Chapter 3 Beginning The Journey Home
The two men woke early the next morning, dressing for the coming cold of the trek across the mountains and out of China.
Shang put out the fire with wet snow from outside their cave, wanting to make certain that all the glowing embers were dead before they left. Then he and Shan Yu gathered up their belongings, placing them evenly into the two packs, one for each of them to make the load easier to bear.
"How long will it take to get over the mountains and to your village?" Shang asked him as he knelt beside the fire pit, slipping a folded up letter securely between two of the large, heavy gray stones.
"About a month," Shan Yu answered, the Hun's dark eyes watching Shang closely. "Month and a half. Depends on how fast you want to travel."
"I would like to get there as soon as safely possible," Shang confessed in a soft tone, rising up from his crouch to stand with his back to Shan Yu, still facing the dying fire. "I have made my choice to live my life with, and for, you, and I want to start living it. I never change my mind once I make a choice, Shan Yu. I love you, and I will never leave you. From the moment that I saved you from the avalanche, you became my whole world."
"I see. I agree. I want to go home," Shan Yu spoke in his low voice, stepping closer to Shang to slip his big arms around his slim waist from behind. The broad shouldered Hun pressed his face against the back of Shang's head, actually growling in pleasure as he inhaled the unique scent of his beautiful, long silky black hair. "I want to take you into my home. I want to take you in my home. Atop my animal skin rugs, before my stone fireplace."
"Sh-Shan Yu!" Shang gasped, leaning back against him as he trembled in response to his husky words. "..That sounds lovely."
"Mmmm.. It will be, my Shang. Tell me, who is that letter for?"
"Mulan, my love. I am sure that once the mountain passes below this point are safe to travel, she will come looking for me. She deserves to know that I live, and that I am happy with you. She was a good friend to me, even though I did not know she was female for most of that time."
They traveled for most of that day, the thick clothing that they wore to ward off the cold and their walking keeping them comfortably warm and in no danger of frostbite.
They agreed to stop when they discovered another small cave that was free of animals, grateful for the shelter from the piercing winds of the mountain passes.
Shang laid out and arranged their bedrolls and blankets for the night while Shan Yu left the cave to gather wood, returning before long to set up the scraggly logs within a ring of large rocks and light them with the flint.
The wood caught and the cave warmed gradually while they unpacked the food and shared a small meal together for the sake of conserving what they had left until they reached parts where they could purchase more.
"Once we get out of these mountains we might be able to get a horse," Shan Yu spoke in his low voice as Shang repacked the food carefully into their packs. "That would help with our traveling speed."
"That would be good," Shang replied with a smile, standing up and holding out a hand to him. "I can not wait to see your home."
Shan Yu grinned back, his dark eyebrows arching expressively, accepting the hand up and drawing his Chinaman with him over to their sleeping blankets.
"I am sure you will be pleased. But, you are, of course; welcome to change anything that does not meet with your approval, Shang. It is your right as my chosen mate."
"It is?" Shang asked, blinking in surprise.
"Yes. It is our home now. You are my husband, and your opinion matters to me. We will be sharing our lives together. A bit of redecorating hardly seems like a big thing."
"Perhaps not to you. But it is to me, Shan Yu," he confessed, biting his own lower lip for a brief moment as they sat down together on the bedrolls. Shang's back was to the other man, so he leaned back against the Hun's chest and into his arms while continuing to speak softly. "When you have never had a home of your own, there are a lot of things you look forward to when you finally do."
"Mmm. Like what, my Chinaman?" Shan Yu inquired, enfolding him into his embrace beneath the blankets.
"Well.. decorating. Cooking meals for my husband. Long nights, and days, spent making love in our bed. ..Babies."
"..Babies?" Shan Yu asked, Shang's statement clearly startling him.
"Yes. I have always wanted at least one baby to raise with a lover, a husband. It has been a dream of mine for a very long time. I remember when I was six years old telling my mother that I wanted to raise a baby like she had me. She did not understand what I meant, of course. I know that you told me you would never have any. Was that because you do not want to, or because you knew you would never have a wife?"
"Because I would never have a wife. But if you wish for a child, Shang, it is fine with me. We are a small village, and many of our men died in that avalanche. Most of them my friends. Some of them husbands with children. They will have to be taken in to other households. There is no reason that we can not adopt at least one."
"Oh! That is terrible!" Shang gasped with wide eyes at the thought. "I am so sorry, Shan Yu!"
"Yes, it is a sad thing, my love. But if I may help them and bring you joy in the doing, then it is good."
Shang turned in his embrace, facing him when he straddled his lap, staring down at him with expressive, sad eyes. "War is a terrible thing, Shan Yu. Despite what we tell our soldiers. It takes fathers from their children. From their wives and husbands. Tears blossoming lovers apart. It is hateful and cold."
