Wei Ying was submerged in a thick haze of pain as his mind wrestled for consciousness. His body shook and shook convulsively as bands of agony tried to rip him into shreds. He barely managed to swim to the surface to identify the world outside his pain before his mind started to slip away again.
Someone was calling his name in heart-wrenching despair.
He felt fingers brush against his face. His neck. His arms. Spiritual energy flooded his body. Useless against the bite of a bond mark. It scorched his skin like a flame to paper. He couldn't even move away from the touch, as his body trembled.
"Wei Ying! Wei Ying!"
And there were other voices. Not all human voices though. Voices that rose into the night. Howling. Whooping. Yipping. Chanting. Loud. Loud. Loud. And piercing to his skull as the voices got louder and louder. A call and response.
Huáng Shàng. Huáng Shàng. Huáng Shàng. Wuxian. Wuxian. Wuxian.
They moved like the wind.
Running so incredibly fast on human legs. Faster than should be possible and getting even faster still. Wei Ying – cradled against a firm, solid, chest as strong arms held him tight. Wei Ying – convulsing and shaking and in so much pain as everything in him recalibrated itself around a soulbond.
"Wangji! Wangji, what have you done! Dear god. Did you attack him? Xichen! My god, Xichen, he marked him!"
A snarl ripped from the chest pressed against Wei Ying's ear. Animalistic and possessive. Terror and pain and sadness, and a need to protect.
"Didi, it's okay! It's okay! Calm down. We won't touch him. It's okay. But the Theta needs to examine him. Put him down Wangji so the Iotas can heal him. You're soaked in his blood. What if there's something wrong? Let them see him!"
They were moving again. Backing away. The arms around Wei Ying's shaking body tightened. And then there was burning sandalwood and a despair so deep it tinged the scent with bitterness as the aroma flooded Wei Ying's senses.
"Sizhui. Jingyi. Gather only my Shadow Wolves. Barricade the doors for me. Don't let anyone in. No one! Not even Jiang Wanyin."
"Yessir!"
Twin voices. So much loyalty. Such strong fealty. Wolves converging at the door. Then a team of young warriors, and the metallic scrape of blades being drawn and crossed. More growls and shouts and angry footsteps. Arms lowering Wei Ying's shaking body to a bed. Kisses to his forehead and his lips and his cheeks.
All the while the cacophony of shouting voices in the air rose and rose like a rolling thunder.
Wuxian. Wuxian. Wuxian.
Tiānzî.
Sena.
— — —
Wei Ying opened his eyes and looked around. He assumed that he would have been in the infirmary, surrounded by a team of Iotas, but he wasn't. He was in Lan Zhan's room. In Lan Zhan's bed.
Lan Zhan's head rested on Wei Ying's chest. His arms were wrapped around Wei Ying's lower back and his body was curled towards Wei Ying's legs. He was so still, as if jade didn't need to breathe. As if ice was best left frozen.
Wei Ying gently ran his fingers through Lan Zhan's black hair. Softly. Soothingly. Only then did Lan Zhan raise his head and looked at him.
He looked devastated. As if he had been tortured and destroyed and had barely survived the tragedy.
"How long was I out?" Wei Ying asked him softly.
"Three very long, very heart-breaking hours. I thought you weren't going to survive the soulbond," Lan Zhan responded in a hoarse, scratchy voice as if he had been screaming and screaming for twice that long.
Wei Ying reached for him. He pulled him close, wrapped his arms tightly around his neck and nuzzled against his cheek.
"I scared you, hmm?" Wei Ying whispered. "Àiren, I'm sorry."
Lan Zhan turned his face towards Wei Ying and their lips met in a gentle kiss. Lan Zhan kissed him again, and then again in little kisses, over and over and over, as if he needed to reassure himself that Wei Ying was really okay.
Wei Ying had a splitting headache and the back of his neck burned like it was on fire.
He raised his hand to touch the mark, but Lan Zhan caught his wrist and tugged his fingers towards his mouth for more kisses.
"Don't," Lan Zhan said. "It needs more time. I can feel it still healing."
Wei Ying smiled. "You can feel it, can you? Want to see it, Alpha?"
Lan Zhan's ears immediately reddened, but he held Wei Ying's gaze as he nodded.
Wei Ying rolled to his other side and bent his head so Lan Zhan could examine his mark on the Sena. After a few seconds, Lan Zhan curled closer behind him and held Wei Ying tight.
"It's still there," he said. His voice held a barely concealed mix of pride and awe.
Wei Ying chuckled. "What! Really? Guess it's just going to have to stay then. Oh well."
"Mn."
Lan Zhan kissed the back of Wei Ying's head and hummed softly. Then he tucked his face into the side of Wei Ying's neck and inhaled his mate's scent, while his hands slowly glided along Wei Ying's body as if making sure that Wei Ying was still in one piece.
"The Ice Wolves called for a tribunal," he said. "All the Alphas in residence and any pack leader who can travel on short notice. You can imagine everyone's surprise, and my uncle's disapproval."
Wei Ying groaned. "They all know? Fuck. So much for secrets."
Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying's neck and the side of his jaw. He slipped one arm under Wei Ying's shirt and it felt so good pressed against Wei Ying's fevered skin that Wei Ying moaned a little.
"This wasn't a secret I could have kept," Lan Zhan murmured with another kiss behind Wei Ying's ear. "The moment I marked you, everyone knew. It was a phenomenon."
"Ah fuck," Wei Ying groaned again. "That explains the chanting. I was hoping that part was just a dream."
"Not a dream," Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying turned in his arms so that he could look at him. His golden eyes were less haunted, less like he was being hurt by Wei Ying's pain. Wei Ying lightly traced the contours of his devastatingly beautiful face, with his fingertips.
"Everyone knows now. That you're an Alpha. That we're bonded."
Lan Zhan kissed the tip of Wei Ying's nose.
"Yes," he confirmed quietly. "Everyone knows what I did. Many of them are very angry."
He hooked one index finger beneath Wei Ying's chin and gently raised Wei Ying's head so that he could lean in and press his lips to his. The kiss was soft and slow, as if he was mindful that Wei Ying was still in pain. It still left Wei Ying breathless. He chased Lan Zhan's mouth when he tried to retreat, until Lan Zhan appeased him by bringing their lips together in another soft, lingering kiss.
"Try to get some sleep, Wei Ying. You're still shaking," Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying briefly considered protesting, but Lan Zhan was right, he was still trembling. So he sighed, and then nodded instead.
Lan Zhan's fingers slid into his hair and began to massage his scalp. There was a cool trickle of healing energy infusing the touch. It felt like a drink of water against a parched tongue, and Wei Ying leaned into it as it dampened the pain in his head.
Lan Zhan pulled him even closer, tucked Wei Ying's head under his chin so that Wei Ying was surrounded by his scent, slipped his other hand under Wei Ying's shirt against his back, and finally threaded one knee between Wei Ying's legs, so that they were fully entwined together.
Wei Ying closed his eyes feeling warm and cuddled as he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up again, he was all alone in the bed and the Jingshi was silent. His headache was much better and the burning at the back of his neck had been reduced to a buzzing tingle. And, at least he wasn't trembling anymore either, he realized gratefully, as he looked around for a change of clothes to wear.
New clothes were laid out for him that were so similar to Wei Ying's personal style, and like the ones he owned while he was living in Moling, that the sight of them made Wei Ying smile. Lan Zhan had to have asked their son to make the selection then.
One black outfit later, Wei Ying left the Jingshi and made his way over to the Main Hall.
At the front and center, Lan Zhan was kneeling with Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi in front of the Alphas of Yunmeng, Qinghe, Gusu, and Lanling. Gathered on either side were shifters from the various other packs. And leading the inquisition was Lan Qiren.
"What you did was shameful and impulsive! You attacked him, Wangji. What other explanation is there? I saw the state he was in while you carried him back here to Cloud Recesses. Shaking and bathed in blood, he was barely alive. If he survived it's thanks to his own powers not yours. The Sena, Wangji! The most esteemed shifter in all the packs! Of all the wolves to lose your control over, you chose the worst one to maim!"
Lan Zhan's head was bowed, but at those words he looked up to meet his uncle's gaze.
"I didn't attack him. I didn't lose control. I didn't maim him," he said.
Murmurs rose in the hall as everyone immediately had an opinion on his words. Lan Xichen held up a hand after a few seconds and the spectators quieted.
