- 花 ∙ 怜 -

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The first time it happens, Xie Lian is utterly mortified.

They’re lazing away the afternoon, sitting on a hill near Puqi Shrine. Xie Lian’s snug against Hua Cheng and entirely engrossed in a book he found in an old book store.

Hua Cheng is quiet the entire time. Xie Lian learns that he’s okay being the silent accompaniment as long as he gets to watch Xie Lian to his heart’s content. It’s also out of respect, ‘this one doesn’t wish to break gege’s concentration when he’s reading.’

The summer breeze brings a refreshing chill to the otherwise humid weather. Xie Lian swipes his hair to the side, getting some air to his neck. He should look into lighter clothing, now that the—

Xie Lian’s thoughts cut off.

He feels Hua Cheng’s lips against the back of his neck. Warm breaths tickle his skin that make goosebumps rise deliciously down his arms. Xie Lian’s about to make an off-hand comment when those same lips open and place a daring kiss.

A sudden heat comes from nowhere, slowly bubbling from the bottom of his stomach. The spot where Hua Cheng kissed is sending tingles down his spine. It’s…a weird feeling.

Then a mischievous tongue swipes at the same spot and—his body jerks.

“Ah—!”

Xie Lian quickly covers his mouth. Was that…him? Did that keen, airy sound, full of want and something else come out of his lips? He’s never heard himself like this before. So foreign to his own ears. So strange.

So…lewd.

Hua Cheng does it again and this time Xie Lian grabs the legs on either side of him in a panic. His shoulders shrink inwards, a weak attempt to both escape and invite for more (more more). Xie Lian’s whole body buzzes with this sudden onslaught of pleasure and he’s not sure how to process it.

Something pulls his legs together and he realizes it’s himself. Squeezing tightly to hide the embarrassment.

He’s hard. Full on aroused by just a kiss on his neck.

What is this?!

Xie Lian peers back to see Hua Cheng, his gaze loving as always in his carefree and youthful appearance.

“Yes gege?” His husband asks as if he has no idea just how much Xie Lian is affected by him. “Did I do something wrong?”

A voice tells Xie Lian that Hua Cheng knows exactly what, but the unassuming smile on Hua Cheng’s face pushes any suspicion away.

“N-no. It’s nothing.”

The rest of their afternoon go undisturbed. Hua Cheng doesn’t make any more advances and lets Xie Lian to his reading. At least he tries to.

The intensity from Hua Cheng’s stare weighs heavy on his back.

---

It festers in his mind for the next passing days.

What had happened seems so trivial yet profoundly curious. Xie Lian has experienced pleasures before (oh has he, with Hua Cheng’s relentlessness and skill in bed). But never has he imagined that a single touch to that specific spot can incite such a reaction.

From his voice. The sharp pitch, with just a touch of breathlessness, almost choking from the sudden amount of pure want. He doesn’t think himself capable of producing such a sound. Ought to be dying from embarrassment.

Not even the heat from the kitchen fire can match the fever running through his head. He should concentrate on the task at hand. Concentrate!

He’s making radish soup tonight, specifically requested by his husband. Despite having an army of servants at their disposal, Xie Lian prefers to do the cooking. Especially for dinner. It reminds him of slow days at Puqi Shrine, when Hua Cheng was San Lang who made sure to keep his distance and didn’t dare to step over the line. And now?

Now he sneaks to Xie Lian’s side with every chance he gets, pretending to move with innocent intent when they both know Hua Cheng is itching to cop a feel. Xie Lian lets him. There is comfort in close proximity.

Xie Lian pauses at cutting the radishes and touches the back of his neck.

Huh. Nothing.

Curious indeed.

“And then?” Hua Cheng breaks him out of his reverie.

“Hmm?”

“Gege was telling me how those idiots got into a brawl again.”

Xie Lian straightens himself up and says, “ah yes. It was the usual misunderstanding between them. Mu Qing said something about Jian Lan and Feng Xin took it the wrong way. You know how he can be.”

“Foolishly so.”

Xie Lian sends him a not-so-stern look that Hua Cheng shrugs at. Is he wrong? He supposes not. Hua Cheng is rarely wrong in many things. He boasts when time calls for it, rightfully so. It’s one of his traits that Xie Lian finds so charming.

Xie Lian finishes up chopping up the green onions before dumping them into the pot. The aroma smells right this time. No sourness hidden in the air. Last time, Hua Cheng had suggested to maybe leave the vinegar out. Good call on that.

“San Lang, come have a taste.”

