Chapter 420: Not A Perfect Date
The answer came without hesitation as Zhenlan shifted his arm from my shoulders and turned slightly toward me.
The movement loosened the blanket, allowing cool air to slip between us before he adjusted it across my lap again.
"I don’t intend for this to be the only time," he said.
"The only movie?"
"The only date."
There it was.
The word neither of us had used.
I looked toward the rain so he wouldn’t see the exact moment it affected me. "So this is officially a date."
"It has been a date since I told you to be ready after dinner."
"You didn’t ask."
"I knew you would come."
"That’s arrogant."
"You did come."
"That doesn’t make it less arrogant."
Zhenlan’s fingers tightened gently around mine. "Did you want me to ask?"
I considered the question carefully.
If he had asked whether I wanted to go on a date, I might have overthought it. I would’ve wanted to know where, how long, what I was expected to wear, what we would do, and whether agreeing meant I was admitting something I hadn’t decided how to explain.
Being told to get ready had eliminated most of those problems.
"No," I admitted. "I probably would’ve made it difficult."
"You still made it difficult."
"I only asked reasonable questions."
"You asked whether there would be zombies."
"That was important information."
"You also asked whether anything needed killing."
"That was equally important."
A quiet laugh moved through his chest. The sound no longer surprised me as much as it had during the movie, but I still liked feeling it beneath my shoulder.
I looked at our joined hands. "What happens on the next date?"
"I haven’t decided."
That caught my attention. "You don’t have a plan?"
"I have several ideas."
"Of course you do."
"I haven’t decided which one you’ll like."
The distinction mattered more than it should have.
He wasn’t choosing what would be impressive, efficient, or useful. He was considering what I might enjoy.
I reached for another piece of chocolate and placed it in my mouth before asking, "What if I don’t like any of them?"
"Then I’ll find something else."
"What if I complain?"
"You will."
"What if I refuse to go?"
Zhenlan looked at me for several seconds. "You won’t."
His confidence should’ve irritated me.
Instead, warmth settled low in my stomach.
I shifted beneath the blanket and turned enough to face him more directly. "You’ve changed."
"No."
"You were considerably less demanding yesterday."
"I was waiting yesterday."
"And now?"
"I’m not."
His attention moved to my mouth again.
This time, he didn’t look away when I noticed.
The rain surrounded us with enough sound to make the rest of the property disappear. Even the lights from the outer buildings blurred behind the water, leaving only the terrace, the movie screen, and Zhenlan sitting close enough that our knees pressed together beneath the blanket.
I felt no urge to check the barrier.
Nothing had changed outside. The Devourer still existed, Gu Han remained somewhere in the city, and the apocalypse continued to be inconvenient.
They could all wait.
Zhenlan lifted his free hand and brushed a strand of hair away from my face. His fingers followed the side of my cheek before resting lightly beneath my jaw.
He moved slowly, but he wasn’t uncertain.
That was the difference.
He gave me enough time to stop him without behaving as though he expected me to.
"You’re staring again," I murmured.
"I know."
"It’s strange."
"You’ll get used to it."
"That sounds like a threat."
"It isn’t."
His thumb moved once along my jaw.
I could feel the warmth of him through every place our bodies touched. His hand remained joined with mine beneath the blanket, while the other held my face with a care that didn’t match the force I had seen him use against everything else.
"You said you wanted to answer my question with something I would understand," I reminded him.
"I did."
"So far, you’ve provided tea and a movie."
"You understood those."
"That isn’t the point."
"No," he agreed quietly. "It isn’t."
Zhenlan leaned closer.
He paused before our mouths touched, close enough that his breath warmed my lips. The hesitation wasn’t fear. It was the last opportunity he intended to give me to move away.
I didn’t.
His mouth settled over mine.
The first kiss was softer than I expected from him. There was no urgency behind it, no attempt to pull me closer or take more than I had already given. His lips moved against mine once, slowly, before he drew back far enough to look at me.
I stared at him.
Zhenlan waited.
"That was it?" I asked.
His eyes darkened. "No."
The second kiss wasn’t nearly as careful.
His hand slid from my jaw into my hair while his mouth returned to mine. I shifted toward him without thinking, the blanket tangling around my legs as his arm closed around my waist.
He still didn’t rush.
The kiss deepened gradually, allowing me to feel every change in the pressure of his mouth and every small movement of his fingers against my back. There was strength beneath the restraint, held tightly enough that I understood exactly what he was choosing not to do.
I placed one hand against his chest.
Zhenlan went still beneath it, but he didn’t pull away.
His heart was beating much faster than his expression had suggested.
That made me smile against his mouth.
He felt it.
"What?" he asked without moving far enough for the word to become clear.
"Nothing."
"That isn’t true."
"You look calmer than you are."
His arm tightened around my waist. "So do you."
I decided the best response was to kiss him again before he could become smug.
Zhenlan accepted the distraction immediately.
The storm continued around us, but his power kept every drop away from the terrace. Thunder rolled across the property while I settled closer against him, no longer thinking about the movie, the barrier, or the route beneath the city.
Nothing interrupted us.
Nothing needed to die.
I wouldn’t call it a perfect date... but it was dangerously close.