"Are you saying you didn't mark him, Wangji?" Nie Mingjue asked gruffly. "There's no point denying it. We all felt you do it. An Alpha's mark. Not even when Ruohan tried in Nightless City did it cause such a reaction. You must have really hurt him."
Lan Zhan kept his head up, but when he spoke his voice was strained from hidden emotions.
"I'm not denying that I marked him. I know it caused him a lot of pain. I hate that our relationship had to be kept secret, and that our bond was unexpected for everyone, but I know he forgives me for the indiscretion. I asked him to take my mark, and he accepted."
Jin Guangyao made a sound of disgust and the other three Alphas looked at him. He smiled his contrite dimpled smile and shrugged.
"Hard for him to say no while you're in the middle of fucking in your wolf forms. Dirtiest trick in the book for an Alpha to get someone to agree to a mark. They already feel like there's a bond. Am I wrong?"
Jiang Cheng looked like he was going to be sick when he immediately said, "You asked during sex, Lan Wangji? Fuck, that's low. That's the kind of shit you only find in seedy porn videos, and something only teenagers joke about during their first hunt. If you really tricked him into it, then you don't deserve to claim him as your mate."
Lan Zhan didn't deny it and that set everyone off again, until Lan Xichen held up his hand.
Lan Qiren sighed. "However it happened, it doesn't matter now. We don't need the sordid details. The point is that the Sena was attacked in Cloud Recesses, and forcefully marked by someone he trusted. The consequences for these actions will be grave. We can only manage the repercussions from here on. Hopefully the bond will break soon and the mark will fade."
"Hope for something else. It will not fade," Lan Zhan said firmly.
The voices in the hall rose in outrage and confusion at that.
Lan Zhan looked up at his uncle, and the four most powerful Alphas, whose gazes were locked on him. They were all wearing various expressions of concern, even if at least one of them was faking.
"He is the Sena. The most powerful shifter among us," he said to them. "How many other Alphas did he turn down before this? How many asked him? Begged him? Fought him, for the right to claim him? He took my mark. Mine. Do you even understand how extraordinary that is? Of all the wolves, in all these years, Wei Wuxian said yes to me. Only me."
"That's because you forced it on him!" Someone in the audience shouted. "You're supposed to give him a choice!"
Wei Ying had heard enough.
He walked out from the middle of the crowd into the center of the room. All eyes instantly turned to look at him and a murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd. Immediately, they all fell to their knees, saying, "Huáng Shàng" and "Sena" in a greeting that rattled the windows of the hall from their enthusiasm.
"What's all this arguing about?" Wei Ying asked with a shake of his head. "You all have a funny way of showing that you're happy for me. Is this how you say congratulations?"
At the front, Wei Ying paused between where Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi were solemnly kneeling. They were both dressed in white, but it wasn't the Ice Wolves' uniform. Their uniform was more form fitting and had a black accent throughout that curled like smoke. And they both had a pair of khanjar daggers at their sides, which were evidently the signature weapons of their pack.
Wei Ying looked at each of them and wondered how he ever thought they were young. Lan Zhan was training his pack to be inconspicuous, deadly, secret assassins, and these two warriors who fought, and knelt, and gave unwavering loyalty to their Alpha were like twin blades shining brightly by his side.
"I'm so proud of you. Thank you for always supporting him," Wei Ying said softly.
He took a few more steps to where Lan Zhan knelt with his head bowed and gaze lowered. Strong, fierce and kind. Like a white dragon. Wei Ying looked down at him and smiled.
"Lan Zhan," he said, as beautiful wolf-colored golden eyes finally met his gaze. "From now on, you kneel down to no one. You're the mate of the Sena. I chose you. I accepted you as mine."
He held out his hand and Lan Zhan took hold of it and rose to his feet. Wei Ying kept their fingers entwined as he turned to the leaders and bowed deeply.
"Sorry, Xichen. I know it's rude of me to walk into your home and pull rank on you, but I'm about to be unreasonable about this," Wei Ying said. "Lan Zhan and I had a rough night and considering that we're newly bonded, we're not having a great honeymoon so far. If you all have to be upset that we eloped, can we discuss it tomorrow? I'd like my husband back now."
Lan Xichen's face lit up into a grin. "That's hardly unreasonable, Your Excellency. Congratulations to both of you by the way. After everything you've been through, I'm happy that my brother has finally claimed you in front of all the packs, as the person he loves more than anyone else."
"Thank you, Xichen. For everything you did." Wei Ying smiled at him. "I know it wasn't easy to risk so much on trust and love. Especially after you met me yourself and could have easily been unforgiving."
"Being unforgiving, Wuxian, would mean that I would have lost my little brother. And so many of our packs have already lost so much to someone else's callousness," Lan Xichen responded kindly.
"Did you know he is an Alpha?" Someone in the crowd interrupted very loudly. "Because he sure as fuck looks like an Alpha, standing there, and that's not something that anyone noticed before!"
"Yes. I knew," Wei Ying responded as he turned to the crowd. "I am an asena. I wouldn't have accepted any other bond. He is an Alpha, with his own pack. He has his own warriors. Sizhui and Jingyi are an example of how exceptionally trained they are. Many of you Alphas and your men, have repeatedly lost against his pack in the daily battles. I hear you still talking about those fights, so I know you remember them."
Lan Qiren took the opportunity to also interrupt by stepping forward towards Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, and bowing low.
"Congratulations, Your Highness. If you are both to be believed, then the Sena has knowingly been mating with an Alpha behind all our backs, and it has led to these events. However, even though the two of you have now bonded and you wear his bite, marking you did not make him Xiāndū."
He spoke in a loud and solemn tone that still hinted of disapproval at their actions.
"We are all worried that the two of you are not zhījî, and that even though he is your chosen mate, he is not meant to rule and become our sovereign. If that is the case then he can return to his duties within his family's pack. And Xichen can spend more time with you explaining about the moral standards that the rest of our pack work to uphold daily."
Wei Ying stared at him. Then, being careful not to meet Lan Zhan's eyes, he looked around at the crowd as he spoke.
"So you all somehow believe that he forced this on me. He didn't, and envy is not going to change that! You can all feel that our bond is real, and that it is strong, and unlike anything else between a mated pair. Now stop with the bullshit of trying to deny what you all felt when I took his mark! He will become the Xiandu only if he decides that is what he wants. Until then, you will accept him as my husband, whether or not he decides to lead."
"Then it would seem that he is extremely powerful to have shielded himself for so long without consequences. As an Alpha, let him fight for you." Jin Guangyao had that cunning, dimpled smile on his face again. "I suggest a circle of the best Alphas and Lunas among us against only him in a battle. He can decide if he wants to accept the title. Let us decide if he deserves to be our Xiandu."
Wei Ying threw Jin Guangyao a glare, but Lan Zhan's fingers tightened comfortingly and he spoke before Wei Ying could retort in protest.
"I'll do it," Lan Zhan agreed calmly. "I didn't fight for him before. I'll fight for him now."
— — —
Once the meeting was dismissed and the crowd dispersed, Wei Ying pulled his son into his arms and hugged him tightly, until Lan Sizhui went two shades of red, happy but embarrassed to have to endure such a public show of affection. But he grinned with pride when Lan Zhan rested a hand on his and Lan Jingyi's shoulders and nodded solemnly at each of them.
Wei Ying had to deal with Jiang Cheng's mutters of, "Lan Wangji, for fuck's sake," and Nie Huaisang's comment of, "You're never boring, Wei-xiong. Congratulations," and Lan Xichen's look of pure, overwhelming happiness, and a few well wishes and threats of gift-giving, before he managed to drag Lan Zhan away, back towards the Jingshi.
As soon as they were past the threshold, Wei Ying slammed the door shut and sealed the house from intrusion with a few very strong talismans. Then he grabbed Lan Zhan's hand in his and dragged him back into their bedroom, and onto the bed, still fully dressed.
"Wake me up in ten years when nobody is interested anymore about you marking me," he grumbled. "I'm not a Luna in heat being chased by her Etas, or a teenage shifter, hot and trembling at being touched for the first time. I'm not a slave to my baser instincts. Why does it matter when you bit me? It was none of their fucking business!"
"No, it wasn't," Lan Zhan agreed. "There are some things that are private between a mated pair, but they had to make sure that I hadn't manipulated you or coerced you. I can understand that. I'm sorry you were there to hear it anyway. I was prepared to accept any punishment they gave to me. You're mine already, and I knew no matter how angry they were, they couldn't take you away from me anymore."
