Xie Linchuan thought it was somewhat funny, but slowly, he did not find it funny anymore. In the previous life, Qin Li would do this when kissing him, but back then, he did not like his coarseness and superior pressure. He had never noticed such small details.
Qin Li soon found his lips, covering them with warmth and moisture. The delicate sensation was addictive, and his pressure grew heavier. Soon, the kiss turned into nibbling, and his breathing grew heavier and more rapid.
Just as Qin Li was becoming lost in the intimacy of their lips, he suddenly felt a sharp pain. He let out a muffled groan and instantly snapped his eyes open. He covered his mouth and glared at Xie Linchuan. “You! You actually dared to bite me!”
Shocked, he forgot to refer to himself as “this subject” again.
Xie Linchuan used the current posture to look down at the other man from above. He placed one hand over the back of the other’s hand, and the corner of his mouth slowly curled into an indecipherable arc. “Your Majesty, I do not like being grabbed by the collar like this. It makes it hard to breathe.”
“What?”
Before Qin Li could react, the handsome face before him zoomed in again. Xie Linchuan pulled the hand away from his collar, squeezed Qin Li’s chin, and fiercely bit onto his lips.
He used a great deal of force, as if venting all the revenge from his past and present lives into this kiss. Revenge for his imprisonment and oppression, a response to his control and dominance, enduring his hate and lust, and repaying the hidden sliver of his sincerity.
Qin Li sat in the chair, pinned down by Xie Linchuan. It was a position where it was difficult to apply force. He several times wanted to rise and pin the other man down, yet in the fierce kiss and nibbling, he was robbed of breath. His mind was turned into a complete blank.
“Mmph, stop biting.”
He was forced to tilt his head back, exposing his vulnerable, bobbing Adam’s apple. His hands gripped Xie Linchuan’s wrists and neck. His ears gradually flushed a deep crimson in the struggle for breath. A faint taste of blood spread in his mouth, reaching his nose. The scent belonging specifically to Xie Linchuan surrounded him; dry and warm.
The surrounding air grew thin, and the temperature continued to rise. The sound of moist, intimate smacking filled his ears. Qin Li thought in a daze that this fellow Xie Linchuan was actually so good at kissing. Where on earth had he practiced such skills?
His heart pounded wildly in his chest, hitting everywhere. He could almost hear the sound of blood rushing in reverse in his ears.
Unable to break free from Xie Linchuan’s grip, Qin Li simply gave up the attempt to rise. He let go of the wrists and hugged the other’s waist, forcefully pulling him into his own embrace.
At some point, Xie Linchuan’s hand had reached into his inner robe. Beneath his palm was firm, coarse pectoral muscle. As he gripped firmly, the flesh became soft and bunched between his fingers, leaving behind finger marks.
Qin Li suddenly shuddered, his blood rushing up. Pressed tightly against the other’s warm body, an indescribable tingling sensation shot up his spine. Just as he unconsciously reached out to pull at the other man’s outer robe, Xie Linchuan suddenly let him go.
Qin Li was still breathing rapidly. His originally pitch-black eyes were filled with dark red lust. His face and ears were completely flushed. His eyelashes trembled slightly as he looked at him with confusion.
“Why did you…” Stop kissing?
Xie Linchuan stood up straight and looked down at him. Qin Li was now leaning back in the chair with disheveled clothes. His lips were red and swollen, and traces of blood remained from the bites. His collar was wide open, faintly revealing dark red finger marks on his chest. His silver hair was scattered in a mess. He unconsciously held his mouth open, and one could even see the bloodied tip of his tongue.
Xie Linchuan closed his fingers, the residual warmth of the other’s firm chest still lingering. Once a person’s habits are formed, they are truly terrifying sometimes.
He raised a thumb to wipe a trace of crimson from the corner of his own mouth and slowly calmed his breathing. “Is Your Majesty satisfied with my ‘repayment’?”
