40. Graduation Gift
GRADUATION GIFT
Marcus’s POV
“Where are we going?” Qiang looks over at me from the passenger side to ask, probably for the hundredth time.
I can’t blame them. I told them I wanted to take them for a drive after dinner with our families, and they readily agreed, probably to get away from all the attention.
They absolutely love it in concentrated doses, but it wears on them after so much of it.
That was over three hours ago, though, and we’re still driving.
“Somewhere to test your patience,” I tease instead of giving them a straight answer. We’re almost there; they’ll find out soon enough.
Their lips purse with such dissatisfaction at the answer that I can almost hear them hiss like the feral kitten they are, and it takes all I have not to melt on the spot.
There must be something crosswired in my brain to find so much satisfaction in their dissatisfaction, but I can’t help it. Especially when I know, despite pursing their lips, that they secretly love it just as much.
Once graduation ended and we had a celebratory dinner with the family, which included equal measures of laughter and tears, I absconded with Qiang. It was all pre-planned; Qiang was the only one kept in the dark. Qi even packed them a bag, knowing what they’d need, and handed it to me.
I’m slowly getting to where I know more and more of Qiang’s needs. It won’t be much longer until I’ll be able to pack bags for them without Qi’s help. Although most of that is simply not knowing which makeup choices are their favorites and their ‘can’t live without’ skin-care routine type of stuff.
Either way, I’ve been looking forward to this weekend getaway that I planned to surprise Qiang with as a personal ‘just the two of us’ graduation gift.
It’s a hotel designed specifically for intimate couples.
Like a honeymoon suite, only amplified exponentially.
This isn’t designed as a stopping place for couples between bonding activities; this is the kind of place you go to and don’t leave for days.
Jacuzzis, bedside pools, fireplaces, along with a private outdoor oasis, if you choose, which of course, I chose.
Don’t know how much of that we’ll use, but the options are endless.
The tall skyscraper hotel is owned by Storcanus Enterprises, which is probably the largest economic empire in the country.
They are the kind of wealth that makes people like Tristan and me stay humble.
And as one can imagine from SE, the hotel is the definition of modern sophistication and luxury–all sleek, dark-tinted glass outside the building, with gold, cream, and white marble accents in the lobby.
The outer part of the building is modeled after the famed skyscraper headquarters the enterprises have near Iver’s Sphere. Although I’ve never been inside, so I don’t know if the same can be said for the lobby.
The owner of Storcanus Enterprises is a known recluse who doesn’t mingle with society like other executives do. However, there is a rather heavy rumor going around that he’s married to the history dean who retired the semester before I started at Iver’s Sphere.
According to Qiang, the unusually young history professor was quite dreamy, but I’m not exactly famous for hearing Qiang talk about dreamy guys without reminding them that they have the dreamiest guy and distracting them from such unnecessary trains of thought.
This type of wealth is much more of a Darryl scene than mine, but when I found this place, I couldn’t resist the urge to spoil Qiang. I know they aren’t into constant luxury, but they’ve also admitted to liking the idea of an occasional spoiling, and what better excuse than a university graduation?
“Wow, seriously, Marcus, what is this place?” they say, their eyes taking everything in while we walk towards the check-in counter.
I wrap my arm around their shoulders and pull them in close to me.
“This is home for the next five days,” I tell him, leaning down enough to press my lips against their ear.
Their body shivers slightly, and it kicks my heart into overdrive at how they don’t try to hide the effect I have on them anymore. Qiang looks around with wide eyes before they narrow in suspicion.
“Five days?” they confirm curiously.
“That’s what I said,” I murmur back.
Qiang takes another look around, their eyes sweeping the place before coming back around to me.
I can see something heavy swimming in their eyes, but the moment a gleam shines through them, I know they’re going to be catty instead of sweet.
Not gonna pretend like I don’t live for the moments they choose claws.
“And you think that small ass suitcase Qi packed is sufficient for five days?” they ask while raising an incredulous eyebrow.
It’s my turn to smirk because, of course, they'd worry about fashion at a moment like this.
“Qi overpacked, pretty. You won’t be needing half of what’s in that suitcase because we aren’t leaving the hotel room.”
Their eyebrow hitches higher at that. “No?”
