Two Thousand Promises (Kings of Chaos #5)

5. Zhang Xiao Dan

Chapter 5

Zhang Xiao Dan

October 23, 2023

Zhang Manor, Connecticut

T he sun was rising. He knew he should go inside and wait for Huli to return, but he couldn’t drag himself away from the garden. Any minute now, Huli would jump over the outer wall and race toward him, wiping away all his fears that something had happened to him.

It didn’t matter that Kai was trustworthy and that the dragon believed Huli was safe. The fear digging its fangs deep into his heart wouldn’t release him until he saw the fox spirit with his own eyes.

But minutes ticked by, and Huli didn’t appear.

Pinpricks of pain pierced his eyes and danced along his exposed skin. The sky was growing lighter. He was out of time. Maybe he could retreat to the shaded rear porch. Junjie had sat there many mornings, feeding and petting Yiguo…er…rather Leo, even after the sun had risen. It would be at least another two hours until the angle of the sun made it impossible for him to even be there.

Just as he was turning to the house, a rustle of leaves caught his attention. He stopped and jerked his head in the direction of the sound.

“Gege!” Huli’s panicked shout reached him a heartbeat ahead of the fox that jumped out of a large maple and raced to him.

Relief almost choked Xiao Dan. He forgot all about the sun, the burning and biting becoming a distant memory as he started toward Huli. Even with his ears pinned back, Huli was a glorious sight with all his tails dancing behind him.

Less than a meter away, Huli shifted into a curly haired youth with his arms extended. Xiao Dan reached for him, intending to pull him into an unbreakable embrace, but Huli stopped him by placing his hands on Xiao Dan’s shoulders.

“What are you doing out here?” Huli shouted. “The sun is up! You’re going to hurt yourself. Inside! You must go inside right now!”

Ming Yu was correct. Seeing Huli’s face twisted into panic and fear. Feeling the weight of his own terrified worry for Huli lifted from his chest. It was all crystal clear. Why the hell had he been fighting it for so long? He couldn’t live without this man for another second.

Xiao Dan planted his feet and cupped Huli’s cheeks with his hands, drawing the fox spirit in. He caught a flash of surprise in Huli’s wide eyes before he captured his parted lips in a deep, hungry kiss. Huli remained frozen as Xiao Dan swiped his tongue through Huli’s mouth, stroking the tip along Huli’s. He ended the kiss by sucking Huli’s bottom lip into his mouth and giving it a little bite. That soft flesh popped from his mouth and a full-body shiver ran through the fox.

“Gege,” Huli exhaled. The pupils of Huli’s golden-brown eyes were blown so wide, Xiao Dan thought he could get lost in that darkness.

“I missed you.” Xiao Dan leaned in for another kiss, but Huli shocked him by jerking back.

“Gege.” This time the endearment was a whimper. “I always want to kiss you, but it is too dangerous out here where the sun can hurt you. Can we go inside first? You can miss me and kiss me more safely there.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Xiao Dan’s lips. “You want me to miss you?”

A growl rumbled in Huli’s throat, and Xiao Dan could imagine the fox’s tails making an irritated snap as he applied more pressure to Xiao Dan’s shoulders, turning the vampire toward the house. “I don’t want Gege to miss me at all, but if it means you will kiss me more, then yes, I want you to miss me. Miss me terribly. Miss me so much that you feel you must kiss me for hours.” As he spoke, he pushed, poked, and prodded Xiao Dan out of the garden and through the door that connected with the kitchen.

Once Huli closed the door behind them, Xiao Dan grabbed Huli’s hand and pulled him through the winding hallways until they reached his private quarters. He shut the door behind them, blocking out the rest of the world so that he was alone with his huli jing.

A broad, playful grin spread across Huli’s lips as he stood in the center of the room. “Does Gege still miss me?”

“Terribly.”

Huli launched himself at Xiao Dan, slamming his narrower frame into the vampire so that he was pressed against the door. Xiao Dan claimed Huli’s mouth, but this time, the fox was a very willing participant. Huli thrust his tongue into Xiao Dan’s mouth, and the vampire happily sucked on it while wrapping his arms around Huli. His fingers dug into hard, sleek muscles and soft tissue, molding that lithe body to his own.

Through the years, there had been a few sweet, stolen kisses. Brief as a shooting star and light as a butterfly’s wings. Each one was carved into his memory and so very precious to him.

But not one of those kisses possessed the heat and hunger that was now curling his toes in his shoes. His blood heated to the point of melting his veins as it rushed from his brain to his groin. He wanted more than he’d ever permitted himself to want with Huli.

Xiao Dan tore his lips from Huli’s and bent to kiss along his neck. His tongue caressed his racing pulse, wringing a moan of pleasure from the fox. “Did she hurt you?” he murmured into his damp skin.

