Bab 61: The Nine-tailed Fox tastes sweet [+18]

Wu Yun's first thought is that Lan Tian is going to tell him he wants to room alone.

He looks down at his feet, avoiding Lan Tian's amber eyes, peering down on him. Lan Tian moves closer, effectively trapping him against the door. He has nowhere to run now, and no way to postpone the confrontation any longer.

"Why do you think I didn't do anything yesterday?" Lan Tian asks, his smooth, deep voice washes over Wu Yun like warm water.

Does he really expect Wu Yun to answer that? He isn't going to, he has endured enough humiliation.

He keeps staring stubbornly at his feet.

Lan Tian raises his chin with two fingertips, making Wu Yun look him in the eyes.

"I've wanted to kiss you since before I knew what that was," Lan Tian says, letting the words rush out of him like a secret buried for too long.

Wu Yun doesn't trust his hearing, he looks into Lan Tian's warm eyes, searching for signs that his mind isn't playing tricks on him, and making him hear only what he wants to.

"Then, why..."

"I can't bear the thought of you being any less than yourself when I kiss you for the first time." Lan Tian runs his thumb over Wu Yun's jaw, his chin, and then up, over the full curve of his bottom lip, over his top lip and the defined arch the sharp cupid's bow.

Wu Yun closes his eyes and prays that the sound of his beating heart isn't audible in the quiet room.

"Are you going to kiss me now?" Wu Yun asks. He's overcome with a sudden shyness that makes him unable to be the one to bridge the short distance between their lips.

Lan Tian shakes his head, and smiles ruefully. "Not yet."

Wu Yun's face crumples like a dry leaf. "Then..."

Lan Tian continues, "and not here."

He takes Wu Yun's hand, and pulls him away from the door. He opens it with his free hand, and throws Wu Yun a smile over his extended arm, "Come with me."

Wu Yun is in a daze as he runs after Lan Tian out of the stone hallway leading to their room, through the path under the waterfall, and to the other side of the Dragon's Roost.

Lan Tian stops in front of a narrow stairway carved into the stone, and curling around the cliff face, climbing up towards the clifftop.

"Why do these people love stairs so much," Wu Yun grumbles, looking up at the huge cliff.

Lan Tian smiles, "I promise it will be worth it."

He extends his hand to Wu Yun and asks him, "Do you trust me?"

"I do," Wu Yun says, and takes his hand.

---

When they finally climb the last step, Wu Yun is out of breath, but the sight that greets him almost relieves him of what little air he has left.

He wasn't able to see if from bellow, but the clifftop is covered in lush green grass, a thick carpet of it covered in small peach colored chrysanthemum blooms.

On the west side of the cliff, from where the waterfall springs forth there's a shallow lake, constantly fed by the water spray being blown by the wind, where a smattering of pink and yellow lotus spread their tear shaped petals towards the starry sky, as if welcoming the moon in supplication.

Wu Yun spins around, amazed by the closeness of the night-sky. He feels as if he could touch the stars and pluck them from the darkness above.

The moon hangs round and fat over the little lake, pregnant with light. The humble lake is a poor mirror for her beauty, but the lotus flowers try to give her the deference she deserves.

Lan Tian comes behind Wu Yun and wraps his arms around his waist. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Wu Yun leans his head back against his warm chest. "It is, thank you, for bringing me here."

Lan Tian lets out an amused huff, and drops a light kiss on the crown of Wu Yun's head.

"Let me show you something else."

He leads Wu Yun by the hand, nearer to the lake, which is when Wu Yun notices the silken blanket spread out near the cliff's edge. On the blanket sits a small bamboo basket with two skewers of bright red candied hawthorn, and a small fired clay pot of wine. Wu Yun can feel the sweet plum scent even at a distance.

"Did you plan this?" Wu Yun's voice wavers with more than just wonder, and the back of his throat feels tingly with impending tears.

Lan Tian grips his fingers tightly and leads him towards the blanket, to sit down overlooking the stars above, and in the horizon below their feet, over the cliff's edge.

The moon's glow limns everything in shades of molten silver, but when Wu Yun looks at Lan Tian, his amber eyes shine like candlelight.

He accepts the hawthorn skewer Lan Tian offers him with a smile. "This reminds me-"

"Of Youdu," Lan Tian finishes for him. "That's why I asked Wan Mi to get them, I know how much you love that city."

Wu Yun's middle warms up with all the care in that single sentence. Of course Lan Tian noticed him looking with interest at the dessert that ghost woman bought from the street vendor. He notices everything.

"And the wine?" he asks, to distract himself from the loud thumping of his heart.

Lan Tian shrugs. "You drank so much of it when we first had dinner here, I thought you must have like it."

Wu Yun did, even if the memories of that night are fuzzy and tinged with red.

Lan Tian picks one of the hawthorn skewers and hands it to him.

Wu Yun inspects the shiny red fruits, he wonders if they'll taste as delicious as they look and takes a bite.

His lips come away sticky from the syrup. He turns to Lan Tian with a grin, "It's sweet."

Lan Tian's eyes are arrested on the shiny glaze of Wu Yun's lips, tinged red by the hawthorn's soft skin. "You like sweet things."

Being looked at like that makes Wu Yun's skin feel too tight for his bones. "What do you like?"

