Shen Wei sighed softly as Zhao Yunlan’s teeth grazed the delicate skin on the back of his neck, just over his pajama collar. His body was morning warm, spooned against Zhao Yunlan’s, but already far too tense. Already trying to move away from Zhao Yunlan.
“Zhao Yunlan,” Shen Wei said, voice low and still gravelly with sleep. “I have to go—”
“You don’t,” Zhao Yunlan tightened the arm he had draped over Shen Wei’s torso. “It’s okay.”
Shen Wei sighed again, but tiredly this time. “I am needed,” he said, and Zhao Yunlan felt that familiar fond exasperation at how willing Shen Wei was to abandon everything he wanted for himself to serve others. And yes—any other day, Zhao Yunlan would have had to let him go. But not today.
By all rights, saving the world should have been enough to get a bit of a break. Instead the truly epic fallout had everyone working themselves to the bone.
The SID all had their hands full taking care of those leftover members of Ye Zun’s army who were stuck in Haixing. Meanwhile Shen Wei himself was the only one with the capability to open and sustain passages between the newly Lantern-lit Dixing and Haixing. He was also the only one who could even begin to look for where Ye Zun might have fled to. And still, when Zhao Yunlan made it back at night there was usually a selection of healthy dishes waiting for him, even when Shen Wei himself had been called back to his Envoy duties.
Zhao Yunlan would come home exhausted. Shen Wei would come home drained. His energies had been fully balanced and restored after the battle, but even Shen Wei did not have infinite resources. Not that he would ever stop doing everything for his people and his brother and for everyone else who still needed him. And Zhao Yunlan would never want to change that about Shen Wei. Fortunately, there were other things he could change.
“You aren’t needed today, though.” Nuzzling into Shen Wei’s thick hair, Zhao Yunlan sounded as smug as he felt when he explained. “I had them all take a day off.”
“What?” Shen Wei asked.
“The Dixing delegation. The Ministry of Supervision. Everyone else involved in going back and forth.”
“You told them…”
“Look. They decided they wanted the Lord Guardian of Haixing to sit in on their meetings and sign their documents and whatever—I’m not entirely ornamental, you know.”
“But the treatise negotiations—”
Terribly important, dreadfully boring negotiations that Zhao Yunlan had been surviving through lollipops and daydreaming about having Shen Wei to himself in bed for a day. “They’ll keep going tomorrow. When everyone has had a much needed refreshing break.”
“Zhao Yunlan. Your SID—”
“Don’t you think they deserve a day’s rest, after all they’ve been doing?”
Shen Wei couldn’t really argue with that, for all that he’d never even dream of such an indulgence for himself.
Zhao Yunlan propped himself up on an elbow, distracted for a moment by the way the early morning sun highlighted Shen Wei’s cheekbones. Then he noticed the slight frown of tension still lingering on Shen Wei’s brow. “Look, Wang Zheng is always in the office, and we’re all on call for emergencies. We won’t let anything happen to Dragon City, okay?”
That did ease the frown, but did nothing for the tension that hadn’t left Shen Wei since they kept the world from falling apart and started trying to put it back together again. Well. Zhao Yunlan hadn’t expected it to be easy, getting Shen Wei to relax—certainly his daydreams on the topic had been elaborate enough. Because if that tension had soaked into Shen Wei’s very core, Zhao Yunlan would simply have to go just as deep and replace it with something far more pleasant.
As expected, Shen Wei didn’t fall back into Zhao Yunlan’s arms. He was gathering himself, ready to get up. “I should still—”
“—relax,” Zhao Yunlan finished the sentence for him, and rolled them over so that he was covering Shen Wei’s prone body with his own. The covers were warm and snug over his back, draped over them both. Zhao Yunlan leaned down and caught the delicate shell of Shen Wei’s ears between his teeth. Bit down gently, in just the right spot, and was rewarded by a different kind of tension in the body under his as he murmured, “Today we’re both staying right here in bed.”
Zhao Yunlan knew he had Shen Wei when the next protest was a token, “But breakfast—”
“We have plenty of leftovers in the fridge,” Zhao Yunlan said reasonably. He didn’t mention that he had been making sure to save enough that they could spend a full day together without Shen Wei having to cook at all. Easy enough to do, as he had been too exhausted to have much of an appetite lately. Even for food as delicious as Shen Wei’s. No, what Zhao Yunlan was starving for was this: Shen Wei’s body under his, and the urge to take it from tense to pliant to sweetly exhausted.
