exposed clit, it pushed you over the edge. This orgasm was even more intense than the first, and it ripped a rough, raw cry from your throat. When Yixing felt that first, firm, insistent clench of you around his cock, his eyes rolled back into his head. This is what he had wanted, this is what he had been dreaming about for months, years. His hips thrust into you one last time, and he groaned as he finally let go. A hot lick of fire shot down his spine, and through his balls, as he could almost feel them pumping you with his thick, creamy cum. He felt each clench and rippling pull of you around his shaft as he shot load after load into you, filling you up, giving himself completely to you. “Mine, mine,” you whimpered, your hands running up and down his back, pulling him closer, closer.
“Yes, baobei, I am yours, all yours,” he groaned. Finally his orgasm let him go, and he relaxed on you, boneless and panting. He could feel you still clenching around him, milking his cock with the last vestiges of your orgasm. You wrapped your arms and legs around him, and just held him, your small body slowly moving under his. Ruefully, he realized that you were trying to rock him, and that he should probably move, lest he suffocate you. Yet, when he braced his arms to do so, you held onto him tighter.
“No. Stay. I want you just like this. Hold you,” you said, your breath coming in ragged pants.
“But baobei, I’m too heavy,” he protested.
“No, you’re not. You’re mine. Stay. I like you here. I can take it,” you breathed.
He compromised by sliding down your body, making sure that the bulk of his weight was off of you, as he laid his head against your breasts, and wrapped his arms around you. He listened to you as your breathing normalized, and eventually deepened into that of sleep. Yixing nuzzled his cheek against your soft breasts, relaxing into the safety of your arms, as he fell asleep to the sound of your heartbeat.
A/N: If you want to follow me, then please do so on my main blog @vampwrrr, as I always update there, first.
➳ published: 04.10.18
➳ ceo!au || escort!au || genre: smut || rated: m
➳ pairing: exo x reader
➳ summary: You’d do absolutely anything for the right price - even be a call girl for nine of Seoul’s most eligible bachelors.
➳ word count: 3.4k
Mini Masterlist || Prologue || Sehun | Chanbaek >
“Flight KE667 now boarding.”
Your manicured nails grab the handle of your carryon bag and you make your way towards the gate, the mask covering your face allowing you to be without make-up for the long flight. Yixing definitely didn’t skip on the tickets and you are led to the first class section. You place your luggage in the overhead before settling into place and plugging your headphones into the jack, preparing a movie to watch and help you fall asleep.
You pull your phone out, loading several pages for research to read while in the air; you need to know more about Mr. Zhang Yixing. The founder of Baarbers, a man who has his fingers in many pies but not a man without a heart; from the many articles that are associated with his name, you can see Yixing likes to donate to charities based around children.
The captain announces take-off and you put your phone in airplane mode, still reading the articles while the movie plays as background noise.
The salon chain he owns is as high end as they come, the staff trained to perfection in every store and even though many celebrities recommend the place – it caters to everyone. You see an article where Yixing speaks about how a hairstyle can make anyone feel more confident and that feeling shouldn’t be given to one class; three days a week, his salons have lowered prices for those who may not be able to afford them where on any day of the week, children under 10 are free.
He personally attends every opening, smiling for the cameras and socialising with everyone who is there; never failing to thank his staff and those who continue to work hard and keep their reputation strong.
He never speaks about himself, always mentioning we rather than I and you smile; this shows how inclusive, how thoughtless the man is. From his warm, dimpled smile to his generosity, Zhang Yixing seems to be the most gentlemanly man you’ve had the pleasure of servicing.
You even wonder if that generosity extends to the bedroom.
Your eyes begin to droop, a yawn forces your mouth open and you stretch your arms above your head, pleasantly clicking your shoulders. It’s a twelve hour flight, you know that trying to stay awake and do research would be silly when you don’t quite know what’s going to happen once you land in Paris – other than Yixing coming to collect you from the airport.
Like a gentleman.
➳ He touches your body, caressing every inch with soft hands, his taste rich on our tongue as your bodies connect as one. Each moment is calculated, giving you as much pleasure as possible while he revels in the sounds you make. Tonight, it is about your pleasure; your release is more important to him than his own and he wants to watch you come undone, hear you sigh his name in content when you fall from your high and relax into his embrace.
Your lips part as you sigh, faintly remembering where you are; catching yourself before you touch yourself and ease the ache that has started in between your thighs. It’s not often you have such a tender loving dream, filled with the male focusing on your pleasure but you smile to yourself; you aren’t complaining about it either.
“Please fasten your seatbelt, secure trays back into their upward position and prepare for landing.” You sit up, rolling your shoulders and lifting the window blind to watch the landing and take in Paris at night from the sky.
You collect your luggage and head towards the entrance, immediately able to spot Yixing the moment you walk through the gate. He may as well wear a sign screaming ‘fuck me’ because his entire attire was immaculate and sexy, even if it is quite casual rather than a suit.
Either way, you are loving the look on him.
“How was your flight?” Like a gentleman, Yixing takes your luggage, treating you like his girlfriend rather than the escort he’s hired. “Did you manage to get some sleep?” You hum, walking slightly behind him to admire the view; his slacks are fitting, a soft off-white with a matching jacket, his hair natural and soft-looking while he wore a gentle smile, showing his beautiful dimple as he turns his head to talk to you. “I need you to get plenty of rest,” he opens the door and allows you in first before placing the luggage in the boot. “It’s going to be a very busy day tomorrow.”
“Is there anything I should know?” You turn to face him, examining every detail of his strong features.
“We will be getting ready at the salon, a make-up artist and stylist is already booked and you are free to choose from anything the stylist brings; the make-up artist will match your look accordingly.” You stifle a yawn, snuggling into the heated seat, Yixing smiles and pats your knee. “I’ll give you the rest of the details tomorrow, first we will go to the hotel and rest.”
You are surprised when that is exactly what you do.
Rest.
Yixing runs you a bath, telling you that it is best to wash away the sweat and stiffness from the flight and when you finish, he’s lying in a large king-sized bed, reading a book.
“So is this what you had planned for the evening?” You place your bathrobe to hang in the closet; the small, silk pyjama set you wear shows your body nicely but his eyes remain on your face.
“No,” he pulls the sheets back, welcoming you in. “I really do want you to rest for tomorrow.” You pout slightly but crawl into bed next to him. The moment you are settled, Yixing places his book on the cabinet next to him, turns off the light and wraps you in his embrace. “Because tomorrow,” he whispers lowly in your ear, “I’ve got a surprise for you.” He gives you a soft, fleeting kiss just below your earlobe before spooning you.
This is strange, cuddling is normally something a client does after you’ve fucked, not before, but as you allow his gentle snores to lull you to sleep; you know that it’s only the beginning of a crazy ride.
The next morning, after your shower, Yixing is waiting for you in the bedroom; he sits upon the bed and watches as you enter the room with the same gentle smile he wore when he collected you from the airport.
“Are you excited?” He asks; he’s not wearing a shirt and as he leans back, his muscles become more defined. You eye him up, licking your lips and nodding because you are excited – excited to taste the only Chinese bachelor in the deal. “I have a request for today, something that would make tonight more…interesting.” He watches you with dark eyes, judging how you’ll react to his question.