He feels Lan Tian's hand come around the back of his head to cradle his neck and tilt his face upwards, until their eyes meet.

Lan Tian's eyes shine brighter than the moon.

"I like you."

Wu Yun's eyes close on instinct as soon as Lan Tian's lips touch his. The simple touch sends a bolt of electricity coursing down his spine. His mouth opens in a gasp, and Lan Tian's tongue runs over his bottom lip, tasting the hawthorn's sweet syrup on him.

The feeling of his soft tongue parting the seam of his lips and seeking entrance makes Wu Yun's spine turn soft and languid. He throws his arms around Lan Tian's neck and lets himself be consumed by the kiss, sweeter than any fruit.

Lan Tian tilts Wu Yun's head further back, so he can kiss him deeper, taste more of him. His clever tongue makes Wu Yun moan into the kiss, makes him shed his timidity and kiss back hungrily. Savaging Lan Tian's lips with helpless, demanding bites, wanting to feel more of him.

It amazes him, how much a kiss can make his blood sing. Despite their eagerness, it's still a tame, searching thing, so much softer than the ones Ling Yan and Shu Luan exchanged, and already Wu Yun feels more pleasure than all those spring dreams put together.

Wu Yun doesn't allow it to remain tame for long. His fingers travel up towards the cuff tying together the upper half of Lan Tian's hair, and he pulls it loose, letting his hair fall around their faces like a silk canopy. He digs his fingers into his scalp, and crawls up into his lap, needing to be as close together as possible.

Their lips only break apart when Wu Yun feels faint with lack of air. A thin thread of saliva and syrup connects them. Lu Yun has the frantic impulse of following it to lick back inside Lan Tian's mouth.

Lan Tian's eyes are red an humid when they fall on Wu Yun, and he doesn't think he's imagining the lust clouding their amber depths. "You taste sweet too," he says, running the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip.

Wu Yun doesn't think he's ever seen him look so beautiful. His neat air in disarray, the jade column of his neck flushed red, and his dark pupils blown wide.

Seeing Lan Tian so devastated with a single kiss, drives Wu Yun to recklessness.

He isn't sure what words will leave his mouth when he next speaks.

"I want you to fuck me right here, under all the stars in the sky."

That wasn't quite what he was planing on saying, but it's not untrue, so he holds his breath and waits for Lan Tian's answer.

It comes in the form of a choked laugh. "As much as I would love to, I think you're feeling the effects of the aphrodisiac again."

Now that he mentions it, Wu Yun does feel a sudden increase in his core temperature, and the tell-tale sign of perspiration building on his skin despite the cold night air.

He groans in frustration. "Does it matter? We both want to."

Lan Tian smiles fondly, and leans over to kiss his forehead. "It does. Nothing that starts wrong ends well."

Wu Yun doesn't know if he even thinks the damn aphrodisiac is a bad thing, who knows if without it they would have talked about their feelings at all?

But he's happy to wait, if that's what Lan Tian wants.

---

He feels less happy once he's back in their room, and the aphrodisiac's effects start to take their toll.

He's in the cold pool, trying to cool down his body and clear his mind, which is proving hard to do with Lan Tian sitting outside the pool, fully clothed, massaging his hair in what should be a relaxing manner, but which to Wu Yun's heated nerves, feels sensuous instead.

His mouth runs ahead of his mind. "Your mouth is so beautiful, I want to drink your kisses forever. I want to feel your lips all over my body."

Lan Tian groans behind him, and digs his fingers deeper into Wu Yun's scalp, making him hiss. "You will, I promise you, you will."

His low, smooth voice is enough to drive Wu Yun wild. He presses his legs together, willing the fire burning between them to give him some relief, but not even the cold water will soothe him.

Lan Tian's lips move closer to the shell of his ear, and his next words send shivers down Wu Yun's spine. "As soon as the aphrodisiac is gone, I'm going to fuck you for hours, like I've wanted to, since the first time you jumped into my bath."

Despite the filth in his words, Lan Tian's voice still carries that honeyed hint of tenderness, softer than any lingering kiss.

He can drive himself halfway to madness just imagining how it would be. Lan Tian fucking him ruthlessly while kissing him tenderly. He wants it so much it makes his teeth hurt.

"You have to believe me," Wu Yun says, his voice coming out in staccato pants. "It's not just the aphrodisiac, I want you so much, I want it all. I want you to fuck me until I forget my name."

Lan Tian drops a heated kiss against Wu Yun's neck, dragging his teeth softly over his tender skin. "And what name would that be?"

Wu Yun is confused for a moment, until his feverish brain catches on to the implications of Lan Tian's words.

"Wu Yun. Wu Yun, the name you gave me."

Lan Tian's possessive growl makes Wu Yun's toes curl, he wants to hear him make that sound again and again.

"I never want you to forget who you are, though," he says, nuzzling against the back of Wu Yun's neck, where his pony-tail leaves his nape bare. "So I'll fuck you until you can never forget."

Wu Yun can't handle the distance between them any longer. He turns around in the water to crash his lips against Lan Tian's, wrapping his wet arms around his neck, pulling him halfway into the pool with him.

"Make me remember then. Never let me forget that my life began on the day you gave me a name."

He can feel Lan Tian's smile against his lips. "Only if you promise to do the same."