It wasn’t as if Shen Wei could have failed to notice where Zhao Yunlan’s thoughts were going, but for good measure he rolled his hips, grinding his half-hard erection against Shen Wei’s ass. “Come on, baby. Don’t you want to stay in bed with me?”
Shen Wei’s answer was clear in the way he settled under Zhao Yunlan, spreading his legs in invitation. Zhao Yunlan grinned, and nipped at Shen Wei’s ear again, drawing a shallow exhalation of pleasure. “So that’s a yes?”
“Yunlan…” Shen Wei murmured, but Zhao Yunlan was determined to get him to answer properly. To clear that overloaded mind of his from thoughts of all else he could be doing with his time. Zhao Yunlan ran his fingers idly through Shen Wei’s hair, nails scraping lightly against the scalp below, and Shen Wei arched into the touch.
“I mean, if you’re too tired, we could always just go back to sleep?” There was no way Zhao Yunlan was going back to sleep.
“No!” The answer came with perhaps more desperation than Shen Wei had intended, because he tried to follow it up with the ridiculous, “Unless you’d rather—” Zhao Yunlan tightened his fist in Shen Wei’s hair and leaned over to shut him up with a sloppy kiss.
Once Shen Wei had gone silent, Zhao Yunlan went back to carding his fingers through Shen Wei’s hair, savoring the awkward, eager kiss before pulling away. “Tell me what you want.”
A pretty, pink flush colored Shen Wei’s cheeks in the warm light spilling in from the window. “I—”
Zhao Yunlan grinned. By drawing it out of Shen Wei bit by bit, he was making it impossible for Shen Wei to think of anything but exactly what he wanted—even if he could still be terribly hesitant to actually ask for any of it. “Do you want me to fuck you?”
Shen Wei’s lips parted, tongue darting out to lick them hungrily. “Yes,” he admitted, breath hitching in his throat.
Zhao Yunlan wasted no time stripping Shen Wei of his pajamas, and his own worn cotton t-shirt and boxers were quickly shed along the way. Zhao Yunlan carefully brought the covers back down around them. It wouldn’t be long until they were hot enough without it, but for now Zhao Yunlan reveled in the rare luxury of getting to shut out the world and focus on nothing but Shen Wei—draping himself over Shen Wei’s body, feeling all of that smooth skin against his own.
Starting at the very top vertebra, Zhao Yunlan kissed and bit his way down Shen Wei’s spine until he was kneeling between Shen Wei’s thighs. Hands already closing on Shen Wei’s hips, Zhao Yunlan’s mouth paused to explore the sweet dimples on the back, right above that nearly irresistible ass. The teasing had the body under his beginning to react with shuddering twitches. Zhao Yunlan grinned, and lifted a hand from Shen Wei’s hip to stroke down the length of his spine. Fingers trailing along the slight dampness left from his own tongue, the reddened indentations of teeth in the skin over Shen Wei’s vertebrae, stopping just short of dipping between the firm buttocks. Zhao Yunlan took his time, wanting to enjoy the sensations of Shen Wei’s body growing more and more desperate for his touches.
It made Zhao Yunlan a little dizzy, just how gorgeous Shen Wei was like this. The soft light made his skin glow, highlighting the muscles in his arms and shoulders. Back flexing into Zhao Yunlan’s touch, head pillowed in his arms, Shen Wei let Zhao Yunlan stare his fill.
Absently, Zhao Yunlan pushed the covers away from where they had pooled around his hips, revealing the strong lines of Shen Wei’s legs. Shen Wei shivered, and Zhao Yunlan chuckled. “Xiao-Wei. Are you cold?”
Shen Wei shook his head. “No.” He already sounded breathless.
Zhao Yunlan’s hand traced the swell of muscles in his back. “Good. You’re far too beautiful to cover up, you know. I could just stare at you all day.” While doing more than just staring, because Zhao Yunlan had gotten himself worked up enough to be aching with need. “But you’ve been so patient, haven’t you?”