Hua Cheng obediently saunters over, stopping behind Xie Lian. He towers over him, both hands resting Xie Lian’s waist and the latter naturally leans back. Xie Lian scoops up a small amount of soup and blows at it.

“Careful, it’s hot.”

Bending forward, Hua Cheng joins in and blows at the steaming spoon of soup. He shifts slightly and suddenly Xie Lian feels a soft stream of air tickling his ear.

A gasp escapes his lips before he could stop. His hand jerks, spilling soup over the pot.

There it is again. That tingling. The heat, travelling from the tip of his ear to the pool of his stomach and down to the place where he’s really trying not to think of right now. That blow of air to his ear had awaken something within his body, brought back memories of feverish nights and mind-blowing pleasure.

Xie Lian quietly swallows and wills his body to settle. It’s unseemly, getting this a strong of a reaction from such a meaningless act. It’s the same as when Hua Cheng had kissed the back of his neck. His body freezes then heats up in want, in need, in desire and—and what is it? There must be something wrong.

Hua Cheng, oblivious to all the turmoil battling inside Xie Lian, continues to blow at the soup. Or whatever’s left of it. Xie Lian should scoop another batch up. That’s right. Hua Cheng needs a taste. Why is his hand shaking?

Another steady stream of cool breath caresses his ear from behind and—

“San Lang!”

His cry comes out more as a desperate whimper, indecently so. Xie Lian’s other hand grips the edge of the counter so tightly that he can see veins lining out. He presses forward, willing his arousal away.

“It’s hot right? This one’s only taking measures to cool it down a bit,” says Hua Cheng coyly. “Can’t risk our tongues burning.”

Something else is already burning in Xie Lian and it’s definitely not his tongue.

Hua Cheng takes the arm holding the spoon and brings it towards to them. He takes a quick sip of the soup, waits, then gives Xie Lian an approving smile. Eyes bright and full of delight and…playful?

“Gege makes the best soup! It warms me up all nice inside.”

Xie Lian’s eyebrows twitch.

He watches Hua Cheng proceed to set the table in an easy-going manner. He wears a small grin that Xie Lian usually overlooks as contentment but now it seems to be carrying something more. Satisfaction. Amusement. Pride.

Is Hua Cheng catching on?

---

The ghost king is up to something. By now Xie Lian is sure of it.

Hua Cheng is an affectionate being, giving gentle brushes of their hands here and a soft nuzzle there. His husband is surprisingly rather tactile and he is all for it.

But lately, there has been a lot more sneak attacks. Ones that ruffle Xie Lian’s feathers, tickle his nerves, invoke those same strange and embarrassing sounds that Xie Lian is failing miserably at preventing. Some touches result in no reaction, just a weird look from Xie Lian. Others…oh how they make him shiver with unforeseen bliss.

It is almost as if Hua Cheng is looking for treasure chests hidden all over the map that is his body and the only way to uncover them is to blindly cop a feel or blow a kiss.

Today is no exception.

They’re having a stroll down the streets of Ghost City. Its civilians are delighted to see Hua Chengzhu out in public. A rare sighting. Of course, it is no surprise that beside their lord is his esteemed companion, the one with the bamboo hat and easygoing smile.

Xie Lian stops at a stall on the side, something catching his eyes. A display of old archives all crusty and tattered and really shouldn’t be up for sale. But Xie Lian is Xie Lian and knowledge is limitless so he curiously glances over the titles.

Chronicles of the Flesh-Eating Toad

A Thousand Nights in a Thousand Brothels

Great Conquests of Black Water Sinking Ships

“Anything catching our esteemed guest fancy?” The stall-owner asks. She’s a rather old woman, wrinkles marked deep into her leathery skin. One eye atrociously scarred and her attempt at a smile offers the opposite effect of warm and welcome.

Xie Lian hums in earnest, thinking seriously before answering. They quickly enter a conversation on forgotten literature and unwritten history. Hua Cheng, naturally, is already by Xie Lian’s side, a hand on his back.

That same hand, despite behaving at first, spread itself across the lower of his back, pressing just so. Xie Lian stops in his words then hitches a startled breath when he feels Hua Cheng’s hand slither upwards. It’s agonizingly slow, with fingers kneading ever so slightly against the bumps of his spine, inducing little humming shockwaves riding throughout his entire body.

The area below his stomach throbs, warming again to the same sensation. This time, Xie Lian keeps his voice in check and lets out only a choked breath.

“Gege?”

His ear tingles.

“Something on your mind?” Hua Cheng asks, leaning close. “Do you not feel well?”