Leaning down, he pulls a box from under the bed and passes it to you; you tighten the towel around your torso before reaching for it with eager hands. You are tempted to shake it but decide against it in case it’s something breakable; you carefully open it and the moment you see the purple silicone, you raise your eyebrows in surprise.
You were not expecting this.
“I would like you to wear this during the opening and while we are at the after party; I don’t assume to think this is new for you but I bought a slim one to help ready you for what I had instore for tonight.” Anal play isn’t something you are asked to do often but for what Yixing is offering for the short time you are spending with him – you’ll do it without question.
Because who are you to judge what a man’s kinks are when you are the woman they call to fulfil them?
“I’ll need some help putting it in,” you say coyly, coming to stand in front of him, holding the butt plug out for him to take. Yixing spreads his legs, tapping his thigh for you to lie across them before grabbing the lube that was also in the box with the toy.
He dribbles some over your ass before coating his fingers; you clench slightly at the feeling of the cold lube but know it’s better to relax. His fingers gently rub over the hole, before he begins prepping you; he takes his time, making sure you aren’t in any pain or discomfort as he makes sure you are prepared for the insertion.
You strain your neck to watch as he pours more lube onto the butt plug and lathers it, making it nice and slick before pressing it against your ass hole. “Tell me if you’re uncomfortable.” He whispers as he pushes slowly but you don’t utter a word, allowing him to fill you with it because it’s what he wants – and your job is to accommodate these wants. “You have such a pretty ass,” he mumbles, not letting you move while he runs his soft hands over the round mounds in front of him; when he gives them a slight jiggle, you bite your lip.
You stand up and walk around, getting used to the feeling while Yixing watches you closely. Your body bare for him to devour and he’s twitching in his pants as he imagines how great you’ll look in the surprise he has for tonight. Every time you bend over to collect something from your travel bag, move a leg or shift your weight from one foot to another, a strangely arousing sensation reminds you of the plug.
Today is going to be quite interesting.
You aren’t going to complain, leaning awkwardly to one side when travelling to the venue; Yixing spends the trip explaining what’s going to happen while his hand rests on your thigh. He’s quite affectionate, more comfortable in your presence than you had expected from a man who has turned down three marriage proposals – another interesting fact you learnt while researching him.
When you finally arrive to the salon, you are utterly surprised by the outfits on display. Everything is white or of some scale of white; the accessories are all made with moonstone and as you stare in amazement, Yixing pats your ass softly to encourage you towards your stylist. You jump in surprise, not expecting the sensation you feel from the seemingly innocent action.
You pick a beautiful porcelain dress that looks both professional yet stylish, a black belt around the waist to break up the white and a ring set with a large oval moonstone and two small earrings. Your hair is done into French braids and make-up is natural, a little colour hinting at your beautiful eyes. You glance over at Yixing, who has matched your outfit perfectly and the two of you look like a power couple that anyone in the fashion industry would kill to have model for them. While his hair is being styled out of his face, Yixing looks over and meets your gaze, winking and mouthing how beautiful you look; you can’t believe the heat that flushes your cheeks at such a compliment.
This man is affecting you without laying a finger on you – or maybe it’s more to do with the secret that currently rests inside you that causes you to react a little more differently.
The entire event has you feeling jumpy; every time Yixing nonchalantly touches your rear, you clench and you squirm while trying to remind yourself that he’s acting the part so you should too.
As the event comes to a close, Yixing leans over and whispers in your ear, his breath tickling the hairs on your cheek. “We will be going back to the hotel soon,” his fingers tease along your waist, “how are you feeling?”
“Good,” you smile at him, showing him that even though you were uncomfortable at first, you are more relaxed about the butt plug and what’s to come afterwards. “Are you going to give me a hint as to what we are going to do when we go back to the hotel?”
Yixing kisses your cheek, a camera flashing just as his lips touch your skin and you manage to smile in time for it to seem less suspicious. “How do you feel about cosplay?” You smirk, enjoying where this is going.
“You or me?” His hand rubs against your ass and gives you a gentle pat.
“You, baby; I can’t wait to see how that ass looks in the costume I bought.” He looks around, seeing how everyone has now left the two of you alone and engrossed in their own conversations. “In fact, I can’t wait.” He pulls you slightly, moving slowly towards the exit and nodding to a few of his security as he leaves.
The ride is fast; Yixing concentrates on navigating the busy streets of Paris with a serious expression while you clench and yelp every time he hits a bumpy part of the road. The moment he pulls into the space reserved for his car, he’s out and moving to your side quickly, dragging you out of the car and behind him in a rush.
The bedroom door slams behind him, your lips are connected in a fiery kiss as Yixing unzips the back of your dress and you unbutton his blazer. “Take it off,” he whispers, breaking the kiss and holding you at arm’s length. “Take it off and bend over.” You give a sultry smile, slowly sliding the dress down your body; you turn around to face the bed, bending over to expose the ass he’s been fascinated with.
His hands drag your panties down, eyes focused on the plug while his fingers slide over your slit; you’re wet, excitement and the anal stimulation more arousing than you anticipated.
“I’m going to remove it,” he says, hand grabbing the stopper while you involuntarily clench around it. “I’m going to replace it with a tail.” You turn your head in surprise, the glint in his eyes showing you how excited he is for this. “Then I want you to put on the ears and collar while I get ready.” You nod, biting your lip as you imagine Yixing’s cock.
His hands leave you while he prepares the tail for insertion, you feel strange when he pulls the butt plug out and wince slightly when he inserts the tail – it’s a little bigger but you adjust to the feeling quickly. You grab the other items and rush to the mirror, making sure they look perfect while you watch Yixing undress; his cock is firm, not too long but the girth makes up for that and you watch as he lies down and strokes himself – your mouth watering at the sight.
His eyes are closed, his hand gripping tight while his free hand gently prods at his own ass hole, you quietly walk over as to not break his concentration. You gently spread his thighs and lower your head to come face to face with his length. Taking one testicle in your mouth, you give it a gentle suck, eliciting a deep moan from Yixing’s throat as he adjusts his hand so you have access to his balls and ass.
Spreading his cheeks enough, you kiss the puckered flesh tentatively, gauging his reaction but he makes no move to stop you; his eyes half open to watch as you give it a kitten lick. He sighs heavily, slowing his speed so he can enjoy the stimulation you give him. You continue slowly, circling your tongue around the hole and alternating between kissing his rear and licking his smooth jewels.
Yixing begins to hiss, his thighs shaking as he tries to hold himself back. “Get on your hands and knees, baby, if you carry on, I might not be able to let you come.”
“It’s my job to please you,” you whisper, continuing to take his balls into your mouth and releasing them with a loud pop. “It’s what I’m here for.” He gulps and you watch his Adam’s apple bob as he tries to hold back; you giggle, normally men will snap, command you into position but not tonight – if you really wanted, you could taste his salty release on your tongue without him objecting but you do what he asks instead.
