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It felt so natural to leap into Hua Cheng's arms and wrap all four limbs around him. The familiar sound of soft laughter in his ear eased a year's worth of loneliness in an instant. It felt so natural to bury his face into that slender neck, cool against his hot skin, and lock his ankles together when Hua Cheng spun them around and around in the lantern light. It felt natural to breathe in the scent of him, reacquaint himself with the feel of sleek muscle lining a willowy figure, the tinkling of silver jewelry as he was carried inside. It felt natural to be too distracted with pressing kisses to every part of the Ghost King he could reach to notice that Ruoye and E-Ming released themselves from their master's bodies to stay outside and tend to the ox that had been left befuddled.

It felt natural, above all, to be laid down onto the bed and to pull the Ghost King down with him. Natural to gasp into the other's mouth at how good it felt to be pressed into the body on top of him. Xie Lian ran his hands over the other's slender back and welcomed the tongue in his mouth with his own.

Despite the god's best efforts, Hua Cheng pulled away after a moment, dropping a placating kiss on the tip of his nose while he brought his hands up to stroke Xie Lian's cheeks. "Why are you crying, Gege," he murmured, a faint but dazzling grin on his face and evident in his voice. "Did you miss me?"

Xie Lian blinked a few times, feeling the weight of tears on his eyelashes, and belatedly realized he had been sobbing for a while now. "Yes," his voice was raw and choked already. "I missed San Lang so much."

Hua Cheng beamed, fingers still gentling away each tear as it escaped. "But I kept my promise. Didn't you believe me?"

Xie Lian swallowed and nodded. "I always believed. But I was lonely without you... Promise me you won't ever leave again. Not without me..."

Letting out a breath, Hua Cheng closed his eye just as Xie Lian saw it begin to shimmer and leaned back down to press their foreheads together. "I promise."

Satisfied, Xie Lian sniffled and held his beloved close. It felt so right, so natural, to be here like this. A year ago he would have been flustered and embarrassed, laying in bed with his legs wrapped tight around another person, but now...

Before he could think any further, Hua Cheng was pulling back again, gently unwinding Xie Lian's legs and kneeling before him. As the god sat up to follow him, Hua Cheng took both his hands and pressed tender, lingering kisses to them, his worshipful posture reminding Xie Lian of the days he was nameless and wore a smiling mask. When he looked up to meet his god's eyes, his expression was so warm it made Xie Lian's breath catch.

"You've built such a beautiful home, Gege," he said, just as warmly, voice intimately quiet.

"Did you find it easily?" Xie Lian asked, matching his volume.

"I will always find you."

Deep in Xie Lian's heart, the very last thread of self-doubt snapped with decisive finality. Without breaking eye contact, he took back his hands and reached for the belt of his robes.

Hua Cheng's eye widened but similarly did not look away as the belt was removed and discarded beside the bed. His mouth opened slightly as Xie Lian slipped both his inner and outer robes off his shoulders, down his arms, and then they too joined the belt on the floor. When he reached for the ties of his pants, however, Hua Cheng sucked in a short breath and spoke up haltingly.

"Gege... Are you sure? Your vows..."

In answer, Xie Lian resolutely slid out of the last of his clothes and knelt there in the glow of the lanterns coming through the windows, hiding neither his blush nor his arousal, awash in the sensation of such vulnerability and such safety.

Was it a trick of the light, or did a shiver travel down Hue Cheng's back? The Ghost King was otherwise still as stone, wide eye not once daring to leave his god's face. Xie Lian met his gaze levelly, patient as he watched his decision slowly sink in. Carefully, so carefully, Hua Cheng reached out a hand, and the tips of his fingers brushed ever so lightly across Xie Lian's collarbone, coming to rest over his sternum where the diamond ring hung for just a second before retreating.

"You're trembling-"

Xie Lian caught his wrist and pulled him back to rest his palm on the center of his chest, then holding it there. "I'm nervous," he admitted. "But not afraid. I... I've thought it over a lot, San Lang, and I... I really want this. I can cultivate a different path. I want to feel you, and touch you, and- and become one with you! San Lang, make love with me-"

Almost before he could finish speaking, Hua Cheng had lurched forward and sealed their mouths back together. Both hands now met on Xie Lian's skin, sliding down to feel the dips and curves of his waist, his hips, leaving fire in their wake.

They parted, breathless, and this time Xie Lian made no protest when Hua Cheng leaned back, because now his eye was following the path his hands had taken, and Xie Lian could swear he felt the gaze like a physical touch. Unable to look away, he watched the mixture of awe and desire dilate that single pupil until it was impossible to tell the difference between it and his iris. It sparked a memory, that same eye peering out from a small, bandaged face, on this very day more than 800 years ago. A look so intense it was eery, every last detail absorbed and committed to memory with such accuracy that the mind behind it could perfectly recreate his appearance in solid stone for nearly a millennium.