His back. He’s thinking of his lower back and how it hums and makes him twist inside. He’s thinking of a kiss planted behind his neck and a sensual blow of breath to his ear tips. He thinks of cool skin and sweat, of long nights and vivid images, of a bed adorned in red and of highs he’s never ascended to before until Hua Cheng Hua Cheng San Lang—

Xie Lian staggers a little, alarming the stall-owner. She doesn’t want to offend Hua Chengzhu’s cherished person. But it is not her at all. It is the thumb now caressing lightly over the inside of his wrist and aaah, that’s another spot so sensitive to Hua Cheng’s touch. And he recognizes that this has all been done on purpose.

A whimper escapes his throat. Oh, how red his face must be.

“Gege doesn’t look too good. You’re warming up. Perhaps we should return for the night.” His voice is filled with worry but Xie Lian now knows the little game Hua Cheng is playing. He peers over and sure enough, that corner of Hua Cheng’s lips is gleefully curved.

“I didn’t know Your Highness has so many…receptive spots.”

---

His full assault comes when Xie Lian is at his weakest.

When the martial god is entangled in sheets, splayed across the bed in a state of helplessness. He writhes at every shock sent from below where ghost meets god, cries on each impact. Hua Cheng dominates from behind him, chest to back, and he takes full control of every nerve in Xie Lian’s body.

A hot tongue laps at the back of his neck and another wave of heat shoots straight to his arousal. This time, Xie Lian learns not to hold back and he moans keenly into the pillow.  When the same tongue moves to behind his ear, his voice shifts into an obscene-sounding whine.

“San Lang…San Lang—ah!”

He feels the incoming wave of pleasure, a tense ball forming inside just waiting to burst and he can’t wait. Oh the anticipation, oh the blissful release Xie Lian’s clumsily chasing right now. That Hua Cheng’s demanding.

“Gege is especially sensitive tonight,” Hua Cheng remarks, voice low and deceivingly calm. “He seems to be more vocal than usual.”

Xie Lian grinds desperately into the bed as Hua Cheng grinds into him. He always manages to hit that sweet spot that makes Xie Lian sing.

And he does. He sings brokenly into the night when Xie Lian finally comes wrecked and sweet. His whole body quivers, intoxicated in sheer delight.

But Hua Cheng doesn’t stop there. He mercifully gives Xie Lian a short moment before resuming his thrusts. The hand that had held Xie Lian’s moves to the base of his neck and slides sensually down his spine. Hot lips press against Xie Lian’s neck and begin to suckle at the skin.

It’s all too overwhelming. Xie Lian curves his back deliciously so, prying away from Hua Cheng’s touch yet yearning for more more more.

“S-San Lang..too much…”

His plead is in vain. Hua Cheng’s other hand wraps itself around Xie Lian’s wrist and the thumb languidly rubs over the erogenous area.

“What’s that, gege? Is this spot too much? This one doesn’t think so,” Hua Cheng murmurs as he blows softly at Xie Lian’s ear again. “Who knew gege had so many hidden treasures?”

Jolts of bliss come at every direction. His lower back, his neck, his ear, his wrist. Xie Lian can feel himself hard again and he can’t—he can’t again.

“San Lang, San Lang!”

Xie Lian abruptly knocks Hua Cheng off and flip them over, pinning his husband down with his legs and hands. His chest burns from heavy breathing and he takes a moment to gain composure. Hua Cheng wears an arrogant smirk.

He wants to wipe it right off.

“I like it when gege gets a little rough.”

Xie Lian huffs. “San Lang is being a bully.”

Hua Cheng raises a doubtful eyebrow. “This one merely wants to make His Highness feel good.”

Not fair, not fair at all. Hua Cheng lies there all comfortably, basking gloriously in the fact that he’s made Xie Lian this euphoric and happy. Knowing he’s made him feel so loved and adored and deserving.

Leaning down, Xie Lian presses a long kiss to Hua Cheng’s lips before moving down his jawline. Soft, lingering pecks trail along his husband’s neck. He stops at the Adam’s apple and gives a lick before continue. Hua Cheng takes one deep breathe—good, he’s relaxed.

Xie Lian arrives at his collarbone, gives a good stare, then gently bites on the edge.

Hua Cheng jolts beneath him, his abdominal clenching on instinct. Xie Lian hears a choked grunt, cut midway as if it was stopped desperately. He looks up to see Hua Cheng scrunching his eyebrows in slight confusion. Arousal swims in his eyes.

Xie Lian grins.

“Found yours.”

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