"Exactly," Wei Ying huffed in annoyance as he snuggled in Lan Zhan's embrace. "You're my mate and if they don't like it, then fuck them! I'm not letting you go for anything now."
"Good," Lan Zhan whispered, and pressed a kiss to the top of Wei Ying's head.
Wei Ying closed his eyes, and breathed in his soothing calming scent, and slowly drifted off to sleep. While Lan Zhan hummed a beautiful melody to him that was both happy and sad, and sounded maddeningly familiar to his tired mind.
When Wei Ying woke up again, he was naked in Lan Zhan's arms and being carried to the bathroom.
"Lan Zhan?" he asked in confusion.
Lan Zhan gently lowered him into the warm, scented water in the most gorgeous bathtub that Wei Ying had ever seen before. It was built into its own private section of the opulent bathroom and was carved from smoothed white and grey marble. Large and sturdy, it had a rain shower installed above, and it had its own complicated set of controls on the wall behind it.
"You smell like blood. I can't stand it. I want you to smell like yourself again," Lan Zhan said quietly. "Hold still. Let me wash your hair."
Wei Ying looked at him, at his gorgeous face and the hint of sadness in his eyes.
"Come here and hold me yourself," he said.
Without hesitation, Lan Zhan took a step away from the bathtub and reached for the fastenings on his own clothes. Inch by inch his perfectly sculpted body was revealed. One button, one zipper, one tug of cloth, at a time. Shirt. Pants. Underwear. Until he was naked and gazing down at Wei Ying with pure heat in his pretty eyes.
Wei Ying reached for him, and he stepped closer so that Wei Ying's fingers could glide along one thigh.
"Fuck, you're so beautiful. How did I ever deserve you?" Wei Ying breathed.
"Says the sexiest man I've ever met. You're so gorgeous that I sometimes lose my words when you smile, Wei Ying."
Lan Zhan's fingers gently caressed Wei Ying's fingers as he held their gazes locked. Wei Ying moved his fingers and held Lan Zhan's hand to tug him closer to the bath.
Taking the cue, Lan Zhan stepped into the water and slid behind Wei Ying's back.
Wei Ying pulled Lan Zhan's arms around his waist and leaned against him. Closing his eyes with a sigh he tilted his head back, onto Lan Zhan's shoulder. Lan Zhan immediately nuzzled against the side of his neck, dropping open mouthed kisses all along there.
He reached for the liquid soap, squeezed some into the palm of his hands and brought it to Wei Ying's chest. Lan Zhan's hands all over his body made Wei Ying moan softly. Earlier he said he wasn't a Luna in heat, but with this man, he felt like he was.
Every inch of Wei Ying's skin wanted to be touched by Lan Zhan. Every muscle, every bone, everything in him craved his mate. He wanted him badly. Desperately. Maybe he was in heat. Maybe he had been in heat for him since the first moment that Lan Zhan's sandalwood scent had made his nose tingle and the Sena had known that this man would be important to him.
Wei Ying writhed in Lan Zhan's arms as Lan Zhan's hand slid along the muscles of his chest, down his abs, and his thighs. Caressing and stroking him like Wei Ying was gorgeous and priceless and deserved to have his body praised.
It was slow and sensual. Lan Zhan's hand was warm and unhurried as it slid back up to the curve of Wei Ying's collarbone, then over one nipple, and snagged at his navel, before travelling to caress and tease the sensitive flesh of Wei Ying's inner thighs.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying gasped.
Lan Zhan pressed his lips to Wei Ying's ear and whispered, soft and low and sexy, "Open your legs for me. Let me touch you."
Wei Ying parted his legs wider for him. And he bit back another gasp as Lan Zhan nipped at his earlobe and licked at the corner of his jaw.
"So good. So obedient. Letting me do all these things to you. Knowing how much I want you. Didn't know how to stop craving you, Wei Ying. Years and years of wanting you. Wanting to take care of you. Wanting to tear apart every wolf who ever touched you. Mine. You're mine."
"I want you," Wei Ying groaned. "Fuck. I didn't know just how much back then, but it's all I know now. Lan Zhan, please."
Lan Zhan wrapped one arm around Wei Ying's waist tightly, and then slid the other hand between Wei Ying's legs to grasp his stiff cock and gently squeezed.
Wei Ying's hips twitched at the sensation and he bit his lower lip to stop the gasp that escaped his mouth. Too turned on to be embarrassed by how wanton he must look. Always so desperate to be touched and fucked by Lan Zhan.
"I love it," Lan Zhan murmured against Wei Ying's cheek as his fingers relentlessly stroked and squeezed Wei Ying's cock. "I love how you respond when I touch you. Like you're burning up for me. All fire and heat, and with all that want."
And Wei Ying realized he couldn't help it. He didn't want to hide this side of himself from Lan Zhan. Everyone else could see him be strong and fearless. Lan Zhan would get this. The vulnerable side of Wei Ying that needed to be touched and kissed and held against a strong body, and protected.
"You knew, Lan Zhan. You knew I would want this from you," he said. "You kept giving me away! In Qinghe to Mingjue, in Lanling to Guangshan, in Qishan to Ruohan. That entire time, you had to feel I was yours."
Lan Zhan inhaled deeply as Wei Ying began to rub his ass against Lan Zhan's hardening shaft. All the while he kept up his maddeningly slow tease; pumping his fist on Wei Ying's cock, thumb stroking against the slit and massaging the frenulum and the head, before sliding his fist to the base into a slow rise.
"You have no idea how difficult it was for me," he growled. "Everyone wanted you so much. The ruler of the night sky. You were my Wei Ying before they even met you."
The hand at Wei Ying's waist slid slowly up his side to his chest to hold him close as Lan Zhan nuzzled against the back of his head. Then Lan Zhan flicked his tongue against the mark on the base of Wei Ying's neck.
Wei Ying moaned, and rocked his cock into the tight hold of Lan Zhan's fist.
Lan Zhan kissed the mark and then kissed the side of Wei Ying's neck before he whispered into Wei Ying's ear.
"Let's go somewhere less wet. I want to taste you," he said.
Lan Zhan released his hold on Wei Ying's body and rose from the bath. He immediately reached out a hand to help Wei Ying up too. Little puddles of water gathered under their feet once they stepped out of the bath and Wei Ying stood shivering before they both reached for towels to dry themselves off.
Wei Ying was only just finished when Lan Zhan tugged him into his arms.
His thumb traced Wei Ying's lips before his mouth followed. He kissed Wei Ying hard and fierce, sucking on his lips, slipping his tongue inside to lick against Wei Ying's tongue and against the inner walls of Wei Ying's cheeks to explore all the hidden spaces.
Until Wei Ying was moaning, and breathless, and panting.
And then Lan Zhan clutched the sides of Wei Ying's waist and picked him up.
Wei Ying wrapped his legs around Lan Zhan's hips and his arms around his neck as Lan Zhan carried him out of the small room and into the larger bathroom. They made it as far as the bathroom counter, before Lan Zhan gently lowered him to sit in front of the large mirror.
Wei Ying leaned back against the cold glass, and opened his legs in invitation.
The soft, deep sound that Lan Zhan made as he slid his mouth slowly down the length of Wei Ying shaft made Wei Ying's entire body shiver. So sexy. So satisfied. Like he loved swallowing around Wei Ying's cock, loved the weight of it against his tongue, and the hard length of it sliding in and out of his mouth.
"You like the way I taste, hmm? I bet you taste good too," Wei Ying said as he buried his fingers in Lan Zhan's hair. "Will you ever let me get your beautiful cock in my mouth?"
Lan Zhan swirled his tongue around the head of Wei Ying's cock, and pressed a lingering kiss to the tip, before he moved his mouth away.
"Whenever you want. If that's what you want," he said.
Wei Ying held his gaze and whispered back, "You know I want to."
Lan Zhan's mouth closed around Wei Ying's cock again and he steadily began to bob his head up and down over it. His fingers closed tightly around the base as he worked. He licked and sucked, pulling Wei Ying's shaft deeper down his throat as he found his rhythm.
Deep moans and breathless whimpers soon filled the air as Wei Ying squeezed his eyes shut and rested his head back against the bathroom mirror.
He wasn't going to last long. Not with how long he'd been teased. Not with how amazing Lan Zhan's mouth felt and how thorough Lan Zhan was being.
"That's it. Just like that. Make me come all the way down your throat. I know you like when I do that," he groaned.