Now it was Xie Lian's turn to shiver, but he did not try to cover himself, nor look away, no matter how far down that eye traveled. As many reservations as he had about himself, whether anything about him was as desirable as Hua Cheng seemed to think, he could not doubt the hunger heating up the blackness of the Ghost King's eye like a coal in the fire. If Hua Cheng wanted him, he had him.

At last, their eyes met again, and the heat the god was met with left him breathless. Hua Cheng's hands tightened where they had come to rest at his hips, and gently, effortlessly, he guided Xie Lian to lay down once more.

Xie Lian wrapped his arms around the other's shoulders as he came back to hover over him. Hua Cheng kissed him slowly, hands roaming up and down his sides almost too lightly, and Xie Lian squirmed in an attempt to feel more pressure. He could feel Hua Cheng smile against his lips as he avoided every move, keeping up the tortuously soft touch as he continued exploring.

When one hand came up to his chest, Xie Lian gasped as his nipple was brushed against. The sudden expansion of his chest caused that nipple to press up into Hua Cheng's palm, who rewarded it with a small, circular rub that left Xie Lian keening.

"Ah," Hua Cheng breathed, sounding as though he had discovered something valuable. Focusing his attention there, his long fingers began to toy with the small nub that was already hard and pebbled. He tilted it one way, then the other, circled it with a fingertip, then tapped it a few times.

Xie Lian whimpered, confusion and unexpectedly intense sensation leaving him dizzy. "S-San Lang!" he gasped, "wh... I don't... How are you doing that?" Although he hardly hated the touch, his body already felt overstimulated and kept trying to twist away, to no avail.

"Doing what, Gege?" Hua Cheng glanced up at him with a boyishly wicked grin. "Does this feel good?" Watching Xie Lian's face closely for reactions, he used his thumb and index finger to pinch the nipple and roll it back and forth, and it was as though a lightning bolt directly connected his tormented flesh to the pressure building between his legs, lighting them both up with white-hot pleasure.

Xie Lian's head snapped back with a yelp that turned to a pitiful wail as his body's jerking made Hua Cheng's grip tighten and pull, which encouraged the devious ghost to continue that manner of stimulation while his baffled victim hid his face behind his own arms, mortified.

"How are you making it so sensitive there?!" Xie Lian whined in distress. "It's never... felt like this before...?!"

Hua Cheng looked ready to spend the rest of the night thoroughly exploring just this aspect of his wriggling lover's body, grinning shamelessly as he watched the dark flesh redden under his ministrations. "Oh? Have you done this before to yourself, Gege?"

"N-No!!" Xie Lian peered through his arms at the man above him, 800 years of strict celibacy rearing up suddenly and almost making him feel affronted at the insinuation. "I never?! B-but this is..! I mean..!"

Hua Cheng laughed heartily and finally had mercy on the stammering virgin. Releasing the nipple in question, he tilted his head to maneuver under the arms shielding a starkly blushing face to peck a kiss against his lips. "My Gege... So cute!"

"San Lang..."

Another kiss was planted in the dip between Xie Lian's collarbones, then lower, and lower still. "Gege's body responds so sweetly to me, how can I resist?"

Xie Lian was trying to catch his breath when he realized the steady path of kisses Hua Cheng was on would take that sly mouth straight to his other nipple, and in a panic, he automatically reached down to grasp the man's head. "S-San Lang?!"

His frantic attempts to pull Hua Cheng's mouth away were fruitless and met only with a truly devilish chuckle. Soon enough, Xie Lian's strength was sapped by the electricity of tongue and teeth and merciless suction taking him apart in a most unexpected way. Never had he thought twice about nipples as a place of pleasure, or anything really, with regards to a man's. His face burned with shame, but he could not stop helplessly writhing as he resisted the urge to reach down and provide his throbbing cock... something. Whatever it was silently demanding.

Without realizing it, Xie Lian heard his own voice, pathetically weak and high-pitched, call out for his lover yet again. At last, Hua Cheng released his nipple with one last tease, blowing a breath of chill air onto the wet flesh just to hear the whimper it evoked.

"Forgive this one's eagerness, Gege," he said without a single trace of contrition. "But the taste of you has me addicted already."

Xie Lian swallowed the urge to whine. "San Lang..."

Hua Cheng reached up to stroke his cheek. "I know," he soothed. "I'll take care of you properly, now." His next kiss was planted just beneath Xie Lian's ribs, open-mouthed with a brief stroke of his tongue. Another was placed below that, and then another. Xie Lian gasped loudly when his navel was kissed in the same way, tickling and pleasuring almost too much, and he could not stifle an almost hysterical giggle. Hua Cheng acknowledged it by way of adding a playful nip to the edge before continuing down.

Still catching his breath after the siege to his chest, Xie Lian's brain was slow to notice the Hua Cheng had settled himself between his thighs, which had fallen open at some point, and the Ghost King's sly mouth seemed to have every intention to keep going despite already being in very close proximity to Xie Lian's erection.

