Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Enjoy this next, spicier chapter :)
- Chapter Start -
Yang WuXie had had a few hours' to prepare for this moment. It didn't matter, his heart still raced in his chest when he got to his feet and his hand still trembled when he rested it on Su MengZhen's shoulder.
While the three prostrations ceremony was usually performed before witnesses, the gift of a hairpin was more often a private and intimate ritual between newlyweds. When Su MengZhen gave Yang WuXie the green hairpin in their rooms, no one was any the wiser until they saw it in his hair the next morning.
Yang WuXie didn't mind Liu LianXin's presence since it was thanks to her that he had anything of value to give Su MengZhen, let alone a token so meaningful and precious. What he did mind was that this ceremony was no longer a private one.
The servants waiting outside must have spread the word because every single guard, officer and maid were now crowded at the opened windows of the dining hall. Their eyes were wide and their smiles even wider, all of them agog to see him make a fool of himself.
Why was this even interesting to them?!
"A-Xie, would you prefer a more private venue?" Su MengZhen turned to look up at him, face solemn.
"They're already here. I can't chase them away," Yang WuXie grumbled, knowing that Su MengZhen loved the extra attention. Sure enough, his husband grinned up at him.
"That's the brave Military Advisor I married."
Yang WuXie huffed.
"He's also shaking in his boots if you didn't already know that."
Su MengZhen's eyes twinkled as he reached up to pat the hand on his shoulder.
"That just makes you even braver."
Yang WuXie huffed again, but in amusement this time. He couldn't help it.
"You say the most ridiculous things," he scolded.
"I only speak the truth," Su MengZhen assured him. "Now, let's not keep everyone waiting."
Nodding, Yang WuXie reached for Su MengZhen's hair clasp and paused.
"By the way, where did you get this?"
"I don't remember. Probably from the same market you did, too long ago." The wry amusement in Su MengZhen's voice made Yang WuXie smile.
"May I remove it?"
"Please do."
If Yang WuXie hoped that their brief dialogue would at least steady his hands, he was disappointed. His fingers shook just as much as he unclasped the brass ring and removed it. Long dark hair tumbled down, vibrant and healthy, like their owner. Before Yang WuXie could stop himself, he bent down to inhale that oh so familiar scent of his best friend and now husband.
"Your hair looks better now," he remarked.
Su MengZhen gave him a wink over his shoulder.
"As does the rest of me, right?"
Pressing his lips together, Yang WuXie paid no mind to the deep chuckle that followed. He combed his fingers through Su MengZhen's hair and made a note to comb it properly later. Not that it needed the attention, but because he wanted to. Gathering up a few locks, he carefully coiled them around his fingers only to mutter a curse when they slipped free.
"Take your time, A-Xie. You can play with my hair as long as you like."
"No because we're still in the dining hall and everyone is - ah, got it!" Yang WuXie's second attempt met with success.
"Ow."
"Sorry! Was I too..." Yang WuXie trailed off at the slight shaking of those broad, red clad shoulders. A quick glance at Liu LianXin with her fingers over her mouth confirmed his suspicions and he scowled, giving Su MengZhen's shoulder a shove.
"I don't know why I thought that would hurt," he scolded. "You dug the tip of your sword in your thigh to remove a poisoned dart that day and didn't even flinch!"
"This is different," Su MengZhen said. He didn't turn around, but the smug grin in his voice was evident.
Shaking his head, Yang WuXie tried again. This time, he managed to coil a few locks of hair neatly on Su MengZhen's head. Without a word, the red hairpin was held aloft in a steady hand. Yang WuXie took it, their fingers brushing, and wished his own were as steady.
Taking a deep breath, he carefully slid the hairpin into place and released it.
There.
Done.
Perfect.
"How do I look?" Su MengZhen asked, turning to look up at him again.
Yang WuXie was right. The row of tiny flowers along the pin only enhanced Su MengZhen's handsomeness. In fact, he looked-
"Beautiful," Yang WuXie declared before his brain caught up and his eyes widened in horror. Oh Gods, he had just called Su MengZhen, Sunset Drizzle House Master and the greatest swordsman alive (except for YBY) beautiful!