"Yes. It is. But you will not lose me, Shang. I have already decided I will never march to war, nor from my homeland, again. Regardless of who asks it of me. I will find another way to support us. Perhaps as a hunter. I am quite skilled at that."
"That is good," Shang replied, melting against him with clear relief. "I am grateful. I do not think I could handle being a soldier's husband. The constant anxiety whenever you left would be too much for me. I would fear I would never see you again."
Shan Yu smiled, his strong arms surrounding Shang, large palms sliding up over his back and along his spine from the base to relax him further. "You will never get rid of me, Shang. You are mine."
"Yes.." Shang replied, his voice low and breathless as he gazed down into his husband's dark eyes. "I am yours. And you are mine, Shan Yu."
They kissed then, their mouths drawn together, Shang moaning softly into the contact as his arms came up to wrap around the Hun's lower torso, his eyes going hazy with clear desire. "Sh-Shan Yu!" Shang panted when the kiss was reluctantly ended for the sake of breathing. "Please.. I need you to make love to me!"
"Mmm. As you wish, my Shang," Shan Yu growled, his big hands going to his Chinaman's waist now.
Shang gasped softly, his eyes going wide with his surprise as slightly cooler air caressed his ass when Shan Yu abruptly yanked down his pants in one impossibly smooth motion, exposing Shang to his knees beneath their blankets.
Shan Yu smiled in response to Shang's reaction, using the time while he was briefly distracted to moisten one large finger with his own saliva. He then slipped it quickly into Shang's back portal, smirking with amusement and pleasure when his lover cried out helplessly.
Shang cried aloud and tossed his dark haired head back, unable to hold the sound inside when Shan Yu pushed a slick finger into him from behind, his body visibly shaking as he accepted the intimate touch willingly. "Ohhh! Shan Yu! Yes, stretch me, in me!"
Shan Yu grinned slightly, pleased and turned on by his lover's eager little cries of pleasure and joy, slowly adding a second finger beside the first one.
Shang jerked and whimpered in reaction, his eyes pleading for more as he stared down into his husband's dark orbs while Shan Yu's thick, wet digits played masterfully deep in his ass, carefully opening him for his love.
"Ohhhh, Shan Yu, yes!" Shang nearly sobbed, his hips shifting unconsciously, needily back into his lover's touch. "I love you so much! In me, please!"
Shan Yu growled, low and deep, his expression lustful and pleased as he looked back into Shang's somewhat unfocused gaze while slipping a third finger inside him. Only then did he withdraw his fingers from Shang's beautiful body, rolling them both so that he lay on his back beneath Shan Yu.
Shang shivered and arched up against him, twining his arms around the bigger man's neck, clinging to him, spreading his legs when Shan Yu yanked his pants all the way off and tossed them aside.
Then he removed his own pants, throwing them with Shang's before leaning down to kiss him while his Chinaman's legs came up to loosely encircle his hips.
They kissed eagerly, holding onto each other tightly in that small cave, their kiss pausing for only a moment while Shan Yu slicked himself up and then pushed, gliding slowly into him.
Shang gasped into Shan Yu's mouth, moaning softly as his lover claimed his body once more for their mutual pleasure. Shan Yu kissed him back with another hungry growl, gradually speeding up his thrusts until Shang began to quiver and pant, calling out his name passionately while sweat rose on their heated flesh.
"Shan Yu! Harder, please! L-Love me harder!"
Shan Yu grunted in wordless agreement, pulling reluctantly from his body and flipping Shang to his belly, jerking him up to his hands and knees while slipping his large left hand beneath his husband's shirt.
Shang cried out when Shan Yu's hot, sword-callused fingers played with his left nipple for a moment before his hard cock was shoving back inside his entrance and hammering him hard from behind.
Surprisingly, Shan Yu came first with a loud groan, filling Shang with his hot seed and causing him to come as well, arching his back with a loud, joyful cry, his slim hips pumping hard several times as he released over the blankets beneath them.
Shang then sighed quietly, slumping down tiredly onto his belly on the blankets, closing his eyes and smiling contentedly. His head was tilted to the side, his eyes open again and watching as Shan Yu cleaned them both up before laying down on his back and lifting Shang up onto his broad chest to cradle him there tenderly.
"Mmmm, thank you. That was wonderful. Night, Shan Yu. I love you," Shang whispered, placing his head on his husband's chest and slipping his arms around him tightly.
Shan Yu slid his muscular arms around him in return, causing Shang's heart to quiver and melt in his chest when the big man placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Shan Yu then got up to add wood to the fire, returning to Shang's arms and pulling the blankets over them both securely to ward off the cold as they settled down for the night to sleep. "And I love you, Shang. Sleep well, my husband."