Chapter 355: Didn’t See That Coming
"You were terrifying today," Lingyun murmured softly, his thumb dragging over the inside of my wrist as he cleaned away a stubborn streak of black.
His voice still had that bright edge, but his eyes stayed on my skin like the sight of it appearing beneath the blood mattered. "The murder wall was inspired. Horrifying. Beautiful. Very much you."
"Are you complimenting me or diagnosing me?"
"Can’t I be doing both? Why choose just one answer?"
Yuche’s fingers tightened lightly in my hair, not enough to hurt, just enough to remind me he was there. "He means it."
"I know he means it. That’s the problem."
Lingyun leaned closer, lowering his voice as the washcloth moved from my wrist to my shoulder. "It really is romantic when you threaten us."
"You have a disease," I replied half heartedly, not really wanting to move or put too much energy into anything.
"Probably," Lingyun replied, amusement dancing in his voice.
"Untreatable," I shot back because I hated not having the last word.
"Definitely," he replied, because clearly, he needed the last word, too.
I laughed once, low and unwilling, and Lingyun froze like the sound had hit him somewhere vital. Yuche felt it too. I knew because his hand stilled at the back of my neck, thumb pressing lightly against the spot he already knew made my breath change.
There he was.
Established trouble.
Familiar disaster.
The man who had already proven exactly how patient and how relentless he could be when he decided I was worth ruining.
I just hope that he had the same plan as I did. If not, I could always find a way to get dirty again and make him clean me up for a second time.
But Yuche knew exactly what I wanted. His thumb moved once, and my body responded, arching up into his touch. A soft moan slipped out of my lips before I could stop it. But I also wasn’t trying all that hard.
Yuche deserved a reward for doing a good job.
And Lingyun? He was watching everything that Yuche was doing to me as if there was going to be a test on it later.
Fuck, I hope there was.
Yuche’s hand slid from my hair to my jaw, tilting my head back until I was looking up at him through the steam. "You are enjoying this."
It wasn’t a question, but I was going to reply anyway. A slow smile appeared on my face as I practically purred. "Obviously."
Lingyun’s hand paused on my shoulder even as Yuche’s eyes turned dark with lust.
Yeah, he might know all my buttons, but I knew his, too.
I was done acting like this was something happening to me. It wasn’t. I wanted Yuche’s hand at my jaw and neck. I wanted Lingyun’s mouth too close to my shoulder. I wanted the heat, the attention, and the knowledge and understanding that they were mine just as much as I was theirs.
And, to me, that meant body, mind, and soul.
I looked up at Yuche before turning my head toward Lingyun. "Are you waiting for written permission?" I asked, my tone husky.
Lingyun’s throat moved. "No."
"Then stop looking like you’re about to ask the wall for approval."
His smile came back, but this time it was darker. Hungrier. Less ridiculous. "Yes, ma’am."
Yuche laughed softly behind me.
I pointed at him without looking. "Don’t start."
"I said nothing."
"You breathed smugly."
Lingyun’s hand moved again, the washcloth dragging lower over clean skin while his other hand came to the edge of the tub beside me. "Tell me to stop, and I stop."
I met his eyes.
That mattered. Not because I wanted him to stop, but because he was giving me the line before crossing it. Yuche already knew my body, my temper, my tells, and several memories that still made walking near my own bed a personal attack. Lingyun was new here. New in this part, at least.
So I gave him the answer clearly.
"No," I said, my voice steady as Yuche’s hand tightened at my jaw and Lingyun’s fingers stilled against my skin. "I’m not telling you to stop."
Lingyun’s eyes went dark.
I leaned back into Yuche’s hand, watching Lingyun understand exactly what he had been given.
"Keep going."
Lingyun’s grin turned sharp and hungry at my words even as Yuche’s hand slid from my neck to my jaw, tilting my head back so he could see my face clearly.
The way he looked at me dragged me right back to my bed all those weeks ago.
And not gently, either.
Yuche didn’t look at me like a man wondering if he was allowed to touch. He looked at me like a man remembering exactly what I sounded like when I stopped pretending I had any interest in being reasonable.
"Good girl," he murmured, completely ignoring my glare.
I should have bitten him. I wasn’t anyone’s good girl....
But if they played their cards right, I could be theirs.
And by playing their cards right, I meant praising me. Because apparently, that was my hidden kink.
The second he called me a good girl, my body reacted like he had just found a switch I only had a vague idea was there, and from the way his eyes darkened, the bastard knew it.
After all, he remembered that night just as much as I did.
Every hour of it, apparently.
Unfortunately for both of us, so did I.
If he expected me to protest, he had another thing coming. I had already spent enough of this life bleeding, starving, dying, waking up, fighting parasites, burning people, and building walls out of corpses and spite.
I wanted this.
I wanted him.
And I wanted Lingyun just as badly.
And when Lingyun’s mouth found my shoulder, kissing along the clean skin he had just revealed, I tilted my head to the side to give him even better access.
He froze for a second, like he actually thought that I would deny him what we both wanted, but I was done.
"More," I hissed at him, my eyes flashing for just a second before Yuche’s dark chuckle broke the stare off between me and Lingyun.
"You don’t have to worry," Yuche murmured, his voice soft like he was talking about a treasure. His hand moved back down from my chin and back to my neck as he tightened his grip just enough to make sure that he had my undivided attention. "She doesn’t break."
As if to prove his point, I tilted my chin up high to give him better access to my most vulnerable point. A hand necklace was just what I needed.
I felt my eyes drift close, my lashes trembling as Lingyun let out a deep, dark laugh. But with Yuche’s hand steady and sure, my entire body was nothing but a wet, limp noodle for him to use as he saw fit.
"I didn’t see that coming," purred Lingyun as he shifted just a bit. His fingers