You stop, hearing the soft whine leave his lips when you assume the position he desires; the sheep’s tail on full display while your sheep ears flop around as you move. “So beautiful,” he caresses your ass, giving it a shake and causing you to gasp. “You seem to enjoy the feeling,” he dips a finger inside your core, “you’re practically leaking.”
“You’ve had me on edge all day, Mr. Zhang.” You twist your neck to look at him, how his eyes wander over the soft skin in front of him and his tongue peeks out to wet his lips.
“Call me Yixing, baby.” He takes his cock and presses against your entrance, “it’s what you’ll be crying when you cum.” He pushes deep inside, groaning as he feels the plug against your walls. He begins slowly, allowing his hands freedom to wander over your ass as he cherishes it before digging his fingers into your hips and fucking you hard.
So hard, your arms fail you and your cheek is pressed against the bedspread while Yixing continues; harder and faster, his own pleasure amplified by the butt plug his cock brushes against with every thrust.
You muffle your screams, both your ass and pussy clenching around what’s inside them while Yixing groans deeply, releasing himself inside you before pulling both his cock and the plug out and watching how you clench around nothing while coming down from your high.
“How do you feel?” His breathing is ragged as he lies down beside your collapsed form, trying to recover your own breath; you mumble incoherently into the bed while he chuckles, kissing your shoulder and trailing a slender finger along your slightly sweaty skin, tickling your side by how soft he’s being.
“I can’t feel my ass,” you groan as you lie on your side, not wanting to rest on your back because it still feels strange. Yixing nods, he taps your shoulder and asks you to move up so he can pull the blankets down. “Do you do that with all the girls?” He smiles, shaking his head.
“Only the ones who I know will give me what I want.” He pulls you into his embrace, keeping you on your side. “You don’t mind if we cuddle?” You shake your head, some men enjoy the intimacy afterwards while some prefer you to leave; considering you’re in a foreign country with him, you are glad he’s not kicking you out.
“I would like to look at Paris before heading home,” you suggest, Yixing’s chest rumbles as he agrees.
“I’ll take you,” you feel comforted by his offer; his company is one of the best you’ve had the luxury of enjoying so spending more time with him isn’t a nuisance. “We’ll start with some shopping.”
The trip to the airport is filled with laughter, you and Yixing grew from client and escort to somewhat friends in the day you spent site seeing and shopping – you refused to allow him to buy everything and you even bought him a Rolex, something you had never done before.
Not because you had developed feelings for him, you always keep the distinction between client and real, but because he is a truly amazing man who does wonderful things for the charities he supports – because he deserved it.
When you finally touch down in Incheon, you turn on your phone to see if you had missed any important messages while in Paris. One comes through from Mr. Park Chanyeol:
➳ [Park Chanyeol, Saturday, 1548] Miss Y/N, can you please come to Privè this following Friday. We are launching a new clothing line and need you to model for us.
The request is unusual but you know you’ll be paid well enough for the service so you reply back, confirming that you’ll be there. The company is new on the fashion scene but has been making a name for itself thanks to its gender neutral clothing, the pre-orders alone made headlines and they are rising fast in the industry.
It would be quite fun modelling for them.
Profile:
➳ Zhang Yixing || CEO of Baarbers || 07 October 1991 || 26 || Libra
➳ Hair salon
➳ Sweetest man alive, heart of gold.
➳ Enjoy anal play; slight cosplay while enjoys being on the receiving end of anilingus
➳ Night: in Paris for the opening of one of his salons
➳ Trophies: porcelain dress and moonstone ring, several anal toys and two new dresses
So many talented authors were with us for our first round. We hope you have enjoyed these stories as much as we have. Don’t forget to leave kudos, comments and send love to these wonderful people. :-)
DAY 1
#6004 - Show Me Love by WhisperLucifer
Jongin/Baekhyun, NC-17, 9K
#10044 - Promise by baeksbabygirl
Jongin/Sehun, R, 15K
DAY 2
#9028 - Amidst Antenuptials and Elevator Kisses by unfinishedpages
Jongin/Kyungsoo, NC-17, 58K
#11013 - Camisado by junxouji
Jongin/Sehun/Chanyeol, NC-17, 2K
DAY 3
#8001 - 'Til The Morning Sun You're Mine by fadetomorrow
Jongin/Chanyeol, NC-17, 23K
#5009 - Fresh Old Wounds by amaxingly
Jongin/Yixing, PG-13, 7K
DAY 4
#4003 - Imago by Demedicis
Jongin/Junmyeon, NC-17, 15K
#10053 - Break My Heart In Two by kaisyacht
Kai/Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 16K
DAY 5
#13005 - Don't / Kiss Me by felentae
Jongin/Sehun, PG-13, 20K
#9004 - A Slip of Heat by glossymop
Jongin/Kyungsoo, NC-17, 22K
DAY 6
#5005 - Bad Karmic Praxis by pricklyteeth
Jongin/Yixing, NC-17, 4K
#8006 - Cross My Heart by FayeValentine
Jongin/Chanyeol, PG-13, 13K
DAY 7
#10004 - Space is Just A Word (Made Up By Someone Who's Afraid to Get Close) by sekaies
Jongin/Sehun, PG-13, 10K
#9051 - Rainbow Glow by glossymop
Jongin/Kyungsoo, NC-17, 6K
DAY 8
#0024 - Work of Heart by offbeatheart
Jongin/Chanyeol, NC-17, 13K
#5003 - Amaryllis and Americanos by yixingsaun
Jongin/Yixing, PG-15, 16K
DAY 9
#0012 - One Step at A Time by ourdestiny
Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 26K
#0021 - My Soulmate is A Dickhead (that’s what I thought) by bts_jk_9798
Jongin/Kyungsoo, PG-13, 5K
DAY 10
#8036 - Lemonade by grenadille
Jongin/Chanyeol, PG-13, 9K
#10047 - Angel in Disguise by Gardenia1214
Jongin/Sehun, PG-13, 20K
DAY 11
#9015 - Kiss and Hug by Juiz
Jongin/Kyungsoo, NC-17, 8K
#9031 - Chocolates and Apple Cinnamon by babychocosoo
Jongin/Kyungsoo, NC-17, 12K
DAY 12
#8042 - Strawberry Champagne by memefucker69
Jongin/Chanyeol, NC-17, 11K
#10137 - The Inevitable Idiocy by kaise
Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 9K
DAY 13
Self-Prompt - Ma-Ma-Ma-Machine by Tokkiio
Jongin/Kyungsoo, NC-17, 2K
DAY 14
#10141 - Luminous Beings That We Are by mayflower (blacklist)
Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 11K
DAY 15
#10039 - Sweet and Alluring by redcheri
Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 6K
DAY 16
#10097 - Inevitability by Monstermonstrosity
Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 20K
DAY 17
#10096 - On A Paper Airplane by kumjongin
Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 8K
DAY 18
#10064 - 넌 내꺼라서, 모든 걸 줄게 (You’re Mine, It’s Yours) by fluffncocoa
Jongin/Sehun, PG-15, 10K
DAY 19
#10058 - Caught Between Mercury Waves by zhangbanged
Jongin/Sehun, NC-17, 25K
DAY 20
Self-Prompt - Castle Bound by whddls
Jongin/Sehun, PG-13, 2K
DAY 21
#7006 - Loved You a Long Time (and I Wish I had Known Sooner) by bbubbleddae
Jongin/Jongdae, NC-17, 11K
DAY 22
Self-Prompt - The Daily Life of Us by zhangbanged
Jongin/Sehun/Yixing, NC-17, 5K
[☆] Title: Amaryllis and Americanos
↝ Jongin/Yixing
↝ NC-17
↝ Florist AU, 16k
↝ Summary: Jongin is a struggling artist working part-time at the local cafe and Yixing is the boring florist across the road.