Lan Zhan sucked him deep and hummed in satisfaction. It was all it took for Wei Ying's balls to tighten and Wei Ying felt his orgasm building. He curled his fingers in Lan Zhan's hair as Lan Zhan sucked and bobbed. His hips twitched as the pleasure intensified.
And then he was coming and coming in Lan Zhan's mouth as Lan Zhan greedily swallowed every drop of it.
Wei Ying shouted from the force of it and he rocked against Lan Zhan's face. Desperately fucking between those tight lips until it became too much to feel.
He opened his eyes just in time to see Lan Zhan fisting his own cock as he pulled his lips off Wei Ying.
Wei Ying sat up quickly and batted Lan Zhan's fingers away. He slid off the counter to shaky feet until Lan Zhan had to grab him to steady him. When he got his legs to work, he moved away, only to make room for himself as he dropped to his knees and looked up as Lan Zhan stared down at him in disbelief.
"I said I want to," Wei Ying grumbled. "Let me do it."
"I'm not going to last long if you do. I'm too close already and you like this, on your knees looking up at me, is too much."
Wei Ying smiled at that response, but since actions spoke louder than words, he didn't bother to say anything else. Instead he licked his lips then leaned his face against Lan Zhan's thigh and licked the side of the beautiful, erect cock in front of him with the flat of his tongue.
Lan Zhan's hips jerked and Wei Ying chuckled.
He did it again, making sure to groan softly as his tongue glided up the silky length. When he got to the top, he wrapped his fingers around the base and leaned away from Lan Zhan's legs. With his eyes locked with Lan Zhan's gaze, he tugged the erect cock towards his face and then swirled his tongue across the tip.
Lan Zhan reached down and hooked his fingers beneath Wei Ying's chin, keeping Wei Ying's head steady as silver grey eyes stared up at him. His other fingers coaxed Wei Ying to let go before he wrapped them around his own length. Then he swiped the head back and forth across Wei Ying's lips, until Wei Ying's mouth glistened wetly with his precome.
Wei Ying opened his mouth, and Lan Zhan leaned forward to carefully slide his hard cock past those pretty lips he loved so much.
"Suck it," he instructed. "Yes. Good. That's good. Now use your tongue. Like that. Mmm. Yes. Take me in. Just like that. You're so good, baby. So obedient, my Wei Ying."
He was big and thick and he tasted sharp and salty on Wei Ying's tongue. His sandalwood scent was so strong there that Wei Ying tried to pull him in deep so that he could press his nose to Lan Zhan's crotch. But it was too much too quickly and Wei Ying gagged around the cock in his mouth.
He had to pull off, as he tried to catch his breath, and tears sprang to his eyes while he sniffled.
"Don't rush. Just go slow. It will still feel really good to me," Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying tried again. He wrapped his lips around the hard length and slid it deeper and deeper into his mouth. When it was just shy of the back of his throat, he slid it back out. Then he slid it back in, as deeply as before.
Lan Zhan moaned, and Wei Ying took it as a compliment.
He continued sucking and licking, and gliding his tongue all over the shaft. He got lost in the haze of it. His whole world was filled with the quiet gasps and moans of Lan Zhan's breathing as he figured out what worked most to elicit the best reaction. He found he kind of liked gagging around the head as it hit the back of his throat. Every time he did, his eyes would sting and Lan Zhan would suck in a sharp breath of air and stroke his cheek.
"If I come in your mouth, do you think you can swallow?" Lan Zhan asked him softly.
Wei Ying hummed. He didn't know if he could, but he wanted to try. He wanted the taste of Lan Zhan's come on his tongue.
Lan Zhan stroked fingers through Wei Ying's hair and used his other fingers to cup Wei Ying's chin and held him steady again. And then he gently began to ease his hips back and forth, fucking Wei Ying's mouth with such care that Wei Ying was amazed at his self-control.
It didn't take long. He knew his body so well that with one final thrust, and a soft groan, he was coming.
Warm, salty liquid flooded Wei Ying's mouth and slid to the back of his throat. Wei Ying's fingers clutched at the back of Lan Zhan's thighs as he tried to swallow around the pulsing cock in his mouth. He definitely wasn't fast enough as a trail of come leaked out the corner of his lips.
Lan Zhan caught his breath before easing his cock out of Wei Ying's mouth. When he noticed the wetness at the side of Wei Ying's lips, he used one thumb to carefully wipe it away. And Wei Ying opened his mouth again so that Lan Zhan could slide it on his tongue.
Wei Ying looked up at him with glazed eyes and red lips, and soft little panting breaths. Lan Zhan pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him as he kissed his face and the side of his neck.
"Perfect. You were perfect," Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan's neck and Lan Zhan wrapped his arms around Wei Ying's waist and picked him up again. If Wei Ying wasn't so out of it, he might have protested that he didn't need to be carried everywhere. But Lan Zhan took advantage of his silence to carry Wei Ying into their shared bedroom.
He laid him on the bed and then stretched out beside him. Then he gently began to stroke his hair. When Wei Ying just laid there, lost in thought and introspection, Lan Zhan leaned down to kiss his forehead and his cheeks and the corner of his lips.
"I'm not a Luna," Wei Ying finally said in a hoarse whisper. "But sometimes I feel…"
"I know," Lan Zhan murmured.
"I can't explain it, but when I'm with you, if I'm… Is that okay with you?"
"Yes, it's okay. You're a male asena. The only one in existence. Nothing about you could ever seem wrong to me, Wei Ying."
Wei Ying sighed in relief at Lan Zhan's reassurance. Lan Zhan just seemed to understand what he was saying, and how he was feeling, and that made it easy. Because, Wei Ying didn't always have an explanation for the things he felt and did sometimes.
Lan Zhan turned him around and then kissed him again and again until Wei Ying smiled and groaned and kissed him back.
"I love you so much, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying whispered against his lips.
Wrapping his arms and legs around him and then nuzzling against his cheek, Lan Zhan whispered back, "I love you too, Wei Ying. I love you with every breath I take."
— — —
When Wei Ying woke up from a short nap in the middle of the afternoon, it was to slick fingers against his hole, stretching and stroking him open.
His cock was already at half-mast from the sensation of being finger-fucked while he'd slept, and it stiffened to full hardness as the drowsiness receded. His breathing caught on a husky moan before he shoved his hips against the fingers and tried to get them buried deeper inside his body.
They slid an inch more and Wei Ying trembled.
They slid out and then slid back in as a thumb pressed against the base of his spine for leverage. It pulled another husky, gasping breath out of him as the fingers scissored and plunged and curled inside of him.
Strong arms rolled him onto his stomach and strong fingers grasped his hips so that he could slide his knees closer to his body. Then a warm, solid weight was shifting over him, pulling his ass cheeks wide open, before a thick, hard cock was nudging against his hole.
Wei Ying pushed back on it and felt every inch as it slid deep inside. He pressed his head to the sheets and rocked forward, then backwards hard and fast, before rocking forward on his knees again.
The man on top of him held very still as he allowed Wei Ying to fuck himself on his cock.
Wei Ying groaned from the effort, and soft lips huffed a quiet laugh into the back of his hair as he struggled to get what he wanted. It felt good, but Wei Ying knew it could feel so much better.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying whined.
Strong arms returned to wrap very tightly around Wei Ying's waist. And then he was being pulled backwards as firm hips pushed forwards. The effort drilled the cock fast and hard into Wei Ying's channel.
"You're so tight like this," Lan Zhan murmured. "You're holding me in like you want me to stay right here. Buried all the way inside you."
He snapped his hips forwards again, and Wei Ying's body jerked from the force. Wei Ying pushed back and engaged his abdominal muscles to help him remain rooted on the spot as Lan Zhan's hips continued to bump into him again, and Wei Ying felt the sweet, sharp slide of Lan Zhan's cock splitting him open on each thrust.
"You don't smell like me yet, and that terrifies me. Until you have my scent, you're not yet fully mine and someone can still contest the bond."
Wei Ying moaned, and Lan Zhan's rhythm sped up.
"No other Alpha is stupid enough to contest the bond. Not after this morning," Wei Ying gasped as Lan Zhan's fingers tightened.
"I know. Rationally, I know. But, I still need you to smell like me. Do you understand?"
Wei Ying nodded frantically. "Yes! Fuck. Yes. Mark me again. Fuck me as hard as you need to. Come inside me. Make me smell like you. Anything you need, Lan Zhan. Make me all yours so that nobody else can touch me ever again."