Alarmed, Xie Lian lifted his head to inquire just what the other was planning to do, but all thoughts flew from his mind when he saw that at some point, Hua Cheng had silently and instantly willed away every scrap of clothing and jewelry he once wore, except his eye-patch and the red pearl in his hair. The Ghost King now was on his elbows and knees between the god's legs, ivory skin aglow in the low light of ascending lanterns and moonlight from the window. His single eye watched -and seemed to have been watching for some time- Xie Lian's face even as his own hovered close to the cock beneath him. Suggestively close. The faint smile on those lips, slightly parted and shining with saliva already, were even more suggestive.

Xie Lian's mouth dried up in an instant, and he froze in place, unable to look away even as his mind was in a blind panic from the overwhelming vision his lover made. He tried to speak, but neither words nor sound made it out of him.

Slowly, Hua Cheng lowered his gaze to the shaft below, hunger and admiration evident in the long look he gave it. He brought his hand up to slip behind it, not yet touching, but as if to frame it. Then, so slowly, and while looking back up to make sure the other was watching, he lowered his head, reached out his tongue, and slid it along the underside from base to tip.

A choked, guttural sound escaped Xie Lian, and his cock twitched and throbbed against Hua Cheng's lips. He clapped his hand over his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head rapidly as embarrassment and desire bowled him over.

"Trust me, Gege," he heard murmured against the skin of his most sensitive place, soft lips going on to lay a line of feather-light kisses back down the path his tongue had taken.

Xie Lian was left panting and shuddering already, and with no small amount of dismay he noticed a bead of clear liquid gathering at the tip of his throbbing cock. After more than 800 years of having a god's digestive system turn everything he ate into pure energy in his stomach, he had mostly forgotten what it was like to have any need for this part of his anatomy at all, so the sight of this new substance alarmed him a little. Even without the vague sense that it might be dirty, he had heard crude men make enough threats amongst each other regarding this very act to have the impression that it was only pleasant for the receiving party. "S-San Lang," he gasped, thighs automatically closing around the other's shoulders. "You d-don't… I don't… I'm n..nn..not..!"

Hua Cheng showed no interest in letting up his sweet torture, having now continued down to Xie Lian's balls and laving them with his tongue, feeling every responding twitch from the cock resting on his palm. When he took the soft, delicate flesh in his mouth, the half-formed argument was as good as lost; Xie Lian collapsed back onto the bed with a broken sob and more shrill keening, using both hands to cover his mouth in vain.

Growling in protest, (and to delight in the violent shudder the vibration then sent up Xie Lian's spine) Hua Cheng freed his mouth to look back up at his lover with sour expression. "Gege," he chided. "Don't cover your mouth, I want to hear you."

Xie Lian only shook his head, eyes shut tight.

Hua Cheng contemplated this problem for a moment before shifting to lay flat on his stomach and sliding his arms under Xie Lian's legs, letting his thighs come to rest on his shoulders. Then he reached up and tugged at Xie Lian's forearms until at last they came away and he could join hands and link their fingers together. Satisfied with the grip he had on them, Hua Cheng turned his attention back to the feast before him.

Xie Lian had only just opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling, trying to resign himself to the Ghost King's whims, when without warning the head of his cock was suddenly engulfed in a warm, wet mouth that wasted no time in sucking tight and deep. A scream tore out of his throat, and his back snapped into an arch so hard he thought it might break. The pleasure was so white-hot and intense it was almost painful, and his feet scrabbled uselessly against the bamboo mat.

Every passing second punched the air from his lungs anew, and his entire nervous system pulsed, aflame with the entirely foreign sensations. Hua Cheng's tongue was stroking, rubbing, spreading thick, warm saliva before he sucked again and his mouth became an air-tight seal, pulling Xie Lian deeper. When the tip reached the back of his throat, he hesitated not a moment before pressing his head forward to take it down until every last inch was inside him, and then swallowing.

Xie Lian was reduced to mindlessness at this point, writhing as much as Hua Cheng's clever hold on him allowed. The blood rushing through his head was like the roar of a waterfall, leaving him deaf to his own cries and the nonsense his mouth spilled forth when he had the breath. This was truly like being struck by lightning, but his body was torn between wanting to escape, to regain control, and basking in the sweet, melting pressure he was distantly aware of in the pit of his stomach.

"It's so much," he was sobbing between the inarticulate sounds. "I can't…It's so much!"

Seeming to only be encouraged by his cries, Hua Cheng showed him no mercy, continuing to swallow hard and bob his head, chasing after the hips squirming beneath him like a starving man finally allowed to feast. When he did pull back, it was only to dip his tongue beneath the foreskin or dig into the glans and slit at the tip before taking it all back in. His god's voice was growing hoarse, strong thighs were clamped tight around his head, and Hua Cheng loved all of it.

