Zhuo Yi Chen didn't have to walk far to find Pei Si Jing patiently waiting for Wen Xiao's return. Whether she witnessed what had just happened and how she ended up in his arms, he couldn't tell, as her expression remained as impassive as ever. But since she didn't ask for an explanation and he knew how protective she was of her, perhaps the huntress knew everything all along. They walked back to the room the two women shared in silence, and Pei Si Jing opened the door for him to lay Wen Xiao down on the bed.
"I have no idea if you know why she's like this, but if not, don't worry. She needs to rest, and my spell can help her sleep for the rest of the night. For now, it's impossible for me to detoxify her with my demonic energy, so it's up to you to keep an eye on her condition until we get the antidote tomorrow. You're the one closest to her, after all..." Yi Chen end up explaining anyways.
"Thank you, Commander, for looking after her. Like you, she also has a lot to deal with right now, and the poison in her blood isn't helping." Pei Si Jing offered in return, and Yi Chen couldn't suppress the urge to sit on the edge of the bed next to Wen Xiao and take her pulse.
What he found was what he expected of someone dealing with a deadly poison that was messing with her system, even more so than when the token was incomplete. He close his eyes for a moment and give her a bit of his energy to at least try to heal what he could, even if he could not get rid of the poison, it will help her protect her vital organs, giving them more time.
"She told me she was having trouble sleeping. What I give her may reduce the effects of the poison for a little longer." Yi Chen confessed as he looked at the huntress, who this time couldn't hide her inner worry under his gaze.
"She's been like this for a while, so I'm glad for anything that can keep her alive." She said while staring at the woman finally sleeping, after wondering around for the last two night in a row.
"I care for Wen Xiao just as much as you do, Pei Si Jing. She's still my best friend, after all, and no matter the cost, I'll make sure she survives this ordeal. I disagree with Bai Yan that it's her destiny to die for the sake of the world. We shape our fates with our actions, good or bad, and if we can break one cursed cycle, we can break the second as well. Let me know if her condition worsens. We just extracted the Ever-burning fire from Zhu Yan's core... she won't suffer from this poison much longer." Yi Chen said, standing up to walk over to Pei Si Jing and touch her shoulder sympathetically.
"What if this exchange fails? I don't trust Wen Zongyu any more than the rest of his henchmen. He could be lying, for all we know. And then what?" She asked, looking at him with genuine worry, and Yi Chen smiled gently at her.
"What we always do with everything else Pei Si Jing, we find another way... as long as we don't give up, no matter what, sooner or later an opportunity will present itself." He answered her and walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts. As he retreated, he didn't see Pei Si Jing looking at his back, with the same kind of admiration Bai Jiu or even Ying Lei showed whenever they were impressed by his heroic actions or words.
"Thank you, Zhuo Yi Chen... you are truly her best friend." She whispered.
🔥🔥🔥
Yi Chen, on the other hand, had other things to think about, like the offer Zhu Yuan had so brazenly thrown in his face. Kissing had been fine, even desired, but further intimacy was something that excited him as much as it scared him. Excited because he loved that perverted monkey with all his heart and just the thought of his contact with his skin made him shudder with anticipation, but scared because he was... well, quite inexperienced in that regard and feared he would end up embarrassing himself under a heat that was completely new to him.
The last thing either of them needed right now was for things to get so complicated that they became a burden, and he feared that was precisely what might happen. However, he also couldn't deny Zhu Yan something that was expected between lovers, and it wasn't as if the opportunity would present itself that often when they were traveling in a group rather than alone. He desired Zhu Yan, of that he had no doubt, but to what extent... just thinking about it made his face burn at all the possibilities where he could end up disappointing him.
Who said love was easy? Who said love equals happiness? Who said love couldn't fail? Who could guarantee him that if they started a deeper relationship everything would go smoothly until the end, because so far their relationships have been nothing but a mess.
"Damn monkey... don't go blaming me if this ends in disaster, you even deserve it for screwing up with me like this!" Yi Chen fought with himself internally, as he approached his room and stood there for a moment before working up the courage to open the door and come face to face with the source of his frustration.
However, what he found once he opened the door was not a teasing great demon waiting patiently for him, ready to throw himself upon him with passionate kisses that will dispel all his doubts, but a half-naked monkey sleeping peacefully on his side of the bed without a care in the world, while all his struggles and insecurities seemed to have been for nothing and vanished in useless smoke. Fury then assailed him.
"What the hell is this?" Yi Chen asked as he approached the bed, but the sight was so beautiful, with Zhu Yan resting his head on his strong right arm, his long hair pulled back in a casual bun, his closed eyes revealing long lashes, then tantalizingly soft lips, his handsome face was relaxed and free of any pain, making him look younger and sinfully innocent for a vessel of malicious energy, his chest was barely concealed by a sheet half exposing him naked and with competently flawless skin, that he was even forced to swallow his heart back at such a dangerous sight. How is it possible that looking at a sleeping man for just a few seconds can be so mesmerizing to the point of making his whole body heat up not just in flames, but in actual tangible desire?