Lan Zhan pulled out of Wei Ying with a quiet growl. Low in his chest. Then he flipped Wei Ying over so that he was lying flat on his back. Lan Zhan moved to straddle his body. He gathered Wei Ying's wrists together and pressed his hand over his head on the bed.
"Hard and rough. I can't be gentle. You have to submit to me, Wei Ying. Wrap your legs around me so that I'm always deep inside you and don't pull away when I come. I need to pump you full of my seed so that just my scent warns other potential mates away. I know it's illogical but it's what I need," he said.
"That all works for me," Wei Ying reassured him. "Don't be gentle. I can take it."
"Don't break," Lan Zhan warned.
Wei Ying huffed a soft laugh then tilted his head for a kiss. Lan Zhan leaned down and pressed their lips together. It started out soft and gentle and full of love and adoration, but Wei Ying knew what Lan Zhan needed and right now it wasn't meant to be slow and sweet. So he nipped on Lan Zhan's bottom lip and rubbed his cock against the side of Lan Zhan's hips where he rested against him.
Lan Zhan deepened the kiss to punishing levels as he released Wei Ying's wrists, and instead moved both hands down to part Wei Ying's thighs. When Wei Ying's legs were wide enough, he slid two fingers to Wei Ying's hole to check that he was still open and ready for him.
He pushed both fingers inside as Wei Ying's hips rose. It gave him just enough space that he needed to start sliding his fingers in and out. He scissored his fingers, and plunged and twisted, and crooked them deep inside, against Wei Ying's inner wall and that walnut sized bump that caused Wei Ying to squirm and make desperate little sounds of pleasure. Once Lan Zhan was satisfied, he moved away so that he could kneel on the back of his heels, between Wei Ying's open thighs.
Wei Ying's eyes were closed, and his chest was rising and falling on long deep breaths. The way he reacted to having his hole fingered, and to being fucked, was so beautiful. Almost like he felt it differently as an asena.
Lan Zhan grabbed his hips and pulled him so that the center of his spine was near Lan Zhan's knees and his ass rested on an incline near the top of Lan Zhan's thighs. He reached for his own stiff cock and swiped it lovingly against the slick warmth of Wei Ying's hole. Then with just a little bit of force he pushed the head of his erection in until just the crown slid past the tight muscle.
Wei Ying made a soft mewling sound, and Lan Zhan looked at him.
Vibrant silver eyes, mouth slightly open as he breathed softly, his body was a masterpiece of muscles and sharp lines. Strength and power, like an Alpha himself. Nothing about him should have been comparable to an unmated Luna being chased by her warriors. And yet, Lan Zhan remembered their earlier conversation.
Looking at him, at the way he bit his lip, his body arched, abs clenched, his thighs trembling just that tiniest bit, his eyes hot and hazy with lust, Lan Zhan wanted to claim him like one.
He pulled Wei Ying firmly by the hips and watched in satisfaction as Wei Ying's ass pulled his cock in with one long stroke.
"Fuck," Wei Ying whimpered. "I love it when you fuck me so deep."
He rocked his hips trying to get Lan Zhan to give him more. Lan Zhan moved Wei Ying's hips away and then pulled him forward again. When Wei Ying groaned, he did it again. Manipulating Wei Ying's body to take his cock over and over like a gorgeous doll.
Wei Ying clutched at the sheets on both sides of his body as he squeezed his eyes shut and cried out in debauched little sobs. His whole body jerked with each tug of his hips in Lan Zhan's tight grasp and the sight of him open and so obviously wanting this, made Lan Zhan's fingers tighten again.
He released Wei Ying's hips and slid his hands down to Wei Ying's legs.
"No, don't stop. Don't stop," Wei Ying immediately gasped. "I need it. Please..."
Instead of answering, Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying's legs up, and hooked them on either shoulder. Then rising from his heels, he leaned over and crowded against Wei Ying's body. As soon as he was in position, he began to thrust his hips, hard and fast, pistoning his cock inside Wei Ying's channel.
It felt amazing. Balls deep. Cock being clutched and stroked on each thrust, Wei Ying making the sexiest little sounds of satisfaction. Lan Zhan nuzzled against Wei Ying's neck and inhaled the Sena's scent of fire and tears and musky, sexy, sweat.
Lan Zhan flicked his tongue out to taste him. He tasted salty and something almost seductive that Lan Zhan chased after like a drug. The more their bodies worked together was the stronger the taste, as if it was slowly leaking from Wei Ying's pores. Wei Ying was his own aphrodisiac, his own narcotic, and Lan Zhan craved him.
"You taste as good as you smell," Lan Zhan whispered to him as he continued to pound his cock into his body. "Like sex, all the time. Like your body is meant to be pleasured like this everyday by me."
"Oh god, yes! Fuck me everyday like this Lan Zhan. Fuck me until I can't move and then just hold your cock inside me like a plug. I want to come first thing every morning and last thing every night with you inside me. Make me come on your cock so much that I whine if I don't have it," Wei Ying panted.
"You and your dirty mouth," Lan Zhan growled. "Mark your words. You're mine now. I'll make you keep your promises."
Wei Ying's cries got louder as Lan Zhan fucked him harder.
His fingers slid into Lan Zhan's hair and he tugged at the strands. Lan Zhan understood what he was hoping for, so he nudged Wei Ying's chin with the top of his head and he licked and sucked at the base of Wei Ying's throat.
"Bite me!" Wei Ying gasped. "Bite me with your fangs while you're fucking me. It will feel so good now that we're bonded."
Wei Ying tugged Lan Zhan's head back so that their gazes could meet. And fuck, he took Lan Zhan's breath away. Red eyes, fangs extended in his panting mouth, and fingers clutching at Lan Zhan's back, he was dangerously beautiful. If Lan Zhan wasn't buried inside him already, this would make him want it. His cock got even harder, and Wei Ying felt it, because he narrowed his eyes and arched his lower body, and moaned loud and deep, and so fucking needy for it.
Lan Zhan leaned down and pressed his lips to Wei Ying's shoulder, and concentrated. His fangs had always extended through instinct, not intentionally. But with Wei Ying he had already done unbelievable things, and even having fangs in his human form had once been impossible.
Lan Zhan pushed his cock deep into Wei Ying's body and stayed right there while he felt his fangs easily extend. And then he sank them into the side of Wei Ying's neck.
Wei Ying howled, and grounded his hips, as he immediately began to come between their bodies.
His body jerked from the force of his orgasm and his ass clenched tighter around Lan Zhan's cock, while the metallic tang of blood filled Lan Zhan's mouth.
Lan Zhan pumped his cock erratically into Wei Ying as pleasure flooded his body. He heard himself groan from the force of it, but he concentrated on the feel of Wei Ying's legs slipping off his shoulders to wrap tightly around his waist.
Then he was coming inside of Wei Ying. His fingers clenched Wei Ying's ass to hold his cock deep inside him so that he could fill him up with his seed and hold it inside him.
He felt their soulbond in that moment, as if it had extended from his chest and was sunk deep into Wei Ying. It was incredibly strong, and intense, and it felt like it was forged from pure, raw, spiritual energy.
"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan gasped in disbelief.
Wei Ying laughed and pressed his face against Lan Zhan's neck as they collapsed together on the bed, with Lan Zhan still in him.
"That's why I told them not to worry about the bond," he said. "I knew we would be like this."
He moved away just far enough to look at Lan Zhan's face. He was already back to his fully human form since shifting was so effortless for him. His silver eyes gazed in awe as he stared at his mate, and he reached curious fingers out to touch Lan Zhan's mouth.
"Oh, fuck," he rasped. "Now that's just too fucking sexy."
Lan Zhan tilted his head and kissed the pad of Wei Ying's thumb as it stroked against one of Lan Zhan's sharp, elongated canines.
As far as Lan Zhan could tell his fangs were the same length and sharpness of Wei Ying's fangs, but for some reason, Wei Ying looked as if he was in awe to see them so openly for the first time. Wei Ying slid his thumb from one to the next until he touched and caressed each of them.
Then he slid his hand along Lan Zhan's lips until the base of his palm was pressed to Lan Zhan's mouth.
"Bite," he instructed with a smile. "Bite like you're marking me again."
Lan Zhan shook his head, confused.
"There is only one bond mark. As much as I would love to leave my bites all over your body, I can't keep marking you. It won't work," he pointed out.
Wei Ying's smile became even wider as he said, "This one will. It will strengthen our bond. You'll understand when it's healed."