“No. She didn’t touch me. Wanna see?” Huli leaped out of his arms, snagged the edge of this white T-shirt, and pulled it over his head, but stopped when he could peek out the bottom with a mischievous grin. Xiao Dan continued to lean on the door, admiring the expanse of flawless pale skin that the sprinkling of reddish-brown hair trailing from Huli’s navel and into his pants.

“What? You’re not going to stop me?”

That harsh question snapped his eyes up to Huli’s face to find the fox frowning at him.

“No. I’m enjoying the show.”

Huli jerked his shirt back down. “You’ve always stopped me.” The statement ended in a sharp gasp, and he jumped across the room. “You’re not Gege!” He pointed a trembling finger at him. “You’re Min! Where is my Zhang Xiao Dan? What have you done with him?”

Xiao Dan sighed. This was what he deserved. He should have been more impulsive and freer with his affection toward Huli a long time ago.

“I’m not Min. I truly am Gege.”

“No! I don’t believe you!”

This was not good. If Huli kept shouting, he was going to bring the rest of the clan to his room, and that was the last thing he wanted right now. His cock was still hard from their kisses, tenting the front of his pants. This was not how he wanted to greet others.

“Huli, did you tell Min about how we first met?”

The fox stiffened and narrowed his eyes at him. “No,” he replied.

“It was early spring, and I’d walked a couple of kilometers away from the clan home just an hour or so before dawn. I sat on a log, prepared to meet the sun, but a little fox tumbled out of the bushes. I gave him my last baozi, and he tried to climb into my sleeve in search of more.”

Huli’s fierce expression softened in an instant and he rushed across the room, back into Xiao Dan’s arms. “Don’t talk about that day. It’s too sad and embarrassing.”

Xiao Dan chuckled and hugged him tightly. “Why is it sad and embarrassing?”

“Embarrassing because I was stupid and sad because you could have died that day,” Huli mumbled against his chest.

“You weren’t stupid, and I didn’t die because you were there to save me. My Huli has always been there to save my life when I needed him.”

Huli lifted his head up to stare at Xiao Dan. “But why the kisses?” He held up one finger to stop Xiao Dan’s answer. “I’m not complaining. But I’m confused. You should be angry at me. You should hate me.”

With one hand, Xiao Dan pushed his fingers into Huli’s unruly hair and brushed it from his forehead. “I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. When I saw you disappear over the wall after Min, my heart went with you. All I could think was that if she killed you, I wouldn’t know how to go on. I panicked. My every thought was how I’d never been brave enough to tell you…to show you…”

“Show me what?”

“How much I love you.”

Huli blinked, and his amber eyes twinkled with unshed tears. “You love me?”

“So much. But I’ve been afraid to say those words because I thought you’d feel tied to me. That those words would drive you away. I was afraid you could never return such a big feeling and would resent me.” Xiao Dan swallowed hard and shook his head. “I refuse to be afraid anymore. Even if you will never love me, I want you to know that I love you. I cherish everything about my precious huli jing.”

“Love!” Huli threw himself at Xiao Dan as much as he could, despite already being in his arms. He crushed their mouths together in a violent and needy kiss while his fingers bit into his shoulders.

Xiao Dan would have laughed if he was not preoccupied with kissing Huli. This appeared to be an excellent sign that Huli returned his feelings. When the fox spirit attempted to climb him to get closer, Xiao Dan did the only thing he could—he cupped Huli’s ass with both hands to lift him and walked across the room to his bed, allowing Huli to more easily wrap his legs around his waist.

Sitting on the side of the bed with his fox on his lap, Xiao Dan could slip his hands up under Huli’s shirt, caressing warm skin while devouring his mouth.

“Gege,” Huli whined as he kissed across Xiao Dan’s jaw to his ear. “Your Huli is trying to be good and make you proud of me. We should talk about Min, but if we talk about Min, you will hate me, and we will stop kissing.” The tip of Huli’s tongue caressed Xiao Dan’s earlobe and for a moment, he forgot his own name.

“I won’t hate you,” Xiao Dan reassured him as soon as his brain remembered speech.

“But we’ll stop kissing…”

No one could pout quite like his fox.

Huli was right that they needed to discuss Min, but he didn’t want to stop and be responsible. He was so fucking tired of being the responsible one.

“How about this? Answer two questions for me. Is my clan in immediate danger from Min?”

Huli shook his head. “No. I don’t think she’d threaten the rest of the clan. She wants only your soul.”

“Is she a threat to you?”

“No, she can’t hurt me. I will kill her if she comes near me or you ever again.”

Xiao Dan dipped his head and nipped at Huli’s bottom lip. “Then how about we kiss for a little while longer? Afterward, we can talk about this bargain you made. Okay?”

“Just kiss?”