Qin Li blinked slowly, as if only then waking up from desire. His gaze shifted, and he instinctively looked down, immediately turning beet red. He hurriedly pulled at his robes and changed his sitting position to hide the awkward area.
A soft chuckle came from Xie Linchuan.
Qin Li immediately pressed his brow, glaring at him with annoyance. “What are you laughing at? Xie Linchuan, you are too insolent. You actually dared to…”
He suddenly stuttered, unable to find a suitable word to describe Xie Linchuan’s audacity. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. The taste of blood had faded, but Xie Linchuan’s scent still lingered in his nose.
Xie Linchuan looked at Qin Li’s bitten lower lip, which now showed a pitiable tendency toward swelling.
“Does it hurt? It was my fault. I was unskilled just now, so I used too much force.”
It is better if it hurts. Only pain helps one remember. Xie Linchuan felt a subtle sense of satisfaction in his heart. Qin Li was always accustomed to oppressing and controlling others; now it was time for him to feel what it was like to be oppressed and controlled.
Qin Li raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes, staring at him suspiciously. “Unskilled?”
That bit of pain was not unbearable, but this kissing technique did not look unskilled no matter how he viewed it. He studied Xie Linchuan’s face; clearly, he had kissed fiercely just now, yet he still wore that calm, self-controlled, abstinent expression. Only the faint rouge color at the corner of his mouth made the red mole on his nose appear even more vivid.
Qin Li thought it was a pity. He had been so focused on kissing just now that he forgot to open his eyes and see what kind of expression this fellow had while kissing.
Xie Linchuan said slowly, “Yes. This is the first time in my life I have kissed another.”
These words were true. After all, he had only been in this life for a month.
The anger about to erupt from Qin Li was knocked off balance by this sentence.
Xie Linchuan added unhurriedly, “I have only ever kissed Your Majesty.” In the previous life as well.
Qin Li’s brow relaxed, and the corners of his mouth tilted up.
“And I have only ever been kissed by Your Majesty.”
Qin Li covered his mouth and coughed lightly, looking away. The redness in his ears did not fade for a long time; instead, it seemed to grow deeper. He finally stopped fixating on the matter of the kissing skills. He rose from the chair, approached Xie Linchuan, and suppressed his lips into a straight line. He narrowed his eyes lazily. “I am satisfied with General Xie’s repayment. However, in the future, you are not allowed to…”
Not allowed to what? Not allowed to bite him, or not allowed to pin him down? No matter how he said it, it sounded quite wrong.
Qin Li thought for a moment and said with a stern face, “Not to be repeated.”
Xie Linchuan nearly laughed out loud. How many times had Qin Li said this? He lowered his eyes to hide the mirth in his gaze. Seeing that the hour was late, he returned to the bed and sat down, beginning to remove his boots.
Qin Li was stunned. “What are you doing?”
Xie Linchuan said as if it were natural, “What time do you think it is? If we do not sleep now, it will soon be dawn. Is Your Majesty not going to rest?”
Qin Li paused. It was laughable that he could gallop through battlefields and kill without blinking, yet now, facing a single person and a single bed, he was hesitant. It was not that he feared Xie Linchuan would kill him while he slept. He had not had many safe days since childhood, and his vigilance toward his surroundings was deep in his bones. He was only worried: what if Xie Linchuan truly had ill intentions and he discovered it? How should he deal with him?
Xie Linchuan did not care about Qin Li’s current hesitation. He removed his boots and began to take off his outer robe, followed by his inner robe, until only a thin undergarment remained.
Qin Li glared at him, and another worry was added to his heart. Besides worrying about ill intentions, he had to worry about sharing a bed. What if those untimely impulses from just now happened again? What should he do?
In the blink of an eye, Xie Linchuan had finished tidying himself and climbed into bed, pulling the quilt up and tucking the corners in carefully to ensure no draft could enter.
Qin Li: “…”
Was he the only one hesitating? Qin Li’s expression grew increasingly sour. Xie Linchuan finally seemed to realize there was another living person in the room. He tilted his head on the pillow. “Your Majesty, are you truly not going to lie down and rest for a bit?”