Right on cue, applause and cheers erupted. Yang WuXie blushed to the roots of his hair and hid his face in his hands, but warm fingers closed around his wrists and pulled them down. Su MengZhen stood before him, smiling with bright eyes.
"Thank you, A-Xie. I will treasure this gift all my life."
"You're wel - mph!" Yang WuXie managed just before he was kissed to the sound of even more cheers.
- o -
Yang WuXie couldn't recall much of the trip back to their rooms. He remembered a teary eyed Liu LianXin thanking them and bidding them goodnight before he was pulled through a crowd of happy faces and applause, and down a few corridors which were as familiar as the back of his hand. There was the closing of a door and blessed silence... which only lasted a second before he was spun around, pushed against said door and kissed again, Su MengZhen bracketing him with the muscled heat of his body.
"My beloved," Su MengZhen said when they finally broke for air, "I still can't believe you gave me this hairpin in front of everyone."
"That wasn't part of the plan," Yang WuXie protested, flushed all over with tingling lips. "And don't remind me."
"You didn't just hand it to me, you even placed it in my hair in front of everyone."
Yang WuXie shoved at his shoulder.
"I said, don't remind me!"
Laughing, Su MengZhen stole another kiss from him.
"I could shout it from the rooftops! In fact, I should."
The sight of Su MengZhen turning away from him with that determined air made Yang WuXie lunge forward to grab his arm in a panic.
"You will do no such thing! Su MengZhen, you're the House Master, not some... some teenager with a crush!"
Su MengZhen turned back to him with a smile so joyful that Yang WuXie felt himself melting.
"You're right, A-Xie. I'm not a teen with a crush. I'm a man who's fallen in love with my best friend and husband all over again."
"You - you can't just - ahh, come here," Yang WuXie choked out as his eyes watered again.
Su MengZhen was only too happy to oblige and kissed him again and again.
"Come to bed," he muttered in between kisses. "I want to love you."
"But we haven't-"
"Whatever it is can wait." Yang WuXie was tugged over to the bed.
"We're still dressed-"
"I'll take care of it." He was pushed onto his back.
"Our hair is still up-"
"Later."
He was kissed again and again while clever hands made short work of untying his sash and parting his robes. Then Su MengZhen stopped devouring his mouth and trailed his lips down Yang WuXie's neck and chest, pausing to nibble at the two nipples he found.
"A-Zhen!" Yang WuXie was already half hard and the attention to his nipples made him harder still... until Su MengZhen's kisses trailed lower, causing his stomach muscles to quiver.
"A-Zhen, wait!" Yang WuXie struggled onto his elbows. "You're not going to-" He broke off with relief when his trousers were pulled down and a strong hand gripped his flesh. Then Su MengZhen looked up and Yang WuXie stopped breathing.
"A-Xie, do you want... more?"
Yang WuXie blinked.
"More?"
Su MengZhen demonstrated what he meant, bending to lick the rosy head peeking out between his thumb and index finger.
"Hah!" Yang WuXie exhaled on a gasp, a shudder rippling up his spine and down his legs, turning them to water. "A-Zhen!"
"May I?" Su MengZhen's smile was charming, loving and downright deadly.
Yang WuXie squirmed on the bed, arousal trapped in a firm grip, face hot enough to cook an egg.
"I - if you... really want to," he managed.
"I do," Su MengZhen assured him with an emphatic nod.
Yang WuXie stared open mouthed as his husband put action to words again and wrapped his lips around him. He thought he couldn't get any harder, but his flesh twitched and swelled. Releasing him with a succulent sound, Su MengZhen grinned.
"You feel like a young man," he said.
"Well, I'm not so enjoy it while it lasts," Yang WuXie grumbled. "Wait - have you ever...?"
"Of course I haven't so please excuse any mistakes." Su MengZhen bent over his task once more and proved again that experienced or not, he was a master of everything.