Feeling as though he was at the very limits of what his body could take before it burnt itself out, the last sliver of Xie Lian's sanity contemplated praying for the release he knew was supposed to be at the end of this torture, but it felt like he had been on the edge for hours already. His head burned as if with fever, and the telltale numbness of over-stimulation was beginning to creep into his limbs. This precipice he found himself on was frightful, both forward and back equally daunting prospects. He was so close -to what, he knew not- but his body had gone so long without even considering this natural function that it clung to solid ground instinctively, afraid of the unknown.

Hua Cheng was patient, however. He gave no sign of tiring, and kept up his diligent treatment, using spiritual energy to heat up his mouth and throat to better please his lover. Xie Lian's whole body was taut as a primed bowstring now, arched off the bed and trembling with the strain of every tensed muscle. Each time Hua Cheng lowered his head, sucking tight and swallowing again in rhythm, he would nearly flinch with the force of the stimulation rocketing up his spine.

Just as Xie Lian felt pleas for mercy start to rise in his throat, something within the pleasure shifted, loosened, and then an energy he had never felt before began to rush through his body like a flash-flood. Hot and cool all at once, it vibrated down to his core, and he shook violently as if possessed. He could feel a pressure of energy building up like he had not since his first ascension, but his tongue would not cooperate when he tried to warn Hua Cheng. It rushed up and out, encouraged by the suction of the mouth around him and the uncontrollable bucking of his hips, and as Xie Lian's eyes rolled back into his head, the last coherent thought he was capable of wondered if his very soul might be sucked out as well.

High above, in the new Heavenly Capital, a golden bell rang loudly, startling the gods who were still sorting out their emotions over the sight of the thousands of lanterns they knew could only mean one thing.

After several long moments of ecstasy that put the rush of ascending to shame, the force that had taken over his body relinquished, and he collapsed back to the bed, boneless, gasping for air, and covered in a sheen on sweat. In the wake of it all, the warmth in his exhausted body was pleasant and punctuated with little aftershocks.

Opening his eyes and blinking away the tears still clinging to his eyelashes, Xie Lian sluggishly looked down to find Hua Cheng still laying between his legs, now with his head resting on Xie Lian's hip, gazing up at him with an expression that looked as overwhelmingly sated as the god felt.

"San Lang..." Xie Lian murmured, unable to summon the strength to say any more. He untangled one hand from Hua Cheng's and laid it on the man's head affectionately.

"Did Gege enjoy himself?" Hua Cheng grinned cheekily.

Before he could even begin to contemplate an answer to that, or whether an answer was actually needed, it suddenly occurred to Xie Lian that there was no mess on him despite having felt very clearly something coming out of his cock that must have been semen, and that at the time, his hips had taken on a will of their own and been clumsily pumping all of it directly into… His eyes fell upon Hua Cheng's lips, fetchingly red and swollen, and a wave of dizzying embarrassment had him clapping his hands over his face to hide behind.

"San Lang..!" he wailed in pure mortification. "I'm so sorry! I tried to say that I was- that it-! Should I get you water?! Tea?!"

Hua Cheng laughed loud enough to make Xie Lian stop panicking and peek between his fingers. "Gege, don't worry. I've never tasted a finer delicacy." The heat of the sultry expression he gave the god made him close his fingers tight again in a hurry. "Never apologize for giving me this honor."

Unable to stop a small whine from escaping him, Xie Lian took a minute or two to compose himself enough to show his face again, silently grateful that Hua Cheng went back to basking on his hip and allowed him that time. After a few deep, calming breaths, Xie Lian lowered his hands and reached again to stroke Hua Cheng's sleek hair. He was about to finally give his answer to the earlier question when the situation suddenly struck him, and he nearly shot up straight in alarm.

"San Lang! You-! Um..! You haven't yet…I mean…I can..?" He gestured ineffectually, unable to quite work up the nerve to offer to return the favor outright.

Hua Cheng gave him another grin that this time was almost sheepish. "Actually, Gege..." He shifted a little onto his side to reveal smears of white on his chest and stomach as well as the mat beneath them.

"Oh." Xie Lian blinked, half his brain taking in this information, the other half thoroughly distracted by Hua Cheng's naked body, so long and lean and finely chiseled. "Oh?" At last he caught up.

Face burning all over again, the god hesitantly met the Ghost King's eyes. "San Lang…You…just from..?"

Hua Cheng's grin grew. "You are a vision," he purred. "The way you squirm, the sweet sounds you make, how you screamed for me when you came… What more could I need?" As if it was that simple, he shrugged, grabbing a nearby blanket and casually wiping himself and the bamboo mat off.

Xie Lian had already collapsed behind his hands again, curling up into a ball now that his legs were freed, but still melting into Hua Cheng as he laid down next to him. Burying his face against the ghost king's silent chest, he couldn't help but to nuzzle it a bit, the feeling of so much bare skin on skin intimate and wonderful in its newness.

Breathing in deep, he relished Hua Cheng's arms wrapping around him to stroke up and down his back soothingly. "San Lang," he whispered, not wanting to disturb the comfortable silence but needing to speak his mind all the same. "I don't know what I expected, but…I never could have imagined… that…" His face heated up all over again, and he felt his toes curl by themselves.

