Chapter 36 #2
With unhurried motions, he used one broad hand to pin both her wrists safely above her while the other made quick work of the final ribbons holding her last defense in place.
The dudou slipped away like petals in a spring breeze, baring her completely—every quiver, every rapid breath, the way her hips gave an aborted little jerk when the cool night air touched her most intimate places.
“You are beautiful, Si-er,” he murmured, his lips trailing kisses down her neck, over the delicate curve of her collarbone, lower still until his mouth licked one peaked nipple.
Yun-si gasped, her back arching off the bed with the shock of pleasure that speared through her.
Her body trembled beneath his touch, the unfamiliar sensations spreading through her like wildfire.
She wanted—needed—something, something just out of reach, something that made her shiver and gasp as his mouth closed over her nipple, his tongue swirling in slow, teasing circles.
“Zhi-zhi,” she whispered against his mouth, her voice unsteady, trembling with want.
The sound of his childhood name on her lips, the way she said it like a plea sent a jolt of heat straight through him.
His free hand smoothed down the trembling plane of her stomach, fingers splaying possessively over the dip of her navel before venturing lower, finding the slick heat between her thighs with a groan that vibrated against her skin.
He tentatively slipped one finger inside her, then another, his touch slow, deliberate, drawing out each gasp and moan until she was writhing beneath him, her hips lifting to meet his hand.
More, she thought, her mind a whirl of sensation, her thoughts tumbling and turning like leaves in a storm.
More. As if he could read her mind, his fingers moved faster, deeper, curling just so until she cried out, her back arching off the bed, her nails digging into his shoulders.
Lightning flashed in the distance, then nearer and nearer, the tension coiling tight in her belly, her breath coming in ragged gasps—
Then his fingers pulled away, and she whimpered, her body aching with the loss.
No. Don’t stop. But Ting-zhi was already moving, his breath coming in harsh pants as he fumbled with the ties of his own inner robes, shrugging them off until he was bare before her, his skin flushed, his body trembling with need.
He positioned himself at her entrance, his hands gripping her hips, and with one firm, smooth stroke, he slid inside her, filling her completely.
The slide was obscenely easy—she was dripping wet, her body welcoming him with a tight clench that had him seeing stars. Yun-si’s moan was muffled against his shoulder as he began to move, slowly at first, then faster as her nails scored down his back, urging him on with breathless pleas.
Somewhere beyond the pounding of blood in his ears and the slick sounds of their joining, Ting-zhi registered distant thunder—the summer storm moving in across the rooftops of the capital.
Or perhaps it was just the way the world narrowed to the feel of her wrapped around him, the salt-sweet taste of her skin beneath his lips, the way her cries climbed higher with each thrust of his hips.
The lightning came when she clenched around him with sudden violence, a half-sob tearing from her throat. even as his own release tore through him like the storm breaking overhead.
When he finally surfaced from the haze of pleasure, his limbs heavy and mind blissfully empty, it was to find tears tracking silently down Yun-si’s flushed cheeks.
The sight sent a primal surge through him—he’d spent years bending the world to shield Shen Yun-si from sadness, yet here in their marriage bed, her tears only made him hard again.
He kissed them away with lips that still tingled from their joining, tasting salt and something sweeter beneath.
“Again,” he murmured against her damp cheek, voice rough with renewed hunger as his hand slid possessively down her trembling thigh.
“No... I’m tired...” Yun-si whined, her voice trembling. Her entire body felt boneless, her thighs still quivering from their lovemaking. She didn’t think she’d ever exerted herself like this before, not even when she had climbed all nine tiers of the White Pagoda in a single afternoon.
Ting-zhi shifted behind her wordlessly, pulling her back against his chest. His hands never stilled, tracing slow, possessive paths over her breasts before sliding lower, fingers teasing between her thighs lazily.
Then, almost absently, his gaze caught the open pages of the forgotten book splayed across the bed.
“Mmm. You can just sit,” he murmured, his breath hot against the shell of her ear. “Nothing simpler.”
Before she could protest, he sat up and pulled her onto his lap, until she was indeed, just sitting on him, back to his chest. He shifted her until she sat with her legs loosely crossed, the position forcing her intimate area to open wide in a way she had never experienced before.
His right hand covered her breast, while his left spread possessively over her mound, fingers parting her slick folds.
“Your cave,” he breathed against her neck, teeth grazing her pulse point, “is drowning.”