Lan Zhan sighed softly in response, because he was never going to ever say no to this man if he didn't have a good reason.
He tightly grasped Wei Ying's wrist with one hand and cradled Wei Ying's palm against his mouth with the other. Then he parted his lips, opened his mouth, and licked all around the soft, warm flesh with his tongue until it was bathed in saliva.
And then, keeping his gaze locked with eager silver eyes, he viciously bit into Wei Ying's palm with all of his strength.
He expected screaming and pain, and Wei Ying being in agony, while his own heart tried to burst from his chest in sympathy and guilt. He expected the worst again, and he prepared for the sadness.
Instead, Wei Ying just smirked at him, all fine and calm, and said teasingly, "This is going to be so much fun for you. Promise."
— — —
Wei Ying stared at the mark in the palm of his hand. It was a crescent scar that glowed blue when he stroked it, or licked it, or whispered quiet words to it. Which was exactly what he had been doing for thirty whole minutes straight.
"Lan Zhan, does this feel like I'm licking your cock to you? Because it feels a lot like licking your cock to me," he murmured to it, before he stroked his tongue along the glowing curve.
In the kitchen he heard the slam of a few pots and pans in the sink, but no sound of anything shattering, which was a little disappointing. He considered maybe nibbling on his palm out of curiosity, but once his lips pressed against it the mark lit up in a faint blue glow and Wei Ying rewarded it with a kiss.
It barely took a few more seconds before the door to the bedroom opened and Lan Zhan walked in. Even though he looked entirely unaffected, when he turned his golden eyes at his husband, there was only smoldering heat in his gaze.
"Dinner is in the kitchen, Wei Ying. But you're not going to eat it," he said calmly. "Because I burned it twice while preparing it. And I have never burned food before in my life."
Wei Ying cackled. He began laughing so hard that he could barely stop to breathe.
Lan Zhan stalked over to him and lifted him bodily off the bed so that Wei Ying had to wrap his legs around him and hold on tight. Lan Zhan walked towards the nearest wall and leaned Wei Ying into it, all the while, carrying his weight effortlessly.
"You are going to torment me with it until you drive me insane," Lan Zhan growled.
Wei Ying considered that and then shook his head.
"Just a small amount of insanity. For research!" he negotiated. "Just let me play with it a little more and see what it can do."
Lan Zhan leaned in to tug on Wei Ying's earlobe with his teeth before he huffed, "You know what it does by now, Àiren. Yes, Wei Ying. When you lick it I feel it on my cock, and when you kiss it I feel your lips on my mouth. And talking to me, whispering to me, drives me mad with want. I want you. So you won't get to enjoy dinner until I'm satisfied."
Wei Ying immediately burst into loud laughter again.
Lan Zhan silenced him with slow kisses down the curve of his jaw and the line of his neck. He slid his fingers under Wei Ying's chin and tilted his head back against the wall so that he could kiss his throat, down to the dip in his collarbone, and he licked at the thin line of vulnerable flesh there.
By the time he began to kiss down to the center of Wei Ying's chest, his husband was no longer laughing. Instead Wei Ying's fingers clutched the hair at the back of Lan Zhan's head and his breathing became slow and ragged.
Lan Zhan unwound Wei Ying's legs from around his waist and he helped him to his feet.
As soon as Wei Ying's steady gaze met his own, Lan Zhan put his hands on him again. He brushed his thumb back and forth over soft, kiss swollen lips, until Wei Ying's lips parted, and Lan Zhan slipped his thumb past Wei Ying's teeth into the warm wetness of Wei Ying's mouth.
He leaned in and gently kissed the side of Wei Ying's mouth, sucking on Wei Ying's lower lip while still keeping his thumb against Wei Ying's tongue, before he finally removed it.
"Look at you. So gorgeous like this. So turned on for me," Lan Zhan whispered to him.
Wei Ying's breath caught in his chest. At Lan Zhan's sexy, deep voice, and the way it seemed to bury itself inside of his body and made him ache with need.
"Do you want me?" Lan Zhan asked.
Wei Ying nodded as seriously as any Eta would to their pack leader.
"How much?"
Wei Ying pretended to consider it. Then he raised two fingers and held them about two inches apart.
Lan Zhan arched a perfect eyebrow. "Mn. That is a remarkable amount. It could take me years to satisfy all of that. Should I get started then?"
Wei Ying grinned at him. But he could never stay silent for long so he wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan's neck and tilted his forehead against the curve of Lan Zhan's nose.
"I would love to get started. Just as soon as you take your clothes off," he said quietly. "Do you ever notice that I'm always the one who is naked and you're always the one fully dressed?"
"I'm very good at what I do," Lan Zhan responded solemnly.
Wei Ying couldn't help it. He chuckled again.
"I like you so much, Lan Zhan," he said as he lifted his head so that they were looking at each other again. "You're my favorite lover in my royal harem. Don't tell the others. They'll be so jealous that you have me all to yourself to do whatever you want."
Lan Zhan leaned in to capture Wei Ying's lips in a slow, deep kiss. The tip of his tongue skimmed the underside of Wei Ying's top lip teasingly before he sucked on it again. And then again, for another slow kiss, that coaxed Wei Ying to try to get even closer to Lan Zhan for even more kisses.
"All to myself, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan breathed against his mouth. "Whatever I want."
"Yes," Wei Ying murmured.
Lan Zhan stepped away from him and Wei Ying watched him retreat with keen eyes that he was sure was hazy with all the lust, and the need, that he wasn't even trying any longer to hide. Once Lan Zhan picked up the bottle of lube off the bed he turned to Wei Ying again.
Wei Ying walked towards him while Lan Zhan approached, so that they met in the center of the room.
He wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan's neck and surged against him, crashing their mouths together in a desperate kiss, full of all the aching desire inside of him that made him feel like he was on fire. Burning for this man. Needing to feel his hands on his body, his lips on his skin, their bodies pressed together.
Lan Zhan's arms wrapped around his waist and he lifted him off the ground, while holding him tight against his body. And, Wei Ying moaned into the kiss, as Lan Zhan walked them back over to the wall. Then he gently lowered Wei Ying to his feet again.
Wei Ying didn't let him pull away from the kiss though. He tightened his arms around him as Lan Zhan pressed one palm against the wall for support while he kept the hand still holding the lube, encircled around Wei Ying's waist.
Naked, Wei Ying rubbed himself against the hard lines of Lan Zhan's body through all the white clothes that Lan Zhan always wore. Like a Luna in heat. And he didn't even care anymore, because he wanted to feel this Alpha between his thighs. To feel him fucking him, hard and deep.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying gasped when it became too hard to breathe. "I need you to take your clothes off right now."
Lan Zhan tilted his head to kiss the side of Wei Ying's neck, and he nuzzled against the corner of Wei Ying's jaw, before nipping at the flesh there.
"If you want to see me naked, then do it yourself," he whispered into Wei Ying's ear. "It's your choice to start with the shirt or the pants, and then go from there."
Instead of protesting or arguing, Wei Ying got to work.
He started with the shirt. It was simple, with no buttons or complicated clasps. All it took was Wei Ying grasping the hem and coaxing it up Lan Zhan's chest. Once it got to Lan Zhan's armpits he needed some cooperation, which Lan Zhan provided by raising both arms.
Wei Ying tossed the shirt off to one side of the room and took in the mouth watering sight before him of Lan Zhan's chest on display.
He leaned in and licked the center between sculpted pectoral muscles, with his tongue. Then he hummed against the side of Lan Zhan's neck before he mimicked Lan Zhan's earlier actions by nuzzling against the corner of his jaw before gently tugging with his teeth.
Lan Zhan slid his cheek along Wei Ying's face until their mouths met. And then he roughly pulled Wei Ying hard against his body and held him tightly while their lips and tongues moved hungrily against each other.
Wei Ying's fingers travelled down to the button and then the zipper of Lan Zhan's pants. It was an interesting, custom designed, piece that was probably one of a kind. All Wei Ying knew was that it made Lan Zhan's ass look very nice, but he really needed it to be gone.
He wrenched the waistbands of both Lan Zhan's pants and boxer-briefs down together until they dropped to his ankles. As soon as they did, Lan Zhan deepened the kiss even more, until Wei Ying had to wrap his arms around his neck again to keep up.
Lan Zhan stepped out of the clothing pooled at his feet and pressed against Wei Ying's body. Wei Ying complied by moving all the way until his back hit the wall again.