“I have not even lain down, yet you lie down first? Should you not be serving me at rest?” Qin Li let out a cold sneer.
He thought left and right, and finally walked to the bed. He removed his outer robe and tossed it aside, then removed his boots. He ordered with his head down, “Lie further in.”
Xie Linchuan, wrapped in the quilt, wiggled inward, leaving a warm spot.
Qin Li sat on the edge of the bed, looking at that spot wordlessly, then looked at him. He was not even leaving him the quilt?
Xie Linchuan smiled softly and pulled a second quilt from beside him, handing it over. “I thought Your Majesty was only going to rest for a while.” He had not even taken off his clothes.
Qin Li lay down, but he did not sleep. He turned his head and stared at Xie Linchuan, who had already closed his eyes. Xie Linchuan’s breathing gradually grew long and steady, as if he had already entered a dreamland. His hands remained still by his sides. Even his sleeping posture was very dignified.
Qin Li could not help but reach out a hand, wanting to touch his face, but he hesitated halfway. Why did Xie Linchuan take the initiative to kiss him just now? He clearly wanted to leave the palace, to leave his side…
Qin Li hesitated, yet still reached out. But at that moment, Xie Linchuan turned over in his sleep, turning his back and leaving only the back of his head for him.
Qin Li: “…”
The corner of his eye twitched. He gnashed his teeth and sulked at the air for a while, then simply turned over as well, turning his back to the other man. His hands were folded across his chest, and his firm chest muscles were squeezed into a deep valley. Close your eyes and sleep.
Perhaps it was because he was too tired during the day. Qin Li had originally only intended to close his eyes and rest until dawn for the morning court. But whether it was because the scent beside him was too pleasant or because Xie Linchuan’s sleeping posture was too orderly, he unknowingly fell asleep.
Instead, it was Xie Linchuan who was half-asleep and half-awake. For most of the night, he was trapped in bizarre dreams, sleeping very fitfully.
The Morning Wake-up
A sliver of light appeared in the eastern sky. Between the boundary of dreams and wakefulness, Xie Linchuan felt like he was back in his previous life. He felt movement beside him; someone seemed to be lifting the quilt to rise.
Xie Linchuan frowned, thinking in a daze: why did Qin Li sleep at his place all night? Usually, after the routine sparring in the first half of the night, he would leave. Was he not afraid he would suddenly rise and assassinate him? Xie Linchuan instinctively felt his wrists; they were not tied.
Qin Li dared to sleep beside him without tying him up. Was this a chance to strike? What was he supposed to do?
Xie Linchuan felt he should already be awake, but his eyelids were too heavy to open. His thoughts were still immersed in scattered dreams. Someone was pulling his quilt. Was it Qin Li? What did he want? Could it be that last night was not enough?
Xie Linchuan frowned impatiently. After being pushed a few more times, he was finally irritated by the person. With an extremely low mood, he forced his eyes open, suddenly flipped over, and grabbed that hand. He pulled and tugged, and the next moment, he was straddling the other man’s back, his knees and shins pressing heavily into the person’s knee pits.
He used his free hand to deliver a sharp slap to the other’s buttocks. His brow was cold, and his voice still carried the nasal tone and hoarseness of being half-awake. “Qin Li, have you not had enough of your nonsense?”
Was he still not satisfied?
Qin Li, this pervert, felt uncomfortable if he did not irritate him once a day. It was as if he loved being treated roughly. Every time, he had to do a few fierce rounds with anger before he would stay quiet for a few days. Xie Linchuan did not like this, but he could not stand that Qin Li always found ways to provoke him tirelessly.
“Xie Linchuan!”
Qin Li’s voice, filled with extreme anger, came from below. “Are you tired of living? Get. Off. Me!”
Xie Linchuan: “…”
What year is it today?
Xie Linchuan was completely jolted awake by Qin Li’s shout. He quickly released his grip on Qin Li and moved off his back.