Huli’s voice dropped to a husky whisper as he moved his lips closer to Xiao Dan’s ear. A shiver ran through him as Huli licked his earlobe and his arm pulled the other man even closer. He could feel Huli’s hard cock pressing into his stomach and Xiao Dan’s hands squeezed Huli’s ass.

“What does Huli want?”

“So many things. I can feel your dick pushing against your pants, but what I want is to feel you pushing into my ass.” Huli licked up the side of Xiao Dan’s neck and nuzzled his jaw with his sharp nose. “Do you want that, my Xiao Dan? Do you want to push that thick cock deep inside of me? Make your Huli beg for every bit of you?”

Xiao Dan’s brain was melting down and in danger of running out of his ears. Somehow he’d forgotten that the very essence of the huli jing was seduction. Every story he’d ever read about them was a huli jing seducing a poor human. Only a few positive ones ended with the huli jing falling for the human.

But Huli had always been full of sweetness and mischief. He’d never heard such words out of his mouth.

Now that they had left his nimble tongue, creating an image in Xiao Dan’s brain, it was all he wanted.

Was this too fast?

Huli’s hand slid from his shoulder to his chest, sneaking between them to rub his stomach. “But Huli doesn’t deserve to have your wonderful dick in him.” As he spoke, he shifted his position on Xiao Dan’s lap so that he was on his knees while straddling him. The motion caused their cocks to rub together. Xiao Dan clenched his teeth to hold in his moan. The wicked little fox was reading him so clearly, he didn’t have a chance.

“Huli, maybe we should…”

The fox spirit moved his hips and cried out, short circuiting the few brain cells working.

“Can I touch you?” Huli whispered while his wandering fingers were attacking the button and zipper on his pants. “It’s all I want.”

Xiao Dan blinked, forcing his brain to focus on Huli’s beautifully flushed face and shining eyes. “That’s all you want? To touch me?”

Huli’s smile turned lascivious. “I want to touch you and make you come.”

He’d barely finished speaking when Xiao Dan felt Huli’s fingers brush against his cock. He gasped at the rough skin and heat that closed around him.

“Oh gods, Huli,” he choked out. His fingers dug into Huli’s ass and his toes curled. Just knowing that it was Huli touching him, stroking him, put him on edge.

“That’s it. I want to hear how much you like it.” Huli moved again, rubbing his cock on Xiao Dan’s thigh. “So many mornings after leaving you, I would lie in the woods, touching myself, imagining what you’d sound like if I got the chance to give you pleasure.”

As if the strong hand stroking his dick wasn’t enough. Now he had the image of naked Huli lying in the soft grass, bathed in golden sunlight, his hand shuttling along his cock while his face twisted in ecstasy.

“Yes,” he groaned, letting go of his last inhibitions. “Faster. That’s it. Tighter.” Each direction squeezed a whimper out of Huli as the fox rushed to do exactly as he was told.

Pre-cum spilled from the head and Huli’s nimble fingers caught it up and smeared it on the shaft, making each stroke slicker than the last.

Huli pressed his forehead to Xiao Dan’s, sending his hot panting breaths across his lips like a kiss. The rich scent of musk and pine filled the room. If he closed his eyes, he could easily imagine them alone in those woods near the Zhang manor in Luoyang.

“So close,” he gritted out between clenched teeth.

Huli flashed a grin that was mostly a grimace. “Me too.”

Then the evil fox did this little twist motion at the head that took him by surprise. His last bit of control shattered, and a shout ripped from his throat as his orgasm broke over him.

Huli’s sharp keens of pleasure followed a second later, causing Xiao Dan to wince for his poor fox. What a pathetic mate he was turning out to be. He’d at least gotten a hand job while Huli had needed to make do with dry-humping his thigh.

Words of apology were about to leave his tongue, but Huli’s head popped up. The biggest smile he’d ever seen graced his face. Never had Huli looked so happy as he did at that moment.

That grin turned wicked as he lifted his hand from Xiao Dan’s cock and licked every bit clean. “ Mmmm …better than Su Ming Yu’s congee.”

Xiao Dan huffed out a laugh. “You are shameless.”

“Your moans are the songs of nightingales, and your taste is the finest wine,” Huli bragged. “But only when Gege fucks me will I know what the heavens feel like.”

Xiao Dan plunged his fingers into Huli’s sweaty hair and pulled him in for a hard, laughing kiss.

He’d known this creature for a thousand years, and yet Huli could still surprise him every day.

“Does this mean I’m your boyfriend now?” Huli inquired as their lips parted.

“If you would like to be.”

“And I’m your only boyfriend, right?”

“Yes, of course. You’re already more than I can handle. What would I do with a second boyfriend?”

Huli licked his lips and leaned in close enough to bump the tip of his nose against Xiao Dan’s. “If you get another boyfriend, I will steal his soul and feed his body to the dragon.”

Coming from Huli, that was no idle threat.