Wasting no time, Lan Zhan slid his hand along the outside of one of Wei Ying's thighs and hooked Wei Ying's knees with his elbow so that he could raise that one leg to chest level. Keeping Wei Ying's leg raised, he got even closer to him.
All the while Wei Ying's mouth sucked and licked hungrily at him, and Wei Ying gasped and moaned as the kiss became more and more passionate.
When Lan Zhan's fingers slid between his ass cheeks against his hole, Wei Ying finally wrenched his lips away so that he could make a sound like a whimper. He was still a little open from their earlier fucking and still a little slick there. Lan Zhan didn't need a lot of lube to get started, so Wei Ying helped him by squeezing out just enough onto their fingers before he tossed the bottle towards the bed.
Wei Ying reached between their bodies and massaged most of the lube onto Lan Zhan's cock slowly and deliberately, until Lan Zhan groaned, and Wei Ying took pity on him.
He lined up Lan Zhan's thick cock with his hole, and Lan Zhan pulled at his hip and then pushed his cock inside of Wei Ying in a slow, deep stroke.
Wei Ying cried out softly at the sweet, hot, glide of it sinking into his body, and his ass clenched around it as he rocked against Lan Zhan's groin. It felt so fucking, unbelievably good. As if he already missed the feeling even though he had this all day.
Lan Zhan fucked into him, starting slow, and quickly building up into a rhythm that had Wei Ying clutching at his shoulders for balance.
The feel of Lan Zhan's cock was amazing. Hard and thick. It made Wei Ying feel like he was stuffed full. Like he could feel it in his stomach, and he couldn't get enough of it. Each surge pulled deliciously at the muscles of his ass and it stroked inside him, rock-hard and demanding. As if it was always Lan Zhan's right to take him and fuck him like this. Hard and rough, and so possessive. And Wei Ying knew it was true, as he pushed into each thrust while Lan Zhan pounded into him, and his body rocked and jerked with the force of it.
With one hand clutching at the wall near the back of his head, he used his other hand to squeeze Lan Zhan's shoulder.
And he squeezed his eyes closed and let those filthy, needy, wanton, little wails of pleasure that he always tried to hold back, finally escape his lips like never before.
"Yes. You sound so good right now. My gorgeous asena. So perfect, my Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said huskily.
Wei Ying dragged their lips together in an effort to hide his moans, but Lan Zhan was having none of it. He gently bit at Wei Ying's lips and wrenched his mouth away so that he could whisper soft words into Wei Ying's ear. Dirty, filthy words that Wei Ying didn't even know that Lan Zhan knew existed, much less how to string together to drive Wei Ying insane.
"Your body is so sexy like this. Needing me to fill you up. The way you open for me and take me deep inside you. And those sounds you're making. So good, Wei Ying. Can't stop. You feel so good. Being inside you. Feeling this. Tight and hot while your body tries to hold on to me. Letting me have you like this. Climbing the wall from how I make you feel just doing this to you."
"Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan," Wei Ying groaned.
Lan Zhan pulled out of Wei Ying's body and lowered Wei Ying's leg. When Wei Ying regained his balance, Lan Zhan turned him around to face the wall. Immediately, he braced both palms against the wall and widened his stance. Lan Zhan's fingers clutched at his hips and pulled until Wei Ying's ass stuck out so that he could have easy access to it.
Then he moved in close again and swiped the head of his cock over the lubricated hole once and then twice, before he groaned softly and pushed inside Wei Ying again, like he belonged right there. This gorgeous man's body was meant to be pleasured by him and only him.
Wei Ying thumped his head against the wall and clenched his fingers into fists and gave a strangled, little keen of satisfaction.
"Yes. Good. Take me in like you need it," Lan Zhan said to him. "You were made for this. Made for me and only me."
Wei Ying nodded against the wall frantically, like a confession. He rocked his hips and Lan Zhan pressed into him so that his entire length was buried deeper. When he stood still too long as he admired the sight of Wei Ying's ass clenched tight around his shaft, Wei Ying whimpered and whined desperately.
Lan Zhan began fucking into him again.
This time he slid his hand between Wei Ying's leg with just enough residual lube to grasp Wei Ying's erect cock that was throbbing for attention.
Every time he thrust into Wei Ying's ass, the cock between his fist rocked into the tight space, and Wei Ying made a deep gasping sound that seemed to tear from the pit of his stomach. Lan Zhan increased his speed with each thrust, until the sound that Wei Ying made was one long deep cry that hitched and rode on the jerk of his body as Lan Zhan fucked him mercilessly.
With how good it felt and how beautiful and debauched Wei Ying sounded, Lan Zhan knew that neither of them were going to last much longer. He squeezed Wei Ying's hip tight with the fingers of one hand while the other hand worked on pumping Wei Ying's cock.
Until Wei Ying groaned and rolled his hips and then erratically began to thrust his cock even faster into Lan Zhan's fist.
He came with a loud groan, spilling warm, sticky white fluid between Lan Zhan's fingers and on his own chest and thigh.
It didn't take much longer for Lan Zhan to join him.
With a soft growl of possessive satisfaction, Lan Zhan thrust one last time deep inside Wei Ying and held himself there as his cock began to empty itself inside his mate, and he pumped him full of his seed.
He knew that it was useless to hold Wei Ying still while he came and came inside him, and made sure that it stayed in him. Wei Ying was a male asena, not a Luna or any other female wolf, so it was unnecessary to be so thorough, but Lan Zhan didn't care. This was what their bond needed from them in order for the Sena to accept his Alpha's mark. So Lan Zhan held his groin pressed to Wei Ying's ass and rocked into him until his orgasm faded.
He trailed a line of kisses along Wei Ying's spine and nuzzled against the side of his neck while he greedily inhaled the scent of their union, as it finally seeped from Wei Ying's pores and marked the asena as being claimed by his mate. The presence of his scent on Wei Ying made Lan Zhan groan both in relief and pride, and he licked at the bite on Wei Ying's neck, slow and indulgently, until his husband was clawing at the wall, shaking and almost sobbing in his arms again.
As soon as Lan Zhan released him, Wei Ying's knees buckled and Lan Zhan had to quickly hold him up again.
"Stupid legs," Wei Ying huffed in irritation. "So fucking embarassing."
His cheeks burned hotter than the sun and he tried to disappear into the wall. But Lan Zhan must have taken one look at him and immediately understood that it wasn't about his tired legs, because he turned Wei Ying around to face him. And then he gathered him into his arms for a tight, comforting hug.
Without needing to ask, he picked Wei Ying up and carried him over to the bed, where he gently deposited him on the sheets.
He kissed his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his lips, his chin, his throat and then he whispered that he would be back to clean Wei Ying up in a little while. Then he disappeared into his bathroom.
When he returned several minutes later, freshly showered, changed, and smelling of vanilla, he lifted a tired, sleepy Wei Ying into his arms and carried him into the bathroom to the private bathtub.
Wei Ying was already half dozing by the time he was gently lowered into the warm water. Then Lan Zhan began to gently wash his hair and then just as gently, soap his entire body with huge, warm hands, and so much tenderness in his touch that Wei Ying gave in just one more time and exhaled a soft, breathy moan.
Lan Zhan nudged Wei Ying's cheek with his nose and said quietly, "I love how loud and vocal you are, Wei Ying. I don't care if even my uncle hears you. Promise that you won't hide your sounds from me."
Wei Ying sighed, but then he nodded.
"I won't stop when we're alone in the Jingshi," he decided. "But when we're somewhere that someone can hear us I'll use silencing talismans to spare us from another scene, like Guangyao hearing more that he was supposed to."
"Mn," Lan Zhan responded.
— — —
When he finished with Wei Ying's bath, Lan Zhan thoroughly dried him off with a towel, followed by an unnecessarily loud, blow-drying session to dry Wei Ying's hair. Then he laid out another nice pair of pajamas, in cashmere this time, and watched as Wei Ying got dressed.
Once that was done, they retreated to the bed so that Wei Ying could rest. It had been less than twenty-four hours since his body had endured the soulbond and they hadn't given him much time since then to sleep without interruptions. As much as Wei Ying would protest, he also knew that he needed to eat soon, in order to rejuvenate his spiritual energy and to finish his internal healing.
Lan Zhan was looking down protectively at him. There was so much love in his gaze. As if his heart couldn't hide the magnitude of this emotion anymore no matter how hard he tried. As if Wei Ying really was his universe and his heart beat only for him.