[☆] Title: The Daily Life of Us ↝ Jongin/Sehun/Yixing ↝ NC-17 ↝ Threesome, pwp, 5K ↝ Summary: Life is more exciting when it's the three of them, together. http://archiveofourown.org/works/11646834
[☆] Title: Bad Karmic Praxis
↝ Jongin/Yixing
↝ NC-17
↝ Pining, Pilates, College AU, 4k
↝ Summary: Jongin’s life is falling apart because of this new transfer student and no amount of meditating, auric cleansing, or yoga can help him.
Warnings: Angst, mentions of abuse, drug use, implied sexual assault, implied smut.
"You look ravishing, miss Nina" The man paused, whilst bowing to kiss her gloved hand.
With a rehearsed smile, she returned the pleasantries, her eyes scanning the room relentlessly.
"Allow me to introduce myself: Mountbatten, Victor Mountbatten." He repeated, with a hint of condescending pride in his tone.
"As in...British plenipotentiary ambassador in Peking, Mountbatten?" Nina quizzed, focusing her attention entirely on the esteemed guest.
"The one and only Nina darling", Madame Ling intervened in an overly formal manner. "He is our most esteemed guest. Please ensure his honour will be pleased with our establishment." She smiled suggestively, stroking the man's overly-inflated ego.
Leaning closely to the puzzled girl's face, she whispered: "If you help me with this you'll have your freedom and the girls, your sisters, will be protected and safe. Yes?" She added, ensuring the girl will not argue.
Nodding her head submissively, Nina returned to their guest.
"To new friends'', he toast, raising his champagne glass.
"You are a rare gem to find Miss Nina. I've been trying to reserve some time together for quite a while, however you always seemed to be otherwise engaged, busy, particularly with the same patron...is he perhaps a person of interest?" Victor quizzed, his eyes pinning Nina for an answer.
With her rehearsed smile on and with Madame's words of advice still ringing in her ears, Nina lied as best as she could. "No Sir. No one of interest. Just a regular. We offer the same attention to all our customers"
"I sure hope I will be receiving an extra special treatment, I mean, the lady of the house suggested that, didn't she?" He pressed as he closed the distance between them.
Not breaking character, Nina leaned to meet him and nodded approvable, swallowing the knot in her throat and ignoring the heaviness creeping up in her chest.
Next morning Nina stormed Ling's office, eyes bloodshot and makeup still on.
"Ma'am! Something's happened. I can feel it. I need to go over to his place, I have to find him!"
"And Good Morning to you too! How was your night? Did you have a good sleep? Why...yes I did." Ling monologued, obviously bothered by the girl's outburst.
"Firstly: Pleeeeease tell me Victor agreed to patronage. Secondly: You need to get some rest. You look demented. And thirdly: I love you and that's why I'll send Xiao to ask around."
Sinking in a chair, Nina tightened her robe around her and started tearing up.
"Victor agreed to patronage. He'll send the supply this week. Ma'am, I will die if something happed to Yixing, I can't shake this stupid feeling, I…" and without having a chance to finish she burst into sobs.
Ling's comforting arms around her did nothing to ease the dreadfulness, but she welcomed it anyway.
"Go to sleep. I promise I'll look into it. He's probably embroiled in one of his undercover cases and couldn't leave. I'm sure he'll be here tonight. We know how he can't stay away for too long. You managed to hook him worse than any drug." Ling reassured and helped her stand.
Sniffling back her tears, Nina obeyed and went upstairs to her room, throwing herself on the covers, exhausted and drained, drifting to sleep.
"Gege! Gege! Wake up!" The child insisted, grabbing Yixing face with her small hands and shaking it as hard as she could.
"Grab his feet NiuNiu", the old man instructed.
"Ughh. He's heavy papa." NiuNiu, complained, dropping a leg back in the sand.
"We need to get him in the boat. He's still breathing. Grab him!"
The two wrestled with Yixing's limp body and as soon as he was onboard, the old man started rowing.
"Gege, wake up!" The girl insisted, gently caressing Yixing's forehead.
"Cover him with the blanket, we need to keep him warm. It looks like he lost a lot of blood. And that nasty blow at the back of his head doesn't help either. Put that tarp under his head Niu Niu." The old man instructed, concerned about the stranger's fate.
"What are we doing with him papa?”
"We'll take him to ours. Those men that shot him...they meant serious harm. Mama will look at that nasty wound on his head, maybe if he's lucky she'll also be able to take the bullet out." The old man revealed in between paddle strokes. The adrenaline rush he was under was starting to wear off and he genuinely began questioning if he did the right thing.
The noise of the city felt distant. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Yixing surrendered to the silence and let the gentle rocking of the boat soothe his pain.
"Papa, do you want me to row? There's a long way to Xiaojin, I can help!" NiuNiu asked, breaking her father's train of worrying thoughts.
"No child. Look after him, make sure he stays warm and keep pressing on the wound! We'll get home shortly."
Digging her fingernails in her sheets, Nina gasped for air as stood up, looking around the room terrified. Nightmares were not a strange happening and yet this one she just woke from drained the blood in her face. It was all mud, black, stinking mud, from which she could not free herself, and with each struggle, her body would sink even further, until she couldn't breathe. The lingering salty taste on her tongue refused to disappear even after she downed a straight shot of bourbon. Through the slightly parted curtains, she could see the sequential dance of the lights from the billboards. It was night already, she'd slept all day.
"Yixing!" Nina cried, reality sinking in, as she ran downstairs.
"Papa? Is the man going to be ok? NiuNiu wondered, sat next to her dad, helping gutting the fish.
"I don't know my child. I really don't know. Mama's doing her best though." The old man reassured and his eyes drifted across the calm, dark waters.
Their home, facing the distant Shanghai lights, propped on a steep island versant, was overlooking the bay. The white walls, contrasting the dark wooden balcony and window frames, stood out in the deep greenery dressing the surroundings.
"Nina! Nina! Baby?" Yixing's raspy voice broke the silence in the dimly lit room.
"Shhh now, get some rest." A warm voice instructed, followed by a gentle, yet stern hand on his chest. "I took the bullet out. You must be in god's favours...that shot was a mere pinch away from the heart." She continued to herself, with Yixing fading back to unconsciousness.
"You'll be on the mend soon...you're strong...you'll see." She motherly caressed a strand of his ruffled hair, wiping away a tear.
"My boy, he must've been your age when he went to fight their wars. He was strong, tall. They took my boy away", she whispered, succumbing to muffled cries.