"Zhu Yan? Zhao Yuan Zhou?" Yi Chen called, but the monkey didn't even flinch, frustrating him even more.
"Are you really asleep, leaving me like this?" He whispered next, but when he got no response, Yi Chen could only stare in resignation and clear defeat. Even though Zhu Yan was only wearing black trousers and a sheet barely covering him, he had to admit that what he had suffered that day must have tired him out so much that he fell asleep while waiting for his return, even though he hadn't been gone that long.
"Fine, you deserve to rest... I give you that." Whispered Yi Chen as he sat down on the edge of the bed and took off his boots and outer robes, leaving only his inner one in place, to get some sleep too... well, if he could under the circumstances of having a very desirable demon by his side who wasn't even modest enough to keep his many layers of luxurious hanfu clothing on. He sighed as he lay down on the bed beside him anyway, closing his eyes to a night of hot torture. Perhaps it should serve him right for unconsciously doing the same to Zhu Yan twice.
A few minutes later, however, Zhu Yan moved closer to him to rest his head and bare chest on top of his. His hair tied in a bun brushed his jaw so lightly that it made his blood boil with the feathery touch and, once again, he found himself in a state of panic.
"Xiao Zhuo... your heart is still out of control even if I give you time to calm yourself." He heard Zhu Yan mutter into his chest and he let out a chuckle.
"Were you pretending to be asleep from the beginning?" Which he obviously did, making Yi Chen sigh with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.
"I could feel your tension from miles away, so I gave you a way out. This is not something I would force you to do no matter how much I want you." He said calmly and Yi Chen really couldn't blame him because he wasn't completely wrong. Although his tension was not the result of his unwillingness, but of his fear to embarrass himself and fail.
"You were not going to force me to do anything I wasn't willing to do." Yi Chen assured him and Zhu Yan raised his head to look at those blue eyes that he loved so much.
"Are you willing now then?" Zhu Yan asked so softly that Yi Chen swallowed hard.
"I was always willing... Though I must remind you that I don't have any experience in the art of love." Hearing that, Zhu Yan smiled quite beautifully into Yi Chen's eyes.
"Love needs no experience Yi Chen, just instincts and feelings. There is no need for you to get frustrated by thinking too much. Do what you want the way you want, letting your instinct guide you where you need to go. My love for you is strong enough to go at your own pace, fast or slow, experienced or inexperienced, it doesn't matter to me. What I want is more than a body, what I truly want is your beautiful soul... a soul bonding." Zhu Yan explained as he moved closer to be at eye level with him.
"Soul bonding? Is that what you were referring to earlier?" Yi Chen asked curiously.
"Yes. Dragons are revered by mortals for a reason. Despite being beasts with high level of cultivation, just like other demons, they also possess a touch of divinity that no other beast in the Wilderness possesses. The first dragons were divine beasts tasked with protecting the realms, so they've always been special. That's why Nuwa always held Bing Yi in great affection more than any other beast. In a way, he was also a god."
"And because they're special, there are things only dragons can do, like claiming a mate. When a dragon falls madly in love with someone and wants to be with them for life, they can unite their souls. You could say it's the most extreme kind of marriage there is, because the bond between two souls is for eternity and it cannot be undone." He said, and Yi Chen thought about it for a moment, before he smiled at his expectant great demon.
"Is this soul bond something physical, like sex between mortals?" Yi Chen asked blushing, just to be sure of what he was thinking was on the right track.
"Not necessarily. A soul claim is not something physical, but spiritual... like us entering Ying Long's domain."
"Then, I think we are already soul bond Zhu Yan. Maybe Bing Yi and Yin Long beat us to it, because the curse we share has been fed by that bond for centuries now. We had been so closely linked in the past that it had become a kind of prophecy in my Clan since Ying Long passed it on, remember?" Yi Chen pointed and Zhu Yan could see the merit in that thought and perhaps he was right.
"Is possible..."
"So you wanting me to claim you, is perhaps the effect of that previous soul bonding... but I have no idea of how that's done." He said a little disappointed in his ignorance about dragon demons lore, his own kind.
"Come on, don't look so disappointed Yi Chen, is just normal for a baby dragon not to know about advance, mature spells you were not suppose to use just yet..." At the mention of baby dragon Yi Chen face was on fire.
"Who's a baby dragon? You pervert monkey, don't call me th..." But the rest of his sentence was lost into Zhu Yan's lips when he close the short distance between them in a kiss that took his breath away.
