Now that they were married, it was only natural that they would share a bed.
As for what a newlywed couple was expected to do on their wedding night, Su Yu might not have understood before, but after looking through that picture book, she knew all too well. Lowering her head, she entered the room and closed the door behind her. Aware of the gaze fixed on her back, she turned around and walked toward him.
Ji Xuanyue was tall. Standing in front of him like this, the top of Su Yu’s head barely reached his chin. When she looked straight ahead, her eyes fell only on the overlapping collar of his sleeping robe.
He had not done anything yet. He was merely standing there before her. Yet beneath the shadow of his imposing frame, Su Yu felt an invisible pressure descend on her, making it hard to breathe.
Amid the ambiguous glow of the red wedding candles filling the room, she didn’t even dare lift her head. Trembling slightly, she called softly, “H-Husband…”
“My wife.” A cool finger brushed her ear, tucking a stray lock of hair behind it. Whether intentionally or not, his fingertip lightly grazed the skin behind her ear. The touch startled Su Yu, and instinctively she tried to shrink back. But before she could retreat, one hand slipped beneath her knees, while the other supported her waist and back. She managed only a small cry of surprise before he swept her into his arms.
The world spun around her. The next moment, she landed amidst the dark crimson bedcovers.
The faint fragrance of orchids mingled with the fresh scent lingering on him after his bath, enveloping her from all sides. At the same time, his solid body pressed down over hers.
“Don’t be afraid.” He spoke softly, his eyes reflecting the bedside candlelight. The two flickering golden flames within his amber irises looked uncannily like the eyes of some cold-blooded creature.
Su Yu’s heart trembled. Before she could decide whether what she sensed was tenderness or danger, a cool, soft kiss had already descended upon her lips.
Ji Xuanyue despised mortals, but to obtain the sweet nectar the Spirit Medicine willingly offered, he had done plenty of research and preparation.
Mortals were fragile, and his wife was especially delicate, so slight and slender that she seemed as though she could break with a single touch. Naturally, he had to restrain his strength, lest he hurt her before he could savor the sweetness he sought.
Spirit medicine fluids were not limited to blood. Sweat, tears, and saliva were all excellent sources of nourishment.
Ji Xuanyue had no intention of drawing blood through injury. For one thing, blood obtained that way would be useless. For another…
Lowering his gaze, he looked at his wife. Her eyes were closed now, her eyelashes trembling lightly as she obediently allowed him to kiss her.
With gentle pressure, he coaxed her tightly closed teeth apart.
Su Yu felt something slip inside. Soft and slick, it brushed slowly across the roof of her mouth. Her entire body shuddered. A soft whimper rose in her throat, but before it could escape, her tongue was already captured by him.
The nectar-like fluid secreted by a medicinal spirit in a state of pleasure is the purest and sweetest of all.
For a fleeting instant, Ji Xuanyue’s pupils uncontrollably turned golden. He narrowed his eyes, suppressing the inexplicable restlessness that had suddenly surged within him, and they gradually returned to their usual amber hue.
Su Yu’s lips remained parted, unable to close, as her soft tongue was held fast within his mouth and repeatedly sucked upon—leaving her all but unable to breathe. Was this truly how a kiss was meant to be?
In the illustrations depicting a wedding night, the lovers were always shown entwined below the waist; nowhere was there any mention of a kiss like this—one that seemed intent on draining every last drop of nectar from her mouth.
Yet his fingers continued to stroke the back of her head, tracing the curve of her ear before slowly sliding down her neck. Every touch carried a soothing, reassuring tenderness.
Soft whimpers escaped Su Yu amid his gentle caresses and greedy kisses, yet she could not bring herself to push him away.
They were married. He was her husband. Accepting him and accommodating him was her duty.
But she was almost suffocating. The base of her tongue had gone numb and sore from his relentless sucking. At last, unable to bear it any longer, she gathered her courage and bit down on the tongue that remained stubbornly entwined with hers.
The moment she did, Su Yu regretted it. She had bitten rather hard. Instinctively, she wanted to apologize, but his tongue didn’t retreat at all. Even after being bitten, he kept her between his lips.
Su Yu opened her eyes and, through the hazy veil of moisture clouding her vision, saw Ji Xuanyue’s eyes only inches away. The golden glow of two candle flames was reflected deep within his pupils, lending his gaze an unexpectedly cool, somber edge. Had she made him angry by biting him?
Su Yu felt both aggrieved and frightened.
Aggrieved because he was the one who had sucked at her until the root of her tongue ached, and only then had she bitten him. Frightened because of the look in his eyes. Until now, those eyes had always held a gentle, steady warmth. But now…
Su Yu wanted to apologize, yet her tongue was still trapped between his lips, leaving her unable to utter a single word. She tried pushing against him with her own tongue, hoping to force him away, but she couldn’t move it. Then she raised a hand and pressed against his chest, trying to push him back, but that didn’t work either.
She couldn’t push him away. She couldn’t even push his tongue back. Trapped between his body and the bed, and under that relentless gaze, Su Yu finally closed her eyes in grievance. The tears she’d held back for so long finally slipped from her eyes the moment she closed them.
The next instant, the pressure on her lips eased. Ji Xuanyue withdrew his tongue. “Why are you crying, my wife? Did I hurt you?”
The force restraining her lessened as he drew back slightly.
At last, Su Yu’s lips and tongue were free. When she opened her eyes, her gaze fell upon Ji Xuanyue’s lips, still glistening with moisture.