She played her part, as many times before. She danced, she sang, mesmerising Victor and getting him to the point where Ling wanted; to offer his patronage and place the den under his protection. A practice well established among the elite.
"Good evening Mr. Mountbatten."
"Good evening Madam." Victor replied, heading towards the bar.
"Is Nina available tonight?"
"Ohh, ummm I'm afraid she's indisposed. But I have a new girl: Philippa. From America. Skin like ebony, lips of gold." Madame tried to persuade him with her usual charm.
"I said Nina", Victor hissed through his teeth, his eyes turning a dark shade."
"And I said she is indisposed. And you would do better to watch your tone Mr. Mountbatten."
"Woman! Have you forgotten you belong to me?" Victor replied, his forced superiority in full display. The famed British politeness lasting just as long as his ego was stroked.
"Mr. Mountbatten, please do not confuse me with some damsel in distress you perhaps impressed once by acting like this. I have been dealing with men like you my whole life and I even managed to make a few disappear. You are mistaken if you think you were ever in charge of me. This city was built on the backs of women like me. And guess what, we're still here, holding your pipe and your pathetic excuse for manhood, whilst you chase dragons and lay waste on your fathers fortunes." Ling's words resounded in the den, and the room went quiet. It wasn't a busy night, except a few regulars, already wasted, laying on their pillows and the girls who were serving them.
"This will not end like this. You promised I will have her. I...I did unimaginable things to have her." Victor threatened, on the brink of losing his temper.
Raising an eyebrow Ling signalled the two bodyguards at the entrance.
"I will say this once: you are no longer welcomed here and consider your patronage removed." Ling ruled and turning her back on him, she headed to her office, leaving Victor in a state of disbelief and indignation.
Avoiding looking Nina in the eyes, Xiao ran brushing past her, leaving Madame's office door open.
There it was. That heaviness, the plumb like gut feeling that she couldn't shake since the ball.
"Sit!" Ling's fan pointed to the chair.
"Xiao went and asked around. Nina, you know how I don't sugar-coat things. And you have been through worse...you're strong…"
As Madame kept talking, all Nina could hear was a high pitch ringing in her ears. Everything was in slow motion: Ling lighting up a cigarette, the smoke coming out of it, her hand waving, as she continued delivering the news.
"The station put out a search party for him, but it's most likely they'll stop by tomorrow. Xiao heard someone saying that they found some blood along the Bay, on a beach in Caojiazhai."
"How much blood?" Nina interrupted, woken from her trance.
"Nina, you're not listening, my child. It doesn't matter…"
"How. Much. Blood." She enunciated every word, tears pooling her eyes.
“Remember how you found me. Remember how many said I should've died, but you made me better."
"Nina, I don't know...they didn't say. Baby, the tide was high last night...they...they said it washed up any trace, except for the blood." Ling continued trying to keep her voice steady, as tears kept creeping up.
"I need to go see for myself!" Nina decided and stood only to fall back in the armchair.
Rushing to her Ling placed a cold hand over her face and kneeled to feel the girl's pulse.
"Olly, Chinny, Linnete! Come in here right now!" Ling shouted for help. Instantly, the girls opened the door and jumped to aid. Another girl, Philippa, quite new to the clan, stood in the door frame, knotting her fingers unsure how to be useful. With their help, Ling took Nina back to her room and placed her under Philippa's guard.
"You watch her. She's not going anywhere. Make sure she eats and come get me if she gets worse." Ling instructed and closed the door behind her, worry painted over all her face.
Three weeks. Days and nights. Hours. Minutes of endless pain. No tears left to cry, her eyes were burning, itching. She locked herself in her room, refusing food and any sustenance. If it wasn't for Ling nearly force feeding her, she would've died.
Nina contemplated that option. She lit up her pipe one night and surrendered to her dreams. She saw him sneaking in, bringing her croissants from that French bakery on the promenade. She saw him playing with her curls, twisting strands in between his fingers. She kissed his lips once more and inhaled his scent. Every time he would dissipate with the smoke, she'd inhale another mouthful and so on, until he didn't leave anymore. He was there with her forever.
Madame jumped to rescue once again, when she found her livid. Using tinctures and ferments she held Nina over the astringent steam, opening her airways, making her breathe again.
"It's ok my baby, breathe!" Ling cried, holding the limp body in her arms and rocking her like an infant.
"Nina baby, you're breaking my heart. You need to fight. You are stronger than this. He would've wanted you to live, to get away from here, to be happy." The woman lamented.
"It hurts so much mama. He…saw me. Not Nina the opium den worker. He saw me. The girl from the Mission. And he loved me mama. And he taught me to love myself too."
With the elite, used to being treated with anything but the highest regard and reverence, what happened to him felt humiliating. He felt stripped of his titles and reduced to nothing but his vices. He felt as if he was eighteen again, facing his father's stern decision to enrol him in the Academy. He felt the hatred building in his heart, taking over his reasoning. He felt in need of a cruel revenge for being refused by a "coolie".
"Ahhh! Gege! Catch it! Catch it!" NiuNiu's gleeful laughter pierced the peaceful valley. Knees deep in the crystal clear waters, with her trousers rolled up and armed with a makeshift spear, her eyes were following the swift moves of a silver rudderfish.
"Be ready NiuNiu! It's coming your way." wearing some old fishing clothes of papa Zang, Yixing followed the child, amused by her joy.
"Got it!" She quipped so loud, her voice resounding up the hill.
"Mama Ting is going to be so proud, let's go show her the capture!" Helping the girl out of the water, Yixing sighed deeply.
"Gege? Do you really have to go back to the city?" NiuNiu asked, her big brown eyes pinned on Yixing's reaction.
"I have been gone for three weeks, and it has been so wonderful to be a part of your family for a while, but I have to return."
"Is it because of that girl? Nina?" She pursued further, making Yixing stop in his tracks.
"How do you know about that?"
"I heard you talking to mama and papa one night." The girl confessed." Is she your daaaaarling?" She teased and started running towards the stone stairs up the hill.
"Yixing and Nina…sitting in a tree"
"That's it! You're in trouble now! You're under arrest for spying!" Yixing said, easily catching up and picking the child up, carried her under his arm for the rest of the journey back.
"Gege put me down...your shoulder. You shouldn't strain it!" Her genuinely worried eyes made him stop and placing her down gently, he caressed her hair.
"It's ok now. You, papa Zang and mama Ting looked after me, brought me back to life. The wound is healed now NiuNiu...This is why I have to return. My work is not finished there."
"Will you ever come back?" She asked, her voice quivering.
"As soon as I put everything in order I will return. I promise.''
"Will you bring your darling as well?" She laughed, making a run for it again, teasing Yixing.
"Mamaaaaa! We're baaaaack! Mamaaaa! Look!" She announced their arrival proudly lifting the capture.
Mama Ting smiled, taking the fish and sighed:
"This one will never marry. Look at her Yixing!"
"She is amazing, mama. She is fierce and fearless and witty. She'll need a man to rise up to her standards."
"Mama, please sit down for a bit!" Yixing pleaded, grabbing the woman's hand and prompting her to sit.
"Mama, tomorrow, I will go back to the city and I wanted to say thank you. I don't even know how to begin to express my gratitude. You and papa saved my life. I..."