Hua Cheng chuckled. "It was to Gege's liking?"

Xie Lian could only nod, clinging a little tighter to him.

The Ghost King hummed a pleased sound. "Then this was truly an honor." He kissed the top of Xie Lian's head, the gentle strokes of his hands fading to featherlight fingertips tracing the god's shoulder-blades, spine, down to his hips, then back, traveling ever so slightly farther down with every pass.

The touches left Xie Lian shivering a little, and he realized he could not remember the last time he had felt so much of someone else touching his skin. As a prince still living in the palace, being bathed and massaged by others was simply the norm. When he went to train as a cultivator he only had Mu Qing waiting on him, and he had never asked such things of the boy, limited as their free time was then. It was interesting how now, after an eon of effective isolation, his skin reacted so differently to the touch of another than to his own. It felt good, but he could sense an unconscious instinct deep down that wanted to flinch away even now, just as his body had shied from orgasm. He found himself wondering if Hua Cheng was the same, and experimentally mimicked the soft caresses with the hand he already had around the other's back.

His daring was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath, and a shiver like his own. Emboldened, he continued, stroking up the nape of Hua Cheng's neck and then following the slope of one shoulder before crossing over to the other.

"Gege…" Hua Cheng whispered. His fingertips were close to the base of Xie Lian's spine now, and on their next trip down he slid them along the curve of his backside to his thigh.

Gasping in surprise and an unexpected resurgence of pleasure, Xie Lian hooked his leg up over Hua Cheng's hip, allowing him more room to touch. Similarly, he trailed his hand down over the other's ribs, impulsively seeking out somewhere sensitive as well.

Hua Cheng cupped the back of Xie Lian's thigh when it was offered up so eagerly and arched his back with another shiver. He moaned into the god's hair, holding him even tighter now with his other arm. As their bodies pressed close enough that now not even air could fit between them, Xie Lian could feel the evidence of their mutual renewed interest in doing more than just cuddling. He was already having to bite his lip against the needy sounds in his throat as Hua Cheng indulged in the excessively soft, excessively sensitive skin of his inner thigh. Deciding the Ghost King had won this unspoken battle of bold exploration, Xie Lian went back to clinging and pressed a kiss to the chest before him. Hua Cheng may have been single-mindedly devoted to him for just as long as he was celibate, but he had clearly done his research on the ways of intimacy.

As if to prove his point, Xie Lian could not hold back a whimper as Hua Cheng brought the tip of one finger back up to stroke back and forth along the curve of his backside, dangerously close to the apex, and it sent an electric thrill through the god that made him mindlessly nip at the pectoral he had just been kissing.

Now it was Hua Cheng's turn to gasp, grabbing a handful of Xie Lian's ass while his hips jerked forward automatically. A stone-still second passed between them in the wake of this chain reaction as they processed what happened.

Letting out a guttural groan, Hua Cheng finally pressed his face into the top of Xie Lian's head. "Gege..." he nearly whined. "You're…the death of me..."

Blinking multiple times to shake himself out of his own brain's fixation on the hand still holding his backside, Xie Lian considered the faint indentations his teeth had left in Hua Cheng's pale skin. The way the other had clutched and thrust against him had sent a spike of arousal almost painful in its intensity slamming into his core like a sucker punch, and dare he say it, he wanted more…

So he tilted his head up to whisper just that into his lover's ear before his mind caught up to him and he lost the nerve.

"San Lang…I want more…"

A single beat of his racing heart seemed to last a full minute of silence and stillness…Then Xie Lian suddenly found himself once again pinned between the bed and the Ghost King, whose eye was alight in a way that left no question of how he felt about providing that "more."

"Yes, Your Highness," he breathed into the space between their lips before quickly closing it.

Xie Lian clung to the shoulders above him as he was kissed with a carnal passion that reminded him of the night Mount TongLu had reopened. More than enthusiastic to relive that experience now that Hua Cheng was in his right mind, he brought up his other leg to be draped over Hua Cheng's hip as well, heels both resting on the small of his back. The Ghost King purred into his mouth at that, and pressed himself down until their cocks were squeezed between their stomachs and against each other.

Moaning, Xie Lian basked in the sensations, so especially pleasant as his body was still relaxed from afterglow. Hua Cheng's hands were stroking the backs of both his thighs now, and his hips nudging down against the other's, slowly, rhythmically; each press fanning the flame in the pit of Xie Lian's stomach higher.

Hua Cheng nibbled his way down his god's jawline to his neck to begin sucking marks into the skin there. Xie Lian tilted his head to give him more space and dug his heels into Hua Cheng's back, pushing up into the other's body as much as he could. Everything was too much and not enough; he needed more, he needed to breathe, to lose himself again, to hold on just a little longer…

"San Lang..." he called breathlessly, and received a low moan in response as Hua Cheng explored the skin beneath his ear. "San Lang… Closer..! I want, I need..!"