“No,” I murmur in their ear. “It’s a sex hotel.”
“What on earth is a sex hotel?” they ask in a whisper, their cheeks darkening.
“Just wait and see, pretty,” I respond cryptically before stepping up to the counter and getting us checked in.
Qiang continues to throw occasional suspicious glances my way while their eyes take everything in with admiration. Can’t blame them; this place is exceptionally ornate. Not exactly my style. Too over-the-top, but it’s the bedroom we’re here for, not the lobby.
Luckily, the room itself is much more muted, with cream and coffee-colored walls. The finishes are charcoal, and the surfaces are all white marble with gold and charcoal accents. It carries the design from the lobby up through here, but it is much more comfortable and less intimidating.
“Wow, babe, this place is amazing,” Qiang says as they roam around the room.
“Isn’t it?” I agree. “It’s got an indoor hydropool, a steam room, a full bar, and room service, and then outside there’s an outdoor oasis with a jacuzzi to emulate a personal hot spring. We have everything we need to stay here and just be naked.”
Qiang strides back up to me. “Do you think your stamina can last five days?” they ask, with a playful smile teasing the corners of their pretty mouth.
“Well, one, between practice, games, classes, and socializing, we haven’t really had a chance to test each other’s stamina just yet.
What better setting to try? And two, I said five days naked, not five days fucking.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m hoping to do a lot of fucking over the next several days, but more than anything, I just want to be close to you, intimate, skin-to-skin, with no barriers.
Doesn’t matter if we’re talking or fucking, just so long as it’s just us with nothing between. ”
My heart stutters, stops, and repeats when I hear their slight intake of breath before they shakily exhale. Their eyes dilate at my words, and they reach their hand up and skate their fingers down my arm.
“Jesus, Marcus. How do you just say shit like that?”
I snort at that. “You mean vocalize my deepest desires? How else are they gonna come true?” I point out, hooking my fingers under their chin to tip their pretty face up to mine.
“Fair enough, then can I throw one out there?” they ask me hesitantly, their eyes on mine while they chew on their bottom lip.
“Yes, please. I want to know all of your desires, Qiang, so that I can give them to you,” I tell them honestly, knowing there’s nothing I’d rather do than scope out every desire they’ve ever had and watch their pleasure as I give it to them.
“I want to go slow tonight. Tender. I want to feel each brush of skin,” they tell me, their eyes swimming with the heavy emotion that’s slowly accumulated through the day.
I lean down and peck their inviting lips. “Are you asking me to make love to you instead of fuck you?”
Qiang shakes their head, a sweet smile spreading across their face.
“No, we’ve been making love since the beginning, Marcus. I just want to slow it down and savor it tonight.”
Once again, my heart simply stops for a couple of beats before starting back up and kicking into overdrive. Their words are like the sweetest balm to my heart.
“But first, I could seriously use a shower to get the road off of me,” they say, moving slightly out of my reach.
My skin pouts at the loss of heat, and I have to internally chide myself for being ridiculous.
“Alright, you do that, and I’ll get the rest of our stuff out of the car. I’ll leave your shower kit on the counter when I come back up,” I tell them, leaning down and pecking their lips really quick.
The steam curls around my feet as I walk out of the bathroom an hour later.
Once I’d gotten our stuff upstairs and mostly unpacked, Qiang had stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but a robe.
The urge to ravish them on the spot was almost impossible to ignore, but I knew I needed to wash the several-hour car trip off of me, too.
Now that I’m out, the room is empty, but the glass screen door that leads to the private outdoor oasis is open.
The outdoor part is a bit of a fake advertisement since the entire area is made to look like an outdoor oasis, but is actually walled in.
Must be part of the ‘keeping the intimacy private’ that they boast about.
But seeing Qiang in the water completely diverts my attention from the setting to them. The scene before me takes my breath away. They are standing in the hot tub that’s been designed to look like a hot spring.
Snow-capped rock formations line the perimeter of the tub, and steam curls up from the water.
They are naked with their back to me, and their hair is clipped up in a lazy bun.
Their fingers skim the water’s surface while I take them in.
The long plains of their back, the dips and plains of their feline grace, and the subtle flaring of where their hips curve outward before the water covers the rest.