Chapter 62
In the bathroom, steam drifted everywhere, thick white mist hanging in the air like floating clouds or a gauzy veil that blurred the view.
Inside the nearly enclosed shower stall, Xie Ning was burning up. He had just reached to push the glass door open a little to let in some fresh, cool air, when he immediately shut it again. Pei Zhi caught his hand and held it tightly in his own.
From behind, Pei Zhi wrapped him in his arms and kissed him deeply.
The scorching embrace around him felt like a cage, trapping both Xie Ning’s body and his reason. Pressed against the wall and kissed until he could barely think, he tried to push Pei Zhi away, but Pei Zhi held him firmly by the waist, leaving him nowhere to go.
Their lips and tongues tangled together, the sounds between them soft, wet, and intimate.
“Mm—”
The kiss suddenly deepened. Xie Ning wanted to pull away, and this time Pei Zhi finally gave him a little room to breathe. Water from the shower streamed over them, and though his lips were no longer pinned beneath another kiss, his body was still held securely in Pei Zhi’s arms.
Pei Zhi’s embrace always carried a suffocating intensity, as if he wanted to fuse them into one.
“Baby,” Pei Zhi said, his voice low and hoarse beneath the rush of the shower. He kissed away the tears at the corners of Xie Ning’s eyes and murmured, “Does your head feel dizzy?”
Xie Ning slowly lifted his lashes, looking up at him with unfocused, watery eyes. His mind lagged behind, only managing to process the question after a beat, and then he shook his head.
“No.”
He was not dizzy.
He just could not quite recover.
He had once thought that, if he kissed Pei Zhi enough, his skin-hunger syndrome would gradually get used to the comfort kissing brought him. But he had not expected that the feeling could keep building rather than fading. It did not lessen with repetition.
After going some time without kissing Pei Zhi, being suddenly pulled into such a deep kiss now sent a current racing from his spine to the crown of his head, leaving him lightheaded and floating.
“Good,” Pei Zhi murmured. “That’s good.”
His rough thumb pressed lightly against Xie Ning’s lower lip, teasing it down. He leaned in and kissed him again, then said softly, “If you do start to feel dizzy, tell me. Understand?”
Xie Ning did not answer. Instead, he turned his head away, trying to avoid another kiss.
Pei Zhi did not like being avoided, and he liked it even less when Xie Ning showed resistance. One hand came through the hazy curtain of steam and caught his chin, turning his face back toward him.
He lowered his head and slowly took Xie Ning’s lips again, his tongue tracing over them with deliberate care. Then, just as suddenly, he became fierce, kissing harder, more insistently, until Xie Ning trembled beneath the intensity of it.
With skin-hunger syndrome, Xie Ning was far too sensitive for that kind of treatment.
His eyes squeezed shut. A faint flush spread across his lids, and moisture gathered at the corners, as if he might cry at any moment.
Pei Zhi held his face, kissing him while watching every reaction. Xie Ning’s usually cool, controlled expression was gone now, replaced by confusion and helpless softness, and the sight made Pei Zhi lose what little restraint he still had.
He kissed him harder.
At the same time, a familiar stream of thoughts slipped into Xie Ning’s mind.
My wife is so good…
Why is he even sticking his tongue out for me like this?
His voice is so sweet. His expression is so beautiful.
Why is he crying?
Did I kiss him too hard? I probably did. Otherwise why would he be tearing up? Or maybe it’s his skin-hunger syndrome making him cry? He used to cry before too, but not this quickly.
The corners of his eyes are wet. What about everywhere else?
I should check.
Pei Zhi really was a little worried. He knew he had kissed too fiercely today, and for all his desire, he did not want to truly overwhelm Xie Ning.
But once he checked, he froze.
He had expected resistance. He had thought it would be difficult, that it would take more patience and time. But everything had been far easier than expected.
He realized why almost immediately.
The shower water had not been turned up high, but his entire hand was damp, and the slick warmth only kept increasing. The realization made his throat go dry. He even had the absurd thought that he ought to fetch a cup before any of it went to waste.
Then he looked at Xie Ning again.
Xie Ning seemed dazed, almost blank, his whole expression stunned and unfocused. After a particularly deep kiss, he often entered this sort of hazy, overloaded state. It was unbelievably endearing.
Trying to act calm, Pei Zhi secretly pressed in a little farther, checking again, even though he already knew the answer.
He should have stopped there.
But seeing Xie Ning’s faintly furrowed brows, the way he looked confused, overwhelmed, and yet unable to reject any of it, made Pei Zhi lose that intention immediately. Especially when Xie Ning was so warm, so soft, and seemed to instinctively cling to him.
He could not bear to stop.
Not knowing what exactly Pei Zhi had touched, Xie Ning suddenly slipped on the wet floor, and a fragile sound escaped his throat. His whole body pitched forward into Pei Zhi’s arms, and with his legs unsteady, he could only lean against him for support.
His shoulder blades showed sharply beneath damp skin, and the line of his back and waist curved in a way that made him look even more slender.
Pei Zhi swallowed hard.
From this angle, he could see everything too clearly.
Xie Ning’s skin was pale, and now it was streaked with pink, his entire body flushed warm and soft under the mist and water.
When Xie Ning instinctively lifted his head, Pei Zhi lowered his own and kissed him again.
This kiss was even rougher. One hand held him upright; the other tightened possessively as he kissed him and watched him, his eyes shamelessly trailing lower in the process.
A sheen of moisture glimmered there. He brushed his thumb across it, but no matter how he tried, it only seemed to gather more.
Kissing him all the while, Pei Zhi leaned lower, as if simply following instinct, and the wet sounds of kissing blended with the soft hiss of water.
At some point, he reached out and turned off the shower, afraid of wasting water, though the faucet still dripped.
When he finally let Xie Ning breathe, Xie Ning looked utterly dazed, his lips parted, saliva still clinging at the corners of his mouth, his whole body flushed and trembling.
Pei Zhi crouched half-kneeling on the wet tile floor and stared, breathing hard. His expression was almost unnervingly calm, as though he were studying some difficult and important problem.
The scent in the air was thick and sweet, and he leaned closer, inhaling deeply.
He had known where that sweetness came from all along.
It was Xie Ning.
It was the scent that drove him mad.
He could not stop himself from drawing closer, wanting to take in every trace of it. The richer the scent became, the more ravenous he felt.
As if he wanted to devour Xie Ning whole.
The shower stall had gone nearly silent, except for the occasional drip of water from the shut-off showerhead.
The crystal droplets hit the tile with light, clear sounds.
Xie Ning was still unsteady, barely able to remain standing.
“Since you can’t stand properly…” Pei Zhi’s thumb rubbed slowly over his ankle, his tone low and coaxing as he looked up at him. “Then sit on me.”