"Closer?" Hua Cheng purred directly into his ear, and Xie Lian could not help the way his whole body jerked in response. How was it that he could become so sensitive only with Hua Cheng?! Once again the Ghost King eagerly capitalized on this fact, and continued with his lips brushing against Xie Lian's ear with every word. "What do you want closer?"

Whimpering, Xie Lian's brain felt too scrambled and fixated on every motion of Hua Cheng's body to focus properly on his words, let alone find a way to answer. With the guidance of one of Hua Cheng's hands, his hips were gradually learning how to move in counterpart to the other's, and it was not at all helping him gather his thoughts.

"Gege~" A teasing croon. "Closer…here?" Hua Cheng rubbed their chests, slick with sweat, together so their nipples brushed against one another.

Xie Lian shivered down to his toes, tightening his hold around the other so they stayed like that and leaving him almost completely held up off the mat by Hua Cheng at this point. "No..." he mumbled, shaking his head. "Closer..."

Intrigued, Hua Cheng hummed. "Then closer… here?" The tip of his tongue traced the shell of Xie Lian's ear along every curve, then dipped inside, unperturbed by the wailing and writhing reaction it received immediately.

The god buried his face in Hua Cheng's shoulder. "San Lang!! Closer!"

"Not there either? Then how about..." The hand on his hip slid around to spread out against the small of his back and pressed their lower bodies together even harder as they rocked. "Here?"

Nearly sobbing now, from both pleasure and embarrassment, Xie Lian did not dare pull his face away from Hua Cheng's neck. He could feel how red it was now that he knew there was no getting out of being more explicit with the desire that had kept him awake more than once over the past year he had been thinking about committing to this kind of relationship with the man he loved. But the words, borrowed from half-memories of the multitude of crude suggestions thrown at him over the years, were stuck in throat, unable to get past the sense that speaking his mind would shatter this sensual atmosphere, ruin the mood, and worst of all- disgust Hua Cheng. In a very small voice, he bet his dignity on the hope that Hua Cheng already knew what he meant, and was teasing him again.

"San Lang…Don't make me say it…"

Hua Cheng stopped moving, his intentional breath in Xie Lian's ear ceased. Slowly, so slowly, he moved his hand, still at Xie Lian's back, down, down, until it hovered delicately, hesitantly over the part of him he had indeed meant to indicate.

"Are you sure? Gege?" When he spoke, his voice was very quiet as well. "I don't want to hurt you… Anything Gege wants to do is wonderful, so don't think you have to do this for me..."

There was no disgust that Xie Lian could hear, only the awed disbelief from earlier, from the moment he had received confirmation of their mutual feelings. It was such a good, welcome sign that Xie Lian's whole body slumped as it released the tension he had not even realized was built up from more than just pleasure.

He nuzzled his cheek against the ghost's, finally able to look him in the face and smile in spite of the lingering blush. "I already said it, didn't I? I want to become one with you… And isn't virginity supposed to be a painful thing to lose? I'm not afraid."

Hua Cheng blinked at him, at a loss for words. Then he laughed. "Gege…You are surprisingly knowledgeable! Just who taught you all these things, hm~?"

Now it was Xie Lian's turn to flounder. "I-! I'm 800 years old, you know! I may have been celibate, but I wasn't deaf!"

Laughing harder, Hua Cheng speckled his face with affectionate kisses, not letting up until Xie Lian was laughing with him. They ended up forehead to forehead, giggling like children, until at last Hua Cheng gently pulled away, and the sight of his face so lit up with delight made Xie Lian's breath catch. He was too caught up in that view to take much notice of the man in question getting back up on his knees until he felt himself pulled down the mat so his hips rested entirely on Hua Cheng's lap.

Embarrassment flooded back in and he tried to close his legs, but unless he stretched them out and pushed Hua Cheng away in the process, it did little to hide him. The Ghost King, to his credit, seemed similarly shy and kept his eye averted as he summoned a small clay pot from thin air and set it beside them. Taking his lead, Xie Lian focused on this new item rather than his position, and watched Hua Cheng dip his fingers in the clear oil inside it, stirring until they were thoroughly coated in the thick substance.

It took a moment for his mind to catch up, but when those long, slender fingers moved towards the exposed apex of his thighs, Xie Lian bit back a gasp and quickly retreated behind his arms again.

"Is this alright?" Hua Cheng asked even as he was unable to stop a glob of oil from dripping directly down onto Xie Lian's opening, startling a tiny yelp from him despite the liquid's warmth.

"It's fine! Go ahead!" The god's squeak was muffled in the crook of his elbow. "Don't mind me!"

"Gege..." An exasperated but fond sigh. "Tell me if it hurts or if you ever want me to stop, then." The pad of one finger, light as a feather, circling inward and then outward, taking great care to spread a thick coating of oil all around. Yet again, Xie Lian wished he knew how to take up a complaint against his body for reacting so strangely; his skin there, a place that he would never expect to be an erogenous zone, was immediately craving more, harder. He could not stop his muscles from twitching, and thought he might just die from shame.