"My boy! We would do it again in a blink!" The woman interrupted him, squeezing his hand. "I lost a son once, I was not going to lose another." She continued, choked-up by her tears.
"I know that you have your life in the city, but maybe you will visit every now and then. We have been so blessed to meet you and NiuNiu loves you so much. Please, come by when you can, yes? And maybe you'll bring Nina as well?" She continued, until tears pooled her eyes again.
"Oh mama! Of course I'll come back and will bring Nina as well. She would love this place." Yixing reassured, hugging her small frame tightly and wiping her tears away.
The salon fell silent. The girls were picking up remaining empty trays and made room for the cleaner who came in the mornings to sweep and wash the floors. Outside, even if still dark, the wooden wheels of the vendors' carts were clashing with the pavement, announcing dawn's arrival.
The tired ladies retreated to their private quarters one by one and sitting in front of their mirrored vanities, slowly striping away their makeup, as if wiping a still wet painting, leaving behind a blank canvas, got ready for sleep.
Madame, as always, was still in her little office. The smoke coming out of her cigarette danced slowly in the shadows, while she hunched over some unpaid invoices. With her reading glasses on the tip of her nose and her shoulders covered with a knitted shawl, Ling resembled a little old granny and not at all the fierce Madame everyone knew. Drawing another puff from the ivory tip, the red ashes of her cigarette lit up the cold room, glowing shades of doom on the flowery wallpaper.
Rubbing the bridge of her nose she shrugged, gathering tighter the ends of the shawl and headed to sleep.
She contemplated on the freshly cleaned, wet floors, gleaming in the obscure, inhaling the peony scent left behind by the soapy waters. She hated the smell of stale beer and she'd ask the cleaner to use anything to avoid that stench in her den.
Heading towards the stairs she halted in her tracks startled by a loud crash and the sound of broken glass. Under her terrified eyes, burning bottles were being thrown in, engulfing everything in flames, blocking the way out. She stood there, watching her life's work falling prey to the unforgiving blaze, inhaling the smoke, unable to retreat to safety. She felt dragged and awoken from her trance she followed the girls towards the back, through the kitchen entrance and onto the side alley.
In between crying uncontrollably and coughing fits, she watched as the fire started spreading and took over the entire house.
Alarmed, the neighbours poured in and carrying buckets of water they tried to put a stop to the ever growing pit; the girls, still in their nighties and bare feet helped them relentlessly, yet unavailing...the outburst won eventually.
Soon a fire engine appeared, and everyone watched helplessly, as the men extinguished the flames, leaving behind charred pillars and darkened walls. The street was swarming with curious eyes, all waiting to catch a glimpse of the disaster; touched by their tragedy, women living nearby started bringing clothes and slippers and took some girls away from the scene. Others, including Nina, gathered around Ling protectively, hugging each other and finding solace in their embrace.
Few hours passed until the firemen were able to stop the spread. With almost nothing left standing, they went through the scorched rubble, searching for clues on the source and knocking down fallen beams. Suddenly, one of them came back with a bottle that had a piece of cloth stuck inside.
"Madame...it seems this is what started it. We had a few other places last night...it seems that the Youth Movement are active. They target establishments frequented by foreigners. Do you have someplace safe to go?" The man asked, worried, looking over to the shivering group of girls.
"This was no Youth Movement. I know the snake who did this." Ling whispered to herself, gritting her teeth.
"It's really not safe for you ladies to be out today. There have been attacks on all foreign sympathisers and the French concession is at risk. Can you seek refuge anywhere?" The firefighter asked, as he gathered his equipment.
"We'll manage. Thank you!" Madame barely uttered, weakened and nearly collapsing under hew weight.
Sat down on the curb, with her arms and legs bearing scratches and burn marks, Ling watched desolated the grim picture unravelling in front of her eyes.
Her home was ashes. Wet, crumbling ashes, with no memories to salvage and no walls to keep her safe.
No tears left to wipe, as heat scorched her face and burned her lashes. Just pain. A constant.
A loud explosion on the other side of town brought her back to reality and looking for her girls she started calling them: "Nina! Olly! Chy! Where is everyone else?”
"Lynette and Philippa went with Lady Gao. She said she can keep them for a few nights." Nina answered counting heads.
"We need to go to the Mission. The streets are not safe for us."
"Ma'am, if it's the same with you, I'll go over to Yixing's. I haven't been there since...I need to feed the cats. I hope they're still around. I really don’t want to see God’s servants right now.”
The sadness in her voice couldn't be masked neither by the concern for the felines, nor by the displease for the Church, but Nina tried. She couldn't remember when the acceptance creeped up in her heart but that's what she felt.
The unrest on the streets was palpable. Every corner leading into the foreign concessions was barricaded by makeshift walls of sandbags and barbed wire.
Where the Chinese students' movement managed to break through, smashed shop's windows and burned foreign flags could be seen. The British and French allied forces, along with the Sikh police were struggling to keep them at bay. Although, mostly unarmed, except for Molotov bottles, stones and improvised weapons, the rage in their hearts drove them forward, unafraid.
The hatred of the foreign rulers, who would take everything for granted, who would request them to fight their wars, who would look down on locals and keep them segregated, restricting access to their own homeland, ran deep within the young intellectuals. So stones and glass were enough for them.
The other side however, fought with everything they had and soon the young bodies of the restless minds started piling up on the streets. Merciless and ruthless, the tanks and the bullets cared none for the patriotic sentiment of those boys and to them they were nothing but disturbers of peace.
"You can drop me right after the dig papa and then head straight back. It looks like the situation has gotten worse."
"I told you, last night there were fires everywhere, but the concessions were safe. So was the den, I went by to check, as you asked, and it was quiet."
Nodding, Yixing showed the old man where to dock and lowered his cap, nearly covering his eyes.
"Look after the girls. I'll visit soon after things will settle a bit. I don't know who I can trust, so I need to approach carefully." Yixing confessed, hugging his saviour's small and hunched frame.
"Be careful my boy and don't wait too long before you come back. You'll always have a home on the island." The old man teared up, holding tightly on the boat’s rudder, resisting the rising tide.
Jumping out of the boat, Yixing hurried his steps towards his home, taking the backside alleys, avoiding the distressed crowds who were running aimlessly to cover. Screams and gunshots rippled across the once peaceful city, tanks patrolled the streets, soldiers fully armed going against defenceless civilians, pushing them back behind the barbed wire with far too much force.
When she opened the door, the cats jumped to her feet, loud and needy, intertwining their tails as Nina tried to walk across the room.
"Oh you poor babies! I am so sorry!" She apologised, emptying the contents of a few cans of food.
Inside, everything was untouched, dust covering the humble surroundings, and light just peeking through the window shutters.
Gathering her hair in a bun, she started tidying up absentmindedly, restless, as if a break would bring back memories.
Her fingers hovered above the bedside table, retracing the marks of an old water ring.
"Why don't you use coasters? It's a pity to damage such a beautiful piece."
