Chapter 406: Nobody’s Leaving
The movie made it through almost twenty minutes before Lingyun decided he’d spent enough time pretending to watch it.
His mouth brushed the side of my neck so lightly that I could’ve ignored it. Since his head was already resting against my shoulder, I might even have convinced myself it was an accident if he hadn’t done it again, slower this time, with enough intention to make the skin beneath his lips warm.
"You’re supposed to be resting," I reminded him, rolling my eyes. But that didn’t mean that I moved away.
"I am resting," he murmured back, making sure that his lips continued to caress the skin against my neck.
"You’re biting me," I countered, even as I moved my neck to the side to give him better access.
"Very gently," he replied.
His lips moved higher, tracing the line beneath my jaw while his arm tightened around my waist. The movie continued playing in front of us, but I had already lost track of who was fighting whom and why the same man had been thrown through another window.
I should’ve told Lingyun to behave before he forgot that his ribs were being held together with bandages and stubbornness. Instead, I turned my head enough for his next kiss to land at the corner of my mouth.
If the first time wasn’t permission, this definitely was.
Lingyun kissed me properly, shifting toward me despite the sharp breath he took when the movement pulled at his side. I caught his shoulder before he could twist farther and kept my grip away from the damaged one.
"Your ribs," I warned against his mouth.
"They’re still there."
"That wasn’t what I meant."
"They’re very supportive."
"They’re cracked."
Lingyun smiled before kissing me again. "They support me emotionally."
There wasn’t much I could say to that, mostly because his hand had slipped beneath the hem of my shirt and was moving slowly across my waist. His palm was warmer than usual, and the heat spread over my skin without burning.
My fingers tightened in his hair as I leaned closer.
Lingyun made a pleased sound against my mouth and tried to pull me across his lap. I shifted carefully, keeping most of my weight off his injured side, but I still ended up half turned toward him with one knee pressed into the couch between us.
The change in position moved my legs across Yuche’s lap, but he didn’t release them.
Instead, he adjusted his hold, sliding one hand from my ankle to the outside of my thigh to steady me. His thumb moved beneath the edge of my shirt where it had ridden up, and the touch was calm enough that it took me a second to realize just how high his hand had travelled.
I broke contact with Lingyun to looked at him.
Yuche’s gaze met mine without apology. "You were slipping," he said, a slight smirk on his face.
"I was not."
"You were."
Lingyun kissed the side of my throat. "You should listen to him. He’s very observant."
"And you’re both very irritating," I replied half heartedly. After all, I has a reputation to uphold. I couldn’t just give in... now could I?
But neither man appeared bothered by that.
What surprised me the most was that my other hand was still resting in Zhenlan’s hair.
He had gone still when Lingyun first kissed me, but he hadn’t moved away from the couch or tried to find an excuse to leave the room. When my fingers tightened against his scalp, Zhenlan tilted his head back just enough for me to feel the movement.
His eyes met mine briefly before shifting toward Lingyun.
There was heat in his expression now, although he kept it locked beneath the same control he used for everything else. The fact that he was affected should’ve made me release him.
Instead, I dragged my fingers slowly through his hair again.
Zhenlan’s jaw tightened.
Chenghai moved to the other end of the sectional, shifting away from Yuche and settling deeper into the open section of the couch. My foot slid from Yuche’s lap and came to rest against Chenghai’s thigh.
He caught my ankle before it could fall between the cushions.
Chenghai’s hand was large enough to circle it completely. He could’ve moved my leg back onto Yuche or set it safely on the couch, but he kept it where it was and rested his other hand against my calf.
That made the room feel different.
No one was politely ignoring what Lingyun and I were doing. No one was pretending they needed to check the barrier, answer a radio, or suddenly become interested in whatever was happening in the garage.
All four men remained physically connected to me.
Lingyun’s mouth moved lower along my throat while his hand travelled beneath my shirt. His fingers skimmed upward, and the sudden touch made my breath catch before I could hide it.
His smile pressed against my skin. "You’re not watching the movie."
"Neither are you."
"I found something better."
"You’re injured."
"You keep mentioning that," he purred, a bright smile on his face.
"That’s because you keep forgetting," I groaned.
Lingyun pulled me closer until my chest pressed against his. The movement made him inhale sharply, but he covered it by kissing me again before I could stop him.
I loosened the front of his shirt, partly because I wanted him closer and partly because I needed to see whether blood had begun soaking through the bandages again. His skin was hot beneath my hands, and the muscles across his stomach tightened when my fingers moved lower.
"Rouxi," he breathed against my mouth.
The sound of my name made something warm twist low inside me.
Lingyun’s hand slipped beneath another layer of clothing, and I stopped pretending this was only kissing. My body pressed closer to his before my brain could begin arguing, while Yuche’s hand tightened on my thigh and Chenghai’s thumb moved once across the inside of my ankle.
Zhenlan remained beneath my other hand, close enough that I could feel his breathing change.
They were all still here. And I was happy.
Lingyun tried to move beneath me, probably planning to pull me fully onto his lap despite every warning he’d been given.
Instead, his ribs ended the argument for him.
His entire body locked, and the breath left him in a rough gasp. The color drained from his face as one hand clamped over his injured side.
I stopped immediately. "Lingyun."
"I’m fine."
"You can barely breathe."
"I don’t need to breathe for this."
He attempted to shift again, possibly to prove that his body had betrayed him only temporarily. Pain tore through him before he managed anything useful, and his head dropped against the back of the couch.
Yuche caught my waist and moved my weight away from Lingyun’s ribs before I had to ask. He didn’t pull me far, only enough to keep me from pressing against the injury.
"You’re done," Yuche told him.
Lingyun opened one eye. "I strongly disagree."
"Your ribs don’t."
"My ribs are ruining my relationship."
"Your complete lack of self-preservation is ruining your relationship," I corrected as I checked the edge of his bandages.
A fresh line of blood had appeared beneath them.
Lingyun looked down and seemed personally offended. "Traitors."
I settled against his uninjured side rather than moving away. My shirt was still loose, my skin was warm, and I had absolutely no intention of acting embarrassed because the other men had watched him nearly reopen his body while trying to get me into his lap.
Yuche kept one hand on my thigh. Zhenlan remained beneath my fingers, while Chenghai continued holding my ankle at the opposite end of the sectional.
Lingyun rested his head against mine with a miserable sigh. "When I’m healed, we’re finishing this."
"That sounds like a threat," I replied with a satisfied smile.
"It’s a promise."
I picked up a Cheezie and held it near his mouth. "Try surviving the night first."
He ate it from my fingers and smiled as though he had won something.
The movie continued in front of us, completely ignored, while I stayed tangled between four men who had finally stopped acting like they needed permission to remain close.
This might be the start of something amazing...
If no one fucked up.