Chapter 68: Don’t Stop
His mouth covered hers before the tie slipped from her fingers. He kept the first kiss slow, allowing her to recognize the pressure and direction before he deepened it.
They had kissed inside the warehouse and again before hundreds of witnesses, but neither kiss had belonged entirely to them. The first stopped beneath the awareness of workers unloading supplies at the other end of the building. The second ended because an officiant and five hundred guests were waiting for the ceremony to continue.
No one waited outside their bedroom now.
Hanchuan slid one hand into Zhiyi’s hair and wrapped the other around her waist. He drew her against him until the thin slip stopped separating the shape of her body from his hands.
Zhiyi inhaled into his mouth.
Her fingers moved from his tie to his shoulders, then higher until they reached the back of his neck. She wasn’t holding herself still and waiting for him to determine everything. She pulled him closer.
Hanchuan opened her mouth beneath his.
The first touch of his tongue made her grip tighten. She attempted to follow the movement, lost the rhythm and tried to correct it.
He slowed before she could turn kissing into another task.
His thumb moved along the side of her neck while his mouth taught hers without explanation. When she stopped trying to anticipate him, he changed the angle and kissed her deeper.
Zhiyi made a quiet sound.
Hanchuan felt it move through his chest.
He had heard her cry out warnings, speak through dehydration and whisper his name while they died. He had never heard that sound.
His control tightened rather than disappeared.
He moved his mouth from hers to the corner of her jaw, then followed the line beneath her ear. Zhiyi’s head tilted without being directed, giving him more space.
Hanchuan kissed the pulse in her throat.
Her heartbeat accelerated beneath his lips.
He remained there long enough to feel the rhythm change, then moved lower. The narrow strap of the slip rested against her shoulder. Hanchuan hooked one finger beneath it and drew it down slowly.
Zhiyi watched his hand.
He paused before the fabric moved far enough to expose her breast.
Her breathing remained quick, but she didn’t retreat. Her hands held him rather than protecting herself, and her eyes stayed focused on his face.
Hanchuan lowered the second strap.
The slip loosened across her chest.
He could have let it fall.
Instead, he traced the newly exposed skin with his mouth, kissing one shoulder before moving across her collarbone. Every time Zhiyi’s breathing caught, he repeated the pressure until her body stopped treating the sensation as unexpected and began leaning toward it.
His hand moved along her waist.
The slip shifted beneath his palm.
Zhiyi’s skin warmed quickly wherever he touched her. Hanchuan followed the change, learning which movements made her fingers tighten and which caused her to forget the next breath.
When his thumb passed beneath the edge of the fabric covering her breast, her entire body tensed.
Hanchuan became still.
He didn’t ask what she wanted.
He studied her face.
Zhiyi’s eyes were closed, but she hadn’t withdrawn. Her lips remained parted from the kisses, and her hands stayed locked behind his neck. The tension wasn’t rejection. It was the shock of a sensation she had never experienced and couldn’t classify immediately.
Hanchuan waited.
Her body softened first.
Then her eyes opened.
She looked directly at him and pressed closer until his hand settled fully against her.
Hanchuan’s restraint pulled tight enough to hurt.
"Good," he murmured.
He kissed her again while his thumb moved over her nipple through the thin fabric.
Zhiyi gasped into his mouth.
The response ended any remaining distance between them. Hanchuan lowered the slip until her breasts were bare, then lifted her without breaking the kiss.
Her legs wrapped around him automatically.
He carried her toward the bed.
Zhiyi noticed the flower petals for the first time.
"They’re in the way."
"I know."
Hanchuan sat her on the edge of the mattress and swept the nearest layer onto the floor with one arm. Half the arrangement followed.
Someone had probably spent an hour placing them.
Hanchuan didn’t care.
He removed his shirt and dropped it over the remaining flowers.
Zhiyi stared at his chest.
Her attention moved over skin she had never seen without injuries, dirt, malnutrition or the damage left by years of surviving. In their first life, Hanchuan’s body had always been evidence of what the world took from him. His legs had been useless from the day she found him, and every movement required the strength of his arms.
Now he stood in front of her whole.
Zhiyi lifted one hand.
Her fingertips touched the center of his chest, directly above his heart.
Hanchuan remained still while she explored the difference. She followed the line of his collarbone, pressed lightly against his shoulder and moved down the muscles of his abdomen as though confirming each one existed.
His body reacted when her fingers reached the fastening of his trousers.
Zhiyi looked down.
Hanchuan closed his hand around her wrist before curiosity carried her farther than she intended.
Her attention snapped back to his face.
He didn’t remove her hand.
He held it there, allowing her to feel exactly what her touch had done to him without pretending he remained unaffected.
"You want me," she said.
"Completely."
There was no hesitation for her to misinterpret.
Hanchuan released her wrist.
Zhiyi could move her hand away.
Instead, she opened the fastening.
The decision was awkward because she had never removed a man’s clothing, but Hanchuan didn’t correct her. He watched her complete the task she chose for herself.
When she finished, her hand rested against his stomach.
Hanchuan covered it with his own.
He lowered himself in front of her until they were level, then pushed the remaining slip from her body. The fabric gathered at her waist before falling around her hips.
Zhiyi was naked from the waist up and flushed beneath his attention.
Hanchuan placed both hands on her thighs.
Her muscles tightened.
He waited again.
Zhiyi’s eyes moved over his face, searching for whatever he intended to do next. Hanchuan gave her time to understand that he wasn’t going to hide his desire or force her to guess whether he still wanted her.
His hands moved higher.
Zhiyi’s breath caught.
He stopped at the edge of the fabric gathered across her lap.
For the first time since entering the bedroom, uncertainty pulled her attention away from him. Her gaze moved toward the bed, then down at herself.
Hanchuan recognized the point where she might begin choosing based upon expectation instead of desire.
He leaned forward and kissed the inside of her knee.
Zhiyi looked at him.
Hanchuan moved his mouth slowly upward, stopping well before the place her thighs had instinctively pressed together.
Her fingers entered his hair.
He raised his head.
Zhiyi’s face remained flushed, but she was no longer looking toward the bed or attempting to calculate what a wife should do next.
She was looking at him.
Hanchuan began to withdraw his hands.
Zhiyi tightened her fingers in his hair and held him where he was.
"Don’t stop."
Hanchuan studied her face one final time.
She knew what she was choosing.
He had his answer.