"That's how I bought it. I thought those marks might have a story. Maybe about a husband bringing his wife a cup of coffee every morning and then kiss her gently on her forehead and maybe she would kiss him back…" Yixing narrated, circling traces on Nina's bareback.
"Is this made up or you know for certain?" She asked, intrigued, turning to face him.
"What if this story is waiting to happen? How would you feel about that?" His eyes scanned her face, impatiently for a reaction.
"Are you proposing? In bed? After we just made love?" She asked, in disbelief.
"I can get on one knee if you want!" And in a blink, he pulled the covers and jumped out of bed, assuming the position under her scandalised looks.
There he was stark naked, his skin glistening in the shades, with his most sincere eyes, asking her to marry him.
"I will get a ring I promise...but until then...if you'll do me the honour…" He began only to be interrupted by her lips crashing his.
"Get back in bed this instant!"
"Is that a yes?" He queried eagerly, kissing her back and joining her under the covers.
"It's a 'GET A RING AND WE'LL SEE!"
Wiping her tears Nina stood up, breaking the trail of memories washing over her. The little house looked tidier and the air became breathable again at the expense of her hard work. Slumping in a chair, watching the cats cuddled by the fireplace, she poured herself some tea and with small sips, drifted into sleep, unable to fight the overwhelming tiredness.
Everything went dark, too dark and heavy, enclosing her, reaching her face, tasting of salt and stale water. Eyes shut and fists clenched, she braved the engulfing mass. She tried to scream but her cries were muted. She surrendered to the black tar and let herself be covered until breath had no purpose.
“Nina! Baby! Wake-up love!" A faint whisper that got louder and louder. She saw his face. His big beautiful eyes, his lips within reach. The touch felt real.
The touch felt real!
Widening her eyes, and covering her mouth Nina jumped out and threw herself in his arms.
"Baby, you were dreaming, it looked like you were crying. It's all gone. It's ok I'm here."
Leaning back, as if unsure he's real, Nina succumbed to her tears.
"My baby! They said you're dead!" Her words, drowned by uncontrollable sobs, were muffled in his shirt.
"Where have you been? Are you ok? How are you OK? She asked in disbelief.
"Shhh! I'm here now! I've been shot and indeed, I nearly died. Someone saw the whole thing and saved me. I spent the last month on Xiaojin island." His voice trembled with emotion, trying to comfort her. "What happened? How come you're here?" He asked, puzzled.
"The den was burned to the ground. Mama Ling and some of the girls are at the Mission. The whole city has gone crazy. There are fires everywhere and tanks in the streets, I saw bodies laying on the Main." She recollected frantically, trying to make sense of the events.
"The firemen said this morning that the Youth Movement started burning foreign owned places." Nina continued, hoping her insight might help make sense.
"Ling thinks someone else might've burned the den." She added hesitantly, kneading her fingers.
"What is it baby?" He asked, prompting her.
"The night of the ball, when you didn't show up, there was this man, Mountbatten, very high up amongst the colonials. He asked for me." She started recollecting, suppressing her twitchiness.
"Madame asked if he could be our patron, he accepted and then he kept coming back asking for me. Ling distracted him for a while, but then last night, he started threatening her. She kicked him out…" She halted her story, breaking again under sobs.
"Oh baby! It's all over. I am here now. I am so sorry I didn't come that night. I was on my way, when I had an anonymous tip about some shootouts between Green Gang rivals."
"But when I got there I saw just a car, headlights on and a few shadows. I didn't even have time to pull out my revolver." He recollected, ghosting his fingers over the wound.
"Ling suspects Mountbatten got his henchmen to burn down the house. She said there was something he said…Yixing, do you think it's possible he also planned your attack?" Her eyes red and teary begged for an unspoken forgiveness as she buried her head in his chest.
"I thought I'd lost you."
"You are so strong my baby." He praised, patting her head.
"I missed you so much", she whispered, nestling in his arms, afraid to check if he was real of if she was dreaming.
They let the hours pass, cuddled in front of the fire, revelling in each other's embrace.
"Thank you for looking after my babies and for being here". Yixing said, nodding towards the sleepy cats.
"I haven't really looked after them. Today was the first time I managed to gather the courage to come over here. I'm really sorry Yixing, I...was so lost without you." She recollected, her voice losing strength.
"I am so sorry my love. It's all my fault. I should've come straight to you that night.''
“I even...Ling found me one morning...I didn't want to live anymore..."
"Shhh. It's over, baby, please don't cry. Let's try and get some rest tonight. Tomorrow morning I have to go over to the station. The captain doesn't know yet. And by the sound of it he needs my help." Yixing pondered, listening to the blasts echoes and distant fire guns.
Safe in his arms Nina slept soundly for the first time in weeks, whilst Yixing kept guard, cautious of the unfolding unrest.
"Lock the door, pull the shutters and please don't go out, ok baby?"
Nodding sleepily, Nina lifted her arms and pulled him back for a tight hug.
"Please be careful. It's crazy out there...Yixing, promise me you won't do anything stupid and heroic and you will come back safe."
"I promise my love."
The streets were bearing the signs of the clashes. Broken shop windows, burned down cafes but most importantly, blood. Blood that painted the pavements, wasted, drained unfairly in a battle with uneven odds. As he advanced towards the concessions, bodies laid cold along the road, as if pointing the way to hell. Clenching his jaw, Yixing advanced, fighting back his tears. The sight of young boys disfigured by machine guns made him sick. A sickness, foreign to him until then, blended with a rage of how unfair the fight was.
After passing several checkpoints manned by the Sikh forces, Yixing finally arrived at his station. The building was barricaded and armed French guards were placed at the entry.
Yixing went inside and headed to his captain's office. It took minutes for the man to register that he's not seeing ghosts. He was in disbelief how lucky Yixing was to have escaped the shooting.
After exchanging insights on the unfolding events, the captain agreed that Mountbatten could be implicated in the fire and Yixing's shooting. The only issue however was that their hands were tied, because he was protected by his diplomatic immunity and would have walked away with anything, regardless how heinous his crimes might've been.
The Rabelais villa was in uproar. Servants going up and down the double staircase, carrying carefully wrapped boxes, objects of art or heavy leather trunks, stacking all in the lobby for transport to SS Naldera, with the final destination Southampton - England.
When Yixing and Captain Filoumme arrived, Mountbatten, surrounded by his bodyguards, descended the grand staircase heading for the waiting car, hurriedly prompting staff to continue loading packages.
Seeing Yixing his steps halted. Blood drained from his face and eyes widened in desperation, trembling hands clasping at the rim of his hat and clutching his cane, he struggled to find composure again.
"Captain Filoumme, it took you long enough. This city has fallen into the hands of looters and you have time for social visits?" Mountbatten's voice echoed through the empty lobby, poorly disguised by a forced superior poise, his gaze still on Yixing.
"I don't believe I had the pleasure, Mr…?"
With a slight smirk on the corner of his lips Yixing approached the ever increasingly agitated man and grabbing his hand he squeezed it forcefully, whitening the tips of his fingers. Pulling him closer, Yixing leaned in, the close proximity visibly bothering Mountbatten.