Wei Ying squinted up at him. At his intense stare as he reached out to gently stroke Wei Ying's cheek. With elegance and poise. Just like the first day that Wei Ying met him, before he even knew his name. Always, he was always so beautiful, and he moved like violence and grace, and like art in motion.
"I'm glad you found me in the cave that day. I'm glad it was you that I fell in love with. You, who I can't live without," Wei Ying said softly.
Lan Zhan exhaled and then slid down onto the bed to gather Wei Ying tightly into his arms. He nuzzled into the top of his hair and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, as Wei Ying curled into him and breathed in his scent. This man who always felt like home to him. Who always made him feel so safe.
Wei Ying loved him so much, he didn't even have the words to express the enormity of how he felt.
"The day I met you, I was in the Lánshì with some other students who were visiting from the smaller packs. My father was in seclusion, so my uncle was about to give the lecture that day. Xichen was sitting beside me trying to get me to laugh at something he said. And then in the middle of all of that, I suddenly began to smell your blood. Impossible. You were so far away, but I could immediately tell that you had crossed into Gusu, and that you were injured."
Lan Zhan's voice was quiet as he spoke. Wei Ying almost stopped breathing from how hard he was listening. He had never expected to hear this side of their story.
"I wanted to run to you," Lan Zhan admitted. "I sat through the lecture calculating how to get to you as quickly as possible. It never even occurred to me to tell anyone else. Not once. I knew you needed me, not Xichen, and not my uncle. I mentally tracked you and tried to estimate where you would end up and how fast I could get there."
Wei Ying moved his head back so that he could meet Lan Zhan's gaze in surprise, and a little bit of awe.
"Lan Zhan, I didn't even know I was calling to you. I was so tired and injured that I was just trying not to die from the cold and the shock," Wei Ying said.
Lan Zhan hummed. "Yes. I realized that once I got to the cave and you were being so frustrating, insisting that you didn't need my help, even though your blood was trailed across the mountain like red paint on the white snow. I was amazed by your presence. Terrified and in awe. And then you started communicating, and I realized that you were definitely not like I was told you would be."
"I was so much better?" Wei Ying teased.
Lan Zhan nodded with the hint of a smile at one corner of his lips.
"So much. Yes. Like sunshine in the dark. So vibrant and annoying, and extremely interesting. As soon as I left, I wanted to go back. I spent all night wondering if I had imagined your voice in my head."
Wei Ying reached up to trace a finger down Lan Zhan's cheek and quietly asked, "You could hear me then? The minute we met, you could hear me responding to you?"
"Yes," Lan Zhan said as he searched Wei Ying's gaze. "I've always been able to hear you in your wolf form. The same thing happened in Qinghe. I found you, and you kept saying things that made me want to respond. But how would it have looked to the Upsilon who was driving, if we were in two different forms, having an impossible conversation?"
Wei Ying groaned, and then laughed softly. Other shifters could only communicate in their wolf forms and only in close proximity to each other. To anyone observing them it really would look like they were hallucinating, or worse.
"Well, now we don't have to pretend anymore. If we don't know how to explain the things we do we'll just say it's because we're bonded." Wei Ying held up his palm with the scar from Lan Zhan's bite. "And we have this too now. I can talk to you from any distance in my human form and you'll be able to hear me when I'm away from you."
Lan Zhan traced the pale scar on Wei Ying's palm with his thumb. It didn't react to him so he was free to touch it and hold Wei Ying's hand.
"After you left Lanling, you went entirely silent. It was like you were in a coma. As if you were holding your breath," Lan Zhan continued softly. "Xichen thought I was going to lose my mind with worry. He knew we were friends, but he couldn't understand. You are the Sena. Not many wolves are strong enough to kill you and you've always done whatever you wanted. He made me his Zeta so that I could meet with the Yunmeng Alpha and the Qinghe Beta without suspicion. But I came back from Yunmeng worse than when I left."
"Because Jiang Cheng was also worried then, and because the Blood Wolves attacked Yunmeng soon after. And you still hadn't found me," Wei Ying said.
Lan Zhan rested his forehead against the top of Wei Ying's head and whispered, "So many endless months, Wei Ying. When Huaisang told me that he found you and that you were living with Blood Wolves, I felt so stupid for worrying when you were clearly fine. And you had a woman and a child, so you just wanted to be alone."
"Lan Zhan, that's not what happened!"
Wei Ying moved away so that he could cup Lan Zhan's cheek with his palm and he traced his thumb over his lips.
"I know," Lan Zhan said softly. "As soon as I looked at you, I could see in your eyes that you'd been deeply wounded by whoever had kept you prisoner. In Pingyang, when I saw you, Wei Ying, I just wanted to hold you. To pick you up and hide you. To take you to Gusu with me where I knew you would be safe. But you wanted to go to Ruohan in Nightless City and the only thing I could do was to let you go again. I didn't have the right to stop you."
"Lan Zhan, you always had that right. You always did," Wei Ying breathed.
"My brother thinks I became an Alpha after Nightless City, for you. He thinks I decided on the battlefield, watching Ruohan try to mark you, that I wanted you for myself." Lan Zhan shook his head slowly. "He's wrong. I decided I wanted you for myself, while sitting in the Lanshi one winter afternoon while you were painfully climbing your way towards a cave. Everything I've done since that moment was to figure out how I could possibly deserve to have you."
"Then why did you take so fucking long to mark me? I was shamelessly throwing myself at you, trying to get you to do it," Wei Ying grumbled.
Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying even tighter into his arms, until Wei Ying was draped across his chest with his face pressed against Lan Zhan's cheek.
"Because you said I shouldn't do it if I didn't mean it, and that you wouldn't survive if I was wrong," Lan Zhan whispered. "What if I wasn't your zhiji? What if you didn't feel what I felt? What if I maimed you with my bite because I wasn't a strong enough Alpha to bind an asena's soul to me? I watched you kill Ruohan to get rid of his mark on you. Even he wasn't powerful enough for the soulbond. If I was wrong and I maimed you, I knew you would live with the scar for as long as it took to fade, because you wouldn't kill me to free yourself."
Wei Ying could barely speak as he choked out, "If being with you scarred me, Lan Zhan, I wouldn't even care. I was planning on climbing into your bed every night until you decided that letting me go was much worse than holding on to me forever."
"It was worse," Lan Zhan groaned. "The more I touched you, the longer I spent time with you, was the less I could convince myself that you were better with someone else."
Wei Ying slid lower on the bed so that he could duck his head and kiss the hollow at the base of Lan Zhan's throat.
"No one compares to you," he pointed out. "You know that right? Whether you want to be Xiāndū or not, doesn't change anything. You're the only person in this world that I want to be with. The only shifter powerful enough to create a soulbond with me. The only wolf strong enough for me to submit to."
"Wei Ying…" Lan Zhan began.
But Wei Ying raised his head and then reached over to cover Lan Zhan's mouth with both his palms to keep him silent.
"No. Don't say it. I know I'm a lot to handle. Being in love with me doesn't just end with a pair-bond and a goodnight kiss in the evening. It's a lot to fucking ask of you. A whole other form, a soulbond, an honorific you won't even want, and all eyes on you from now on. The minute we walk out of the Jingshi tomorrow morning, everything will change for you."
Lan Zhan moved his head to the side, away from Wei Ying's palm so that he could kiss his fingers. Reluctantly, Wei Ying huffed out a deep sigh and removed his hands.
Lan Zhan pulled him back into his arms, held on tightly, and leaned their foreheads together.
"Wei Ying," he said again, softly. "I want to fight for you. That's why I agreed to the battle with the Alphas. I want to stand beside you as your equal. If fighting for the right to be with you means that I'll need to lead, then I want to lead. I will never leave you to fight all alone again like you did in Nightless City."
Wei Ying went still with surprise. And then he scrambled to sit up on the bed so that he could look down at his mate.
"What! You want to lead? This entire time I thought the last thing you wanted was to have anything to do with politics! You don't even like talking to members of other packs. You're good at negotiations but when they start to annoy you, I've seen you silence them with just a glare."
Lan Zhan nodded and said, "Yes, I dislike politics, but I'm good at it, and I'll have advisors. I would love to live in a tiny, secluded hut on the mountainside with rabbits everywhere, but that's not you. And I want to be with you. Your life is for everyone to see. You are the Sena. Tiānzî. And as your mate, as your husband, I want to prove to the Alphas that I deserve to be their leader. I want to be the Xiandu."