"D-don't look...!"

"But you're beautiful," Hua Cheng countered, and Xie Lian was almost incredulous enough to look at him from between his arms. "Every part of you is beautiful, Gege. May I come in?"

Xie Lian retreated further into the press of his inner elbows and hoped his nod was somewhat visible. It must have been, because now at last that finger pressed down, pressed in, and his breath was stolen again. It felt bigger than he had expected, but there was no pain yet. One knuckle, then the second, and then it retreated back to the very tip.

"Relax, Gege," Hua Cheng soothed, his thumb coming up to rub around the tight entrance while his other hand began stroking the god's erection before it could wane.

Xie Lian was nearly choking on his breath, but he tried. He focused on how much he loved this man who was always so, so gentle as he worked his way into his life, his heart, and now his body. He focused on the unwavering arousal resting against his tailbone, no less eager now than when this endeavor began, serving as a steady reassurance that Hua Cheng wanted this too. With the next deep press all the way up to the last knuckle, Xie Lian imagined something much bigger in its place and relaxed himself with all the meditation training he had.

The finger slowly worked itself in and out, occasionally bending here and there to press at the walls, stretching them into a malleable softness. A second finger then worked itself in next to the other while his cock was tormented so sweetly that any discomfort was lost in the storm of pleasure.

At some point, Xie Lian's arms stopped hiding his face and moved of their own accord to seek out something to hold onto, finding at last Hua Cheng's knees. His eyes were still closed, body as relaxed as it could be while a third finger was added along with more oil, and the slick wetness filling up his softened insides had his whole body pulsing with need. Even at this point, Xie Lian had felt nothing in the way of actual pain; if anything, the stretch of centuries-disused muscle was exhilarating. Hua Cheng's careful thrusting had also grown more confident, and his fingers boldly spread, twisted, and pressed with eagerness now, reaching deep and curling in on themselves.

Xie Lian had just started trying to rock his hips into the motions, hungry for more, when the tips of those fingers found someplace deep inside that sent up a whole array of fireworks throughout his body, making it jump while a shout of ecstasy escaped him.

"San Lang?!" His eyes snapped open as if he could look to see what exactly had been triggered, but saw only a smug expression on his lover's face.

"Did that feel good, Your Highness?" Hua Cheng grinned, his fingers thrusting right back into that spot.

Lights flashed behind Xie Lian's eyes, his head falling back to the mat with a thunk. It was such a strange sensation, but "good" was a serious understatement. He opened his mouth to speak, but after another thrust, all that came out was an animalistic sound that caused a very noticeable throb of Hua Cheng's cock as the Ghost King growled eagerly.

Feeling somewhat like he was swimming, floating in a pool of pleasure that promised to carry him away, Xie Lian was only vaguely aware of Hua Cheng shifting, but snapped to attention when the fingers not only stopped, but left him empty. He thought nothing of the needy whine he let out in protest that was quickly swallowed by Hua Cheng.

"Gege..." The heat and hunger in his voice quieted Xie Lian, whose knees were then draped around the other's waist without complaint. "I'm going to make you feel so good. I'm going to take you apart, piece by piece, and fill you up with more pleasure than you've ever imagined. Then I'll put you back together, and do it all over again, until you forget every pain, every sorrow, every bad thing. I'll replace it all with my love."

Xie Lian could barely breathe around the anticipation ready to burst in his chest. He could feel something new, something bigger, pressing against his entrance, and he bucked his hips up in welcome. Although he had not quite enough leverage to make Hua Cheng enter, the ragged groan that came from him was just as satisfying.

Unable and unwilling to hesitate any longer, the Ghost King watched his beloved's face as he began to push inside, taking in every detail as his body pried open the other's. A breathless sound, long and guttural, left the god just as gradually as he was filled with heat, with hardness, and tears escaped the corners of his eyes even as they rolled back into his head, hips still leaning eagerly into the invasion.

"Beautiful," Hua Cheng whispered, almost to himself, as he pulled out an inch before burying the rest of his length firmly inside Xie Lian with one smooth thrust that left the latter gasping for air and clinging hard to his biceps.

Xie Lian's mouth fell open as each thrust was followed by another, and another, starting by retreating to the very tip, and ending with a firm press as deep as possible. At first he could sense some discomfort from the stretch, but the mild ache and sting was heady, somehow. Thrilling. He did his best to move as Hua Cheng had showed him earlier, to follow his rhythm, but doing so increased the throb of pleasure and made his body writhe erratically.

He tried to speak, but there were no words in his throat, and above him he could feel Hua Cheng's whole body trembling, the man's face lowered to rest his forehead on Xie Lian's heaving breastbone. Although his thoughts moved like thick honey, the revelation finally sank in that Hua Cheng was here with him, sharing this pleasure, and was no less wrecked by it. Beneath the sighs and moans falling from his own lips he could hear his lover making similar noises as his thrusts sped up and became steadily more shallow, grinding hard enough that Xie Lian's whole body was shifting up and down.