That single spark of passion was enough to bring his spiraling feelings back to normal, and Yi Chen finally relaxed under Zhu Yan's exploration of him. His lips were just as soft as they always were and as hungry as their last ones when the desire had escalate into a blaze, thus he let go of his previous doubts and simply enjoy what was offer.
They kissed for a long time, as Zhu Yan was in no hurry and Yi Chen's brain had shut down soon after they started kissing, to give way to a mode of following his heart that he had denied himself for so long. He let Zhu Yan set the pace, following him as if his life depended on it. So, when the great demon's hand slipped down to the ribbon of his inner robe, Yi Chen knew that the time had come to take the next step into a deeper relationship, to explore and touch, awakening that part of him that had lain dormant throughout his life until now.
"Yi Chen... how far do you want this to go?" Zhu Yan asked as they parted slightly and Yi Chen slid his hands down Zhu Yan's bare back, making the great demon shiver as he looked at him.
"I don't know... it's my first time after all." He said and Zhu Yan smiled complacently.
"I know. Then how about one step at a time and see where it takes us?" Zhu Yan offered it to his lover, who gladly accepted kissing him once more.
Thus the exploration begun and Yi Chen felt his arousal harden when Zhu Yan undo the ribbon and open his thin black robe, taking a moment to admire him before he proceed to worship him. Yi Chen close his eyes and try not to moan too loudly when he felt Zhu Yan's wet warm tongue liking down his neck all the way to his clavicle and pectorals in where he stop to admire Yi Chen's flushed skin.
He was beautiful in every aspect, but under the shade of desire Yi Chen was divine and it was his mission to make him enjoy his first time been touched, his first time been loved in this way. Thus he trapped one of Yi Chen's excited nipples in his mouth and suck it. The rushed extremely pleasing sensation of that make Yi Chen arch his body in a deep moan, unable to hold it as he panted hard under Zhu Yan's playful tongue.
Yet Zhu Yan didn't stop playing around with his skin, kissing, slightly bitting, touching and tasting almost every inch of his chest. Yi Chen was in such a state of blissfulness that he could barely register anything other than what Zhu Yan was doing to him, making him experiencing new sensations in waves he could not resist, but that were starting to be engraved in both mind and heat. He was completely at his great demon mercy and he love it.
"Zhu Yan..."
"I'm just starting..." He whisper as he continue his exploration with both, hands and mouth together. Yi Chen shiver more with all the sensations his sensitive skin was feeling and his arousal was now rock hard, throbbing inside the soft fabric of his pants, still on and even more so when Zhu Yan's hot hand pass his navel and into the border of his pants. Been touched so close to the source of his desire, he almost came right there, for which Zhu Yan moved his hand away, as he didn't want to overwhelm him in his first time that fast.
"Look at me Yi Chen..." Zhu Yan murmur and Yi Chen obeyed, letting him see the brightness on his now teal eyes that make him look even more beautiful.
"Please don't stare at me like that... is... is..."
"Sinful?" Zhu Yan teased as Yi Chen blushed harder.
"It's alluring..." Yi Chen corrected.
"Oh? Then, you want me Yi Chen?"
"Of course, what kind of question is that? I am already this hard... do you need more proof than that?" Yi Chen asked with incredulity and Zhu Yan laughed.
"No, then come and do whatever you want with me..."
"What? No, wait..."
"Don't panic now Yi Chen, I know you can do far more than what I have show you..." Zhu Yan said as he let go of Yi Chen and lie down on his back ready to be pleased before finishing what he started with him.
Yi Chen breathed hard for a moment before he move to sat right over Zhu Yan's lap, straddling him as he took off his robe to get it out of the way. The sight bellow was so tempting that Yi Chen's heart was in a mess inside his chest, but that didn't stop him from reaching down and try to equally please his man.
He wasn't as experienced, so his touch and exploration was done with trembling hands, but for Zhu Yan that was even more pleasurable than a long time lover's touch. He fought the impulse of giggling when Yi Chen caressed a sensitive spot or when his long raven hair tickle his skin as it moved along with him. It was because of that he had tied his, but the experience was quite amusing and definitely wanted, so he simply smiled at times and moaned in pleasure at others until the desire was too much to hold.
Feeling both of them were ready to come, Zhu Yan flipped them both to be atop of Yi Chen and pull out Yi Chen's pants as well as his to finally see him completely exposed and ready for him. Since it was their first time in almost everything, Zhu Yan opted for the easier way out and laying atop him, he rubbed both of their arousal together, making Yi Chen almost go mad with pleasure as well as his own until they come together as they whisper their love for each other.
The rest of the night a blur in the arms of the one they belong to.
AN: Sorry, nothing too graphic for now as I am more into the feeling that the act itself, hope you don't mind because is their first time after all.