Shen Wei’s body stilled in anticipation as Zhao Yunlan reached out for the bottle of lube, and spread some over his fingers. The chill of it never bothered Shen Wei, who pushed back to meet Zhao Yunlan’s touch. The tension Zhao Yunlan was chasing made itself known here, too. There was a resistance to his probing that made Shen Wei hiss in frustration, until Zhao Yunlan soothed him with carefully placed kisses and a firm hand pressing down against the small of his back. Zhao Yunlan didn’t have Shen Wei’s Dixing strength, but the solid reminder to hold still made Shen Wei more pliant under his touch.
“That’s right,” Zhao Yunlan said, voice grown husky with desire as his heart flooded with love at the trust Shen Wei showed him. “Just let me take care of you, baby. All you have to do is relax.” Zhao Yunlan continued to murmur praise at Shen Wei, getting far enough inside to draw gasps of pleasure with his deft fingers, leaving Shen Wei slick and open, panting into the pillow.
“Yunlan.” The desperate eagerness in Shen Wei’s whisper was nothing Zhao Yunlan could ever hope to resist.
“You want me in you?”
Shen Wei didn’t whine, exactly, but his breath came out as a voiceless keen. “Yes.”
It was so easy to slide in. “Fuck,” Zhao Yunlan panted, as Shen Wei’s tight heat made him light-headed. “You’re—you’re perfect.”
Shen Wei bucked up against him, and Zhao Yunlan had to surge forward and cover Shen Wei’s body with his own. Pressing Shen Wei down into the mattress, Zhao Yunlan rested his arms around Shen Wei’s shoulders, closed his mouth hungrily over the wild pulse in Shen Wei’s neck. Lying flush against Shen Wei—inside Shen Wei—feeling every twitch of his lover’s muscles contracting under him and against him… Rocking gently back and forth, refraining from going too deep or too fast, Zhao Yunlan gathered himself to make it last as long as he could.
The position let Zhao Yunlan kiss Shen Wei’s neck and jaw and temple, nuzzling close to fill his lungs with the scent of salt and musk and the lingering incense-and-ozone of Dixing on Shen Wei’s skin. Every thrust into Shen Wei’s body sent shocks of pleasure to Zhao Yunlan’s core, building the sweet tension as he slowly ground Shen Wei into the mattress over and over again.
Arms bracketing Shen Wei’s head, Zhao Yunlan couldn’t give him any other kind of friction. Pressing his face close to Shen Wei’s, Zhao Yunlan stuttered his hips, delighting in the stifled moan of pleasure it drew from Shen Wei. “You’re so good, baby,” Zhao Yunlan purred into Shen Wei’s ear, his breath making Shen Wei twitch. “Can you come from this?”
Shen Wei gasped, the words enough to wring a shudder from him that Zhao Yunlan felt everywhere. Zhao Yunlan slid an arm around Shen Wei’s chest, getting more purchase, pulling them even closer together. “Baby, can you? For me?”
A dazed nod, and then Shen Wei pressed up against him. “Yes. Yes, I—” Shen Wei’s voice broke as Zhao Yunlan pushed him down and shoved deep inside, thrusts going wild and messy as he plunged after the climax that had already started to engulf him.
Zhao Yunlan held nothing back as he came, spilling deep inside Shen Wei with a wordless cry. It wasn’t until his body was tensing and trembling in waves as the orgasm wrung him dry that he managed to murmur Shen Wei’s name, over and over again, arms clamped tightly around Shen Wei’s body. He mouthed at Shen Wei’s shoulder, stubble scratching against sweaty skin until he found the exact spot at the base of Shen Wei’s neck he was looking for. Softening now, but still pressed into Shen Wei, he bit down and sucked hard. Once was all it took for Shen Wei to come apart in his arms.
Shen Wei’s own climax was silent, but Zhao Yunlan could feel his body grow painfully tense before releasing all at once on a shuddering exhalation. Breathing hard and heavy, Shen Wei tried to roll over in Zhao Yunlan’s arms, but Zhao Yunlan kissed the bitten spot and tightened his embrace. “No, don’t get up.”
When Shen Wei tried to object, Zhao Yunlan wriggled a little, which drew the faintest, most thrilling “Oh,” from Shen Wei’s lips as his body relaxed into Zhao Yunlan’s arms.
“Yeah,” Zhao Yunlan said, grinning. “I told you. I’m going to keep you in bed all day.”
This time, Shen Wei didn’t even have a token protest. Only a warm smile as he propped himself up on one elbow, surging up to claim Zhao Yunlan’s mouth in a greedy kiss.