"Criminal... Detective. Zhang Yixing." He introduced himself, pausing after each word, not breaking eye contact or the hand shake. "At your service, your…Excellency." He continued, making Mountbatten fluster and struggle for air.
"At ease. If you're here to escort me to the ship, there is no need. I already have my personal guards." Mountbatten hurried to introduce his staff, trying to go past Yixing who was still stubbornly in his way.
"So it seems. Leaving us so soon? Pressing matters in the capital? Such a shame that we can't have you any longer. Your patronage is invaluable for our city." Yixing continued, disregarding Captain Filoumme’s perplexed looks or the enclosing guards, waiting on cue to intervene.
"I have been summoned back to England! Sir, and it's not that I have to answer to you for my actions!" Victor explained, relieved, his face still bearing signs of a terrifying discovery.
"We were wondering if you know anything about last night's fire at Ling's Den, since you were the, ummm how should I put this...the patron yes?" Yixing inquired, adamant to bring Victor in a self incriminatory stance.
"Captain Filoumme, please! Instruct your detective on how diplomatic immunity works."
"I don't answer to you...you lowly coolie." Bringing his lips into a straight line, Mountbatten brushed past Yixing and Filoumme who hurried to hold his detective back.
"Yixing! Don't! He can have us both executed!" The captain whispered, desperately trying to restrain Yixing, who reached for his gun.
"As you were...gents." Mountbatten waved from the window of his car, leaving the two men in the lobby of the empty villa.
Sitting on the marble steps, Yixing lowered his head in defeat.
"This is our city Captain. Our country. This constant humiliation will push people to the brink of humanity and their response will be nothing short of savagery."
His words, charged with resentment, resonated within the deserted house, like a hymn for injustice and occupation.
The concessions grew restless. Witnessing the gruesome killing of those young demonstrators the civilians took charge of the next attacks. They had nothing to lose but their lives and yet that felt enough to shield them.
As Yixing returned to the station, he learned that more and more diplomats were fleeing the city. The continuous advancement of the civil unrest drove them out of the luxurious houses and the Bund, once their place of parading the privilege was now overrun with the oppressed.
Shortly after their arrival, the captain received intel about some suspicious movements around the old docks by the Broadway Road.
Gathering a few armed guards and a Sikh patrol, Yixing headed towards the place. Taking cover in a warehouse nearby, the party were instructed to wait for Yixing's signal. Closing in, he easily recognised Du Yueshengs' thugs, as they all had the Green Gang’s snake tattooed on their necks. The transport of opium was nothing new to the area, however, the daylight act was, which made Yixing even more convinced they had foreign protection.
The men, labouring on the heavy wooden crates, unloading them from a boat, failed to notice Yixing and his company moving in and surrounding them.
As soon as they realised however, bullets started to rain over, with the police forces taking cover behind decommissioned boats, overwhelmed by how brazen the outlaws were acting.
Yixing waited patiently and listened for the breaks in between reloading, knowing that's his cue to charge. Aiming towards their trucks, Yixing shot the tires and rendered them immobile. Closing in, followed by his company, the young detective recognised Du's face, ducking behind a stack of crates. Flashbacks of Mia's haunting eyes and her frail body caught in the fishing net inundated Yixing mind. He promised himself he would bring her killer to justice and now that time was within grasp.
Aiming for the mobster's head, Yixing slowed his breaths and his thumping heartbeats and without hesitation pulled the trigger. Behind the thin veil of gun smoke, his eyes, stern and unforgiving, were fully focused on the target. Du Yusheng was down.
Then, in a split of a second he saw Captain Filoumme by his side. His eyes were fixed, losing grip on his gun, mouth open and kneeling slowly. The man jumped in front of a bullet meant for Yixing. Holding his Captain in his arms Yixing lowered on the ground, screaming in frustration.
The attacker instantly received the wrath of the company, an imminent retaliation of bullets, however his Captain, his friend, was falling deeper and deeper into a world where Yixing could not follow.
"Take back our city…" The man gasped with his final breath leaving Yixing crying over his bloodied uniform.
After a few days, the united allied forces reached a consensus and re-established peace again.
The public disapproval of the foreign rule grew steadily, day by day, and they knew there would be a time when their country would be theirs again and the imperials would be forced to leave. They waited patiently and undermined the oppression with every little chance they got. Eventually, their win would be the subject of history books and their heroism would stand proof over generations to come.
It took Yixing a whole week to organise the police station and to settle things. Without his most trusted advisor, he felt overwhelmed and unfit to take charge, however the decision of the majority placed him as their leader.
Humbled by their request and motivated by the deep loyalty for the unit, Yixing accepted, vowing to continue to fight for justice and to protect his city.
The walls of the room were closing in and she couldn't stand to be inside for a second longer. It had been a week since Yixing left to settle the insurgents and all she heard from him was a messenger, saying they're barricaded in the police unit waiting for help. She felt suffocated by the unknown, helpless and alone.
When he finally arrived home it took all the strength she got not to break down and collapse.
He looked tired, hauntingly drained of life, his eyes darkened by sleepless nights and his uniform soiled beyond rescue.
She looked after him; her love returned safe, as he promised and she cared for him. A couple of days passed and he woke up looking humane again, the sparkle in his eyes restored and his bright smile adorning his face again.
"Morning baby!" She whispered, gently kissing his forehead.
Humming lazily he opened his arms for her to join.
"You smell so good." He added, inhaling the scent of her hair.
"Yeah I bet, compared to your comrades. I made you coffee. Go get washed and come eat."
She jumped out, leaving him mumbling discontented.
The kitchen window allowed the sun to bathe her in its light, as she poured two cups of coffee and readied a tray with freshly baked madeleines, spreading the lemony scent, invading the room.
He stood in the doorframe taking in the sight of her. He wondered at the stark contrast between what he had to witness and how serene this whole new day was, questioning reality.
Approaching, he hugged her back and tucked his face in her fiery tresses.
"Hey! Morning!" She said again, welcoming his embrace.
"Coffee?" She asked, leaning her head back on his chest.
"I have a better idea!" He whispered against her ear, shooting a familiar thrill down her spine.
Their love knew no restraints, no rules or boundaries. There was no fear or holdbacks, no remorse, only an unapologetic attack on their senses. A desperate thirst for each other, prolonged frustrations and absence driving them to a sweet madness. Words, useless and unnecessary, reduced to gasps of air, whispers, with their voices joined in a symphony that cried for divinities. Each kiss would give and take a little piece of them and each touch would ruin them only to have them put together again, like a perpetuum curse, with both embarked on a lifetime journey, in search of an insatiable release. When the peace finally arrived, the daunting realisation that they were doomed to be enslaved by the need for each other, brought a terrifying, yet exalting content and acceptance of their fate.
"Yes!" Nina said, turning to face him, bathing in the one sunlight beam sneaking through the heavy shutters.
With his eyes closed, hands under his head and a wide smile adorning his lips, Yixing hummed.
“Mmm? What yes?"
"Yes I want that coffee on the bedside table, and the kiss, and you, everyday, for the rest of our lives.”
Fully aware of her statement Yixing opened his eyes and pulled her in closer.
"I love you!" He whispered against her lips, voice trembling and charged with adoration.