Realizing what that moisture was, heat rushed to her face, and she turned her head slightly away. “Y-you were hurting me a little. That’s why I bit you…”
Ji Xuanyue fell silent for a moment. Just when Su Yu thought he was about to reprimand her, she heard him apologize instead. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
Su Yu froze for a moment, unable to stop herself from turning her head back toward him. He was still looking at her, but the cold, heavy darkness that had lingered between his brows and eyes had vanished at some point. All that remained in his gaze now was warmth and remorse. His thumb brushed lightly across her lips. The words “I’ll be gentler” had barely left his mouth before his lips covered hers again.
He eased in softly. He kissed and suckled at her lips with careful tenderness.
Su Yu’s body tensed again for an instant, but under this kiss, gentle as a breeze and spring rain, she gradually relaxed.
Ji Xuanyue kept his eyes open, the tip of his tongue wandering slowly within her mouth.
The unique sweetness of a medicinal spirit flowed from her tongue into him, seeping through his meridians and into his dantian. In that brief moment, Ji Xuanyue experienced a sense of ease and relief unlike anything he had felt in centuries. The feeling almost drove him to abandon all restraint and deepen the kiss, to thoroughly savor every inch of her mouth. But when the tip of his tongue lightly brushed against her palate, she trembled again. Remembering the bitter tears she had shed moments ago, Ji Xuanyue forced himself to suppress the impulse.
Su Yu still hadn’t learned to breathe while kissing. The feeling of suffocation soon returned. This time, however, she had barely begun to struggle before Ji Xuanyue released her lips. Only after she had taken a couple of breaths did he lean in and kiss her again.
Amid the endless succession of gentle kisses, Su Yu’s entire body gradually relaxed, a fine sheen of perspiration appearing on her skin.
Ji Xuanyue sensed the faint sweetness not only through their kisses but also in the scent of her perspiration as he breathed. He felt the pain in his dantian ease a little further.
Completely unaware that she was now radiating an aura that could drive demons and spirits into a frenzy, Su Yu didn’t notice the golden hue that surfaced again in Ji Xuanyue’s eyes. He almost wanted to follow the thin trail of sweat along the hollow of her neck, tasting away every last drop upon her skin. But he knew that, in the eyes of mortals, such behavior was probably considered improper, even between husband and wife. His tongue lingered briefly against her lips before finally, and with great reluctance, withdrawing.
Never mind. It would make little difference if he waited until she was asleep. For now, he had a duty to fulfill, one expected of a newlywed husband on his wedding night.
Ji Xuanyue sat up. Before Su Yu could react to what he intended to do, she felt his fingers settle at her waist. His finger hooked the sash and deftly untied it. Her whole body stiffened. Images from the illustrated booklet flooded her mind.
Tonight was their wedding night. She had no reason to refuse him. Turning her face away, she forced herself not to look at those long, elegant fingers. Her robe fell completely open, and the fine sheen of sweat covering her skin was suddenly exposed to the cool night breeze, making her shiver.
She could feel Ji Xuanyue’s gaze still on her, roaming from head to toe and lingering over every inch.
Under his scrutiny, Su Yu felt her entire body grow hot. It took considerable effort for her to finally find her voice. “C-Could you… put out the candles?”
Ji Xuanyue paused for a moment. Following her gaze, he looked toward the pair of red wedding candles burning brightly on the table. Then he lowered his eyes to her face, which was flushed so deeply it seemed as though it might drip blood.
“All right.”
The soft rustle of fabric sounded in the darkness as Ji Xuanyue rose from the bed and crossed the room to extinguish the candles.
In the darkness, faintly illuminated by the hazy moonlight, she felt the mattress dip gently beside her. A cool presence drew near and settled over her.
Ji Xuanyue’s reason for marrying Su Yu was simple: he wanted to legitimately obtain the spirit medicine-infused fluids she produced to nourish his demon core. However, for mortal newlyweds, a wedding night involved more than just kissing. It also meant consummating the marriage.
Kissing let him get her saliva, so he naturally enjoyed it. But consummation, as far as he was concerned, offered no benefit whatsoever. Yet among humans, if a husband did not consummate the marriage on their wedding night, his wife would be hurt. She would become anxious and wonder if her husband found her undesirable. And once a medicinal spirit’s heart grew bitter with sorrow, her secretions would lose their efficacy. They would no longer heal injuries or soothe pain. So he had to do it, and he had to do it in a way that would please his wife.
He directed his qi and blood downward, and his previously dormant arousal stirred to life. Leaning over her, he said, “If it hurts, you can bite me.”
But Su Yu never heard the second half of his sentence. The moment he pressed close, her entire body went rigid. In the darkness, her sense of touch was magnified countless times over. How could… how could it be this size? It was nothing like what the illustrated booklet had shown.
Su Yu’s mind went completely blank. This… could this really… She was so frightened that she forgot to breathe, holding her breath as she stiffened in his arms. She thought of the women’s expressions in the booklet: their slightly furrowed brows, their tear-filled eyes. Could they all have been hurting?
She was probably going to die…
Ji Xuanyue brushed his lips against the corner of hers. Noticing she had gone rigid as a plank of wood, he stopped. “Wife?”
He propped himself up slightly. Darkness was meaningless to him; he could clearly see Su Yu’s deathly pale face and her trembling eyelashes.
The sweet, refreshing scent that had filled the air moments ago instantly turned bitter.
What was wrong? Lowering his gaze, he followed the rigid line of her waist downward and froze. He was tall and powerfully built, while she was so small and delicate she seemed like she could fit in one hand. Enveloped completely in his arms, she looked like a lamb about to have its throat cut.
Ji Xuanyue suddenly understood. A thoughtful look crossed his face as he cautiously nudged forward a little. Sure enough, his fragile mortal wife let out a muffled whimper, and tears welled in the corners of her eyes. The bitter taste grew even stronger.
Ji Xuanyue frowned and withdrew.