“Your Majesty, what happened? Did something happen?” Li Sanbao, who heard the unusual noise, ran in with his whisk.
He saw Qin Li climbing off the bed with a face as grim as a tomb. His expression was extremely unpleasant, yet his ears hidden among his silver hair were a vivid, noticeable red. Xie Linchuan was sitting on the bed in his undergarments, clutching the quilt, with an indescribably strange and awkward expression on his face.
Li Sanbao immediately raised a hand to cover his eyes and stepped back a few paces. “Your Majesty? Shall I prepare for your wash?”
Qin Li waved him away unhappily. “Leave first. This is none of your business.”
Li Sanbao nodded hurriedly and retreated, not forgetting to close the bedroom door behind him.
Qin Li pressed his brow, his sword-like eyebrows standing on end with anger. He glared fixedly at Xie Linchuan. His appearance carried quite a bit of the soul of that abstract sketch Xie Linchuan had pasted on the sandbag.
He was so angry that a cold arc curled at the corner of his mouth. His tone was extremely dangerous. “Xie Linchuan, I give you an inch, and you take a mile? You actually dared to straddle me!”
“Do you wish to rebel?!”
He had originally been thinking that Xie Linchuan was sensitive to the cold. Upon waking in the morning and seeing him curled into a ball, he wondered if he should cover him with another quilt. But the man, without a word of agreement, had struck out at him. Not only did he straddle him, but he also dared to hit him; in that place! And he actually had the nerve to counter-accuse him, asking if he “had enough of his nonsense”?
Qin Li was truly fuming with rage; even his lips were trembling. Hiss. He accidentally pulled the corner of his mouth, and the place bitten by Xie Linchuan yesterday split open again. Thinking of how insolent Xie Linchuan was yesterday, Qin Li grew even more infuriated.
He slowly narrowed his eyes, his arrow-like gaze pinning the other man down. The worry he had before sleeping last night had truly come true; Xie Linchuan indeed had ill intentions, and he had caught him red-handed. His punishment of Yang Qiong yesterday and his warnings to Xie Linchuan had all fallen on deaf ears. Let’s see how he tries to talk his way out of this!
Xie Linchuan looked at the volcanic Qin Li and remained silent for a long time. He pressed his temple with a bit of a headache. This truly could not be blamed on him. At least not entirely?
In his previous life, he only had those few things to do: be angered by Qin Li, anger Qin Li, sleep with him or be slept with, or stay in a room in a depressed state thinking how to escape, how to deceive, how to take revenge, and how to overturn his dragon chair. He had not slept beside a living person for a long time. In a moment of distraction, his muscle memory was faster than his brain. Especially when this person was Qin Li, again and again.
Xie Linchuan’s temple throbbed. He suddenly had an untimely thought, as if the red string of fate had tied them together through life and death, even tying a dead knot. Tsk, what a disaster.
Qin Li saw his long silence and let out a cold sneer. “Why do you not speak? Are you not usually quite eloquent?”
Even if Xie Linchuan bowed his head and begged him this time, he could no longer overlook it!
Xie Linchuan thought for a moment, then blinked slowly, showing a dazed and unclear expression as if still in a dream. “I was having a dream. I felt someone was about to… push me off a cliff.”
“That is why I instinctively flipped over and resisted. Did I hurt Your Majesty?”
Qin Li: “…”
His eyes were dark, and the anger that had been forcefully suppressed by logic ignited once more. His cheekbones tensed, and he was nearly laughing with anger. “A dream? Pushing you off a cliff? So, you mean to say it was my fault?”
Xie Linchuan shook his head. “It was my fault. I was indeed not fully awake. Was Your Majesty pushing me just now to wake me up?”
Qin Li said fiercely, “You were sleeping and pinning my hair down!”
Xie Linchuan: “…”
His brain began to work at high speed. Under Qin Li’s increasingly unfriendly gaze, he said dryly, “To be honest with Your Majesty, I actually have a habit of sleepwalking. Did I do something just now?”
Qin Li: “…”