Each observation sent more intense sparks of ecstasy surging through him, and with the help of Hua Cheng's hands on his waist, jerking him down into each thrust, his hips grew accustomed to moving with him, encouraging him to go ever faster, ever harder. He could feel himself shouting now, half-formed words and other nonsense escaping him alongside the last threads of his sanity. Everything, all the world, his very existence narrowed down to just the two of them.

Hua Cheng leaned back up to look down at his lover writhing wildly beneath him, drinking in every detail while he began trying different angles with his hips, searching for the key to their undoing. Then at last- Xie Lian shrieked and arched up until only the top of his head still touched the floor. His inner muscles spasmed and clamped down around Hua Cheng's cock while his limbs did much the same to the rest of his body, and the Ghost King could not resist the urge to bite down on the sweet skin of the exposed neck before him.

Xie Lian stared blankly at the colours and lights bursting in front of his eyes, utterly mindless as that spot inside him was struck again and again, each time threatening to cause the buildup of pressure inside him to spill over. The encroaching orgasm felt different this time, and when it began, it washed over him in long, lingering waves that had him convulsing as if in pain, unable to breathe. He could feel the hot pressure escape him and pour steadily from his cock onto his stomach, trickling up his chest and even to his neck. Throughout these long seconds, Hua Cheng's hips continued to work, milking the hypersensitive spot inside him with increasingly erratic thrusts, until at last he let out a hoarse yell and buried himself to the hilt one last time.

A whole new rush of heat bloomed inside Xie Lian just as he began to regain his senses. The feeling of fullness increased, bemusing his addled brain. Hua Cheng was spreading sloppy, feverish kisses across his collarbones and shoulders, seeming to be in just as boneless a state as the god when he carefully pulled out and made sure his lover was laid safely back down before collapsing beside him as close as possible.

High, high above, the festivities were being cleaned up and the gods were returning to their palaces only to once again be startled out of their wits when that same golden bell began clamoring madly, to the point that those nearby began to worry it would fall.

Xie Lian scrunched his nose as his body protested the emptiness, but a moment later he felt thick warmth oozing out of him and his heart skipped a beat. Still dazed, he reached down without thinking, and his fingers came back smeared with a combination of the clear oil and a milky-white substance. Looking down at them in vague bemusement, he noticed that same whiteness was all over his front as well, and at last understanding clicked.

A bone-deep shiver traveled from his head to his toes along with an intense aftershock of pleasure that forced a soft moan from him. Hua Cheng had come inside his body, filled him so deep and full with the evidence of his satisfaction, and somehow that knowledge had his spent cock twitching while his mind reeled all over again.

Hua Cheng watched all this with bated breath, holding very still as if worried the scene playing out before him would vanish if he dared move. Hearing Xie Lian's moan and feeling the way he shuddered, Hua Cheng groaned weakly and buried his face in the other's neck.

"Gege..." he very nearly pleaded. "Have mercy on your humble believer… Tell me what you're thinking?"

Xie Lian opened his mouth to speak before realizing Hua Cheng had noticed everything, so what came out was "I want to crawl under a rock..."

The Ghost King snorted. "Before that, Gege. I was going to apologize for coming inside you, but now it seems that won't be necessary." He laughed openly and tugged Xie Lian closer when the god covered his face with his clean hand, making a sound like he was close to tears even as the corners of his lips were twitching up. Still, Hua Cheng resolved to let his god keep his thoughts to himself -for now- and got up to find a cloth and some water for them to clean up with.

Xie Lian peaked between his fingers to see where his lover was going so suddenly, but had to quickly shut his eyes again because the sight of Hua Cheng so casually roaming about the quaint cabin while completely nude was more than he could take. "San Lang..." he mumbled, hating how weak his voice was. "What are you doing? Um…do you need something to wear?"

"Not at all," Hua Cheng answered easily. "Stay there and relax, I'll be right back."

"Ah?!" Xie Lian looked up again just as the other slipped out the front door, still naked. It was not as if there was anyone remotely close to this location, but…but still! He waited anxiously for a few short minutes, then went right back to hiding behind his hand when the door opened and Hua Cheng stepped in with a bucket of water.

Sitting down next to the cowering god with the supplies, Hua Cheng tried not to laugh again at his adorably innocent lover as he used spiritual power to heat the water. Soaking the cloth he had found, he leaned over the other man and lightly kissed the center of his chest. "Let me clean you?"

Resisting the urge to squirm, Xie Lian held out his stained hand. The kisses continued as it was wiped, and then turned to licks spreading upwards. It took him a moment for him to realize that Hua Cheng had no intention of cleaning his chest with anything but his tongue, but when the thought finally occurred to him he quickly tried to push him away. "W-wait! You don't have to…!"

"But I want to," Hua Cheng purred, already mostly done. "How could I possibly waste a drop of something so rare and precious?"

"San Laaaang!!"