Yang WuXie groaned at the moist heat surrounding him. Then he froze, head jerking up when something wet circled his entrance. No one else had ever touched him there before. He stared at Su MengZhen, chest heaving, muscles locked tight.
Sword.
Scabbard.
One into the other.
Yang WuXie felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped on him. He wasn't ready for this next step, but he also knew he couldn't deny Su MengZhen anything. Not his heart nor his life nor his body nor his soul.
"Don't look like that," Su MengZhen chided. To his credit, he stopped pumping Yang WuXie otherwise he wouldn't be able to focus on his words. "I know your uhm... scabbard isn't ready for my sword yet."
Yang WuXie nodded.
"But perhaps it can accommodate my finger?"
Yang WuXie nodded again. That was still intimidating and embarrassing - why would anyone even want to - good thing he had bathed before dinner - but it was... acceptable.
"Alright. Ahh!"
Without fear nor hesitation, Su MengZhen pushed his finger in until it was knuckle deep.
"Does it hurt?"
Yang WuXie shook his head.
"No, but it feels - unh..."
That finger had gone in even deeper, causing Yang WuXie's thighs to quiver. The intrusion felt strange, but it didn't feel... bad. He nodded at Su MengZhen's enquiring look and found his eyes fluttering shut when he was fisted with that same, slow rhythm as that finger moving in and out.
It felt good... oddly good... until it didn't because it stung.
"Ow!" Yang WuXie jerked upright, accidentally impaling himself further still on - wait. Two fingers?!
"Sorry." Su MengZhen removed them, lips tightening. "I got carried away."
Wetting his lips, Yang WuXie made his decision.
"Maybe... some oil?"
"On it!" Su MengZhen practically flew across the room to grab one of the bottles of hair oil on the vanity table. He was back on the bed and between Yang WuXie's legs before the latter could even blink.
"Just fingers," Yang WuXie cautioned him hurriedly.
"Just fingers," Su MengZhen assured him. "Relax."
"Alright." Breathing in the scent of jasmine, Yang WuXie tried to do just that. Well, as much as a forty five year old virgin could. It helped that Su MengZhen was giving him that hopelessly soft smile, the one that made Yang WuXie wonder once again, just what it was that he saw in him.
When oiled fingers pushed in again, Yang WuXie gritted his teeth and shifted his thighs wider apart. Su MengZhen rewarded him with a smile and a tender kiss on his stomach. It quivered happily and Yang WuXie bit his lip in embarrassment.
"You're soft here," Su MengZhen told him with a crooked grin. "I like it."
"You're just saying that," Yang WuXie grumbled, gaze skittering away.
"Look at me, A-Xie."
Yang WuXie complied.
"Trust me, I like it. Now, don't look away," Su MengZhen told him and set to work in earnest.
"Ahh!" Yang WuXie's hips jerked when those buried fingers brushed up against something, sending a bolt of lightning up his spine.
"Good? Not good?" Su MengZhen stopped at once.
"Good. Again," Yang WuXie managed and blushed again when Su MengZhen smiled. Oh, he knew that smile. Su MengZhen was going to hoard this knowledge like a-
Yang WuXie's thoughts splintered when those two fingers teased him again and again, sending electrifying tingles of pleasure up his spine.
"A-Zhen. A-Zhen, I'm close..." His body was tight with familiar tension and his hands shook as he grabbed the sheets.
"Just let it happen," Su MengZhen advised him and upped his pace.
"A-Zhen!" Yang WuXie came with a shout, eyes squeezing shut and body clenching hard on those clever fingers. His hips bucked and he spilled all over his stomach, trembling under the force of his orgasm.
Breathless laughter rang out as those fingers withdrew and Su MengZhen shifted up to kiss his forehead. Yang WuXie opened bleary eyes, still trying to catch his breath as his husband smiled down at him.
"You came on just my fingers," Su MengZhen declared with a proud grin.
Groaning, Yang WuXie hid his face in his hands.
- Chapter End -
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it :)