Darkness and Destiny: A Guardian Story

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Persistent Doubt

"Shen Wei!  I'm sorry I'm late.  Are you done with your interview?"

Zhao Yunlan only just managed to contain his anger when he saw the sleazy reporter gripping tightly to the professor's hand.  It was beyond presumptuous.  He walked across to stand behind Shen Wei and, taking him by the arm, pulled him to one side, away from Zhu Jiu.

"Work with me here," he whispered under his breath, and was relieved when he saw the other man give a brief, almost imperceptible nod.

"I have a terrible headache.  Do you have any painkillers?" he said, loudly.

"Yes, they're in the bathroom.  Wait a moment."  Shen Wei walked out of the room and into the far hallway, but he did not go any further.  Instead, he stood just out of sight, listening intently.

As soon as the professor disappeared, the detective turned to face the journalist, who swallowed heavily when he saw the other man's face.

"I believe it was ten feet, yes?"

"What?"

"That was the limit of how close I said you were allowed to get to Professor Shen."

"But...but it wasn't my fault," Zhu Jiu protested.  "I was assigned to cover this case."

"And I'm sure you did everything you could to try to get out of it, right?"

Silence.

"I thought not.  Now get out of here."

Finally finding his courage, the journalist did not move, unwilling to let go of what could be his last opportunity.

"This is Professor Shen's place.  You have no right to order me to leave," he said defiantly.

Zhao Yunlan moved closer to the other man, until he was only a couple of feet away.

"Listen to me very carefully," he said, his voice low and dangerous.  "I have every right.  Now get out, before I do something I will definitely NOT regret."

He watched with satisfaction as Zhu Jiu grabbed his digital recorder and scarpered towards the entrance hall, almost falling over his own feet in his haste.  As soon as he heard the door slam, he turned around to find himself face to face with the apartment owner.

"I'd be interested in knowing exactly what right you're referring to?"  Shen Wei asked.  "I don't recall seeing your name anywhere on the property deed."

Zhao Yunlan shrugged.

"Whatever works.  Admit it, you wanted him gone as much as I did."  His tone turned serious.  "And what were you doing letting him come over anyway?  I told you to be more careful.  Now he knows where you live."

"Chu Shuzhi told me he was overseas.  How was I supposed to know he was the person the newspaper would send?  In any event, I was just about to deal with it myself before you came barging in."

"How?  You may be the same height, but he's heavier than you, and clearly very determined.  I'm telling you, Shen Wei, this guy is a threat.  I think I'd better move in here for a while so I can ensure your safety."  With a smug look in the professor's direction, the detective threw himself onto the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table.

For once, the man's cheeky charisma did not work.  Shen Wei walked over to his balcony, where the doors were already wide open, and took a deep breath of crisp, early evening air.

Immediately sensing a problem, Zhao Yunlan was behind him in an instant.

"What's wrong, Wei?" he asked, his tone full of concern.  "Did that idiot say something to you?  Tell me.  I can break his nose."

"Stop it, Yunlan!  Please."  He turned around.  "I admit that Zhu Jiu is a little intense, but you're treating him like a criminal.  What if someone else shows an interest in me?  Will you act like that with them too?  Threaten them?  Why?  I don't understand."

Zhao Yunlan studied the man in front of him carefully.  His dark brown eyes were burning like pools of molten chocolate, his jaw was tight, and his lips were set in a firm line.  Reaching out, the police chief ran his thumb over them lightly.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said.  "I'm jealous.  Just the thought of you with someone else is enough to drive me mad."  Before the professor had a chance to respond, Yunlan had replaced his thumb with his mouth.

This time, the kiss was insistent, leaving Shen Wei barely enough time to breathe, as the detective took him around the waist with one hand and reached up to wind the fingers of the other around the hair at the nape of his neck.  For a brief moment, the professor thought about resisting, but he had never been able to control his body when it came to the man who currently had him firmly encased in his arms.

Zhao Yunlan lost himself in the sensory overload that was kissing Shen Wei.  The professor's hair was soft beneath his fingers, he tasted of sweet fruit and delicately fragrant herbal tea, and his scent, which seemed vaguely familiar, was subtle, but expensive.  It was an intoxicating combination, and the detective could not get enough of it.

Reluctantly breaking the contact between them for a second, he took hold of the other man's arm and pulled him away from the balcony into the apartment, where he pushed him gently against a wall and searched for his mouth once again.  At the same time, one of his hands reached up and started to undo the top buttons of the crisp white shirt that separated him from the pale, smooth skin beneath.

Shen Wei trembled as he registered the cool air caress his throat, then lower, and felt himself start to unravel.  Craving more contact, he reached around and manoeuvred his hands underneath the back of Zhao Yunlan's crew neck shirt.  The man's skin was so hot it was almost burning.

When the professor's fingertips started exploring underneath the detective's top, he almost lost all sense of reason.  He buried his head in Shen Wei's neck, breathing heavily and trying to fill his lungs with the man's scent, while fingertips sometimes as light as feathers and sometimes so firm as to leave marks ran up and down his back.  He groaned.

"Shen Wei, Shen Wei.  You must know by now.  You can only be with me."

Now that he had some space to think, Shen Wei was torn.  Even though the police chief had just kissed him for a second time, he was still not convinced, despite how intimate they had been with each other only seconds previously, but he was not sure how to explain himself.  He could hardly say he knew that Yunlan didn't like him as much as he claimed to because he had kissed someone else first and was, most likely, treating him as a more accessible substitute for that person.

Reaching up, he put his hands on the detective's chest and pushed gently.

"You say that Yunlan, but I'm just an academic leading a quiet life," he said.  "Even if you had me, it would never be enough for someone like you.  You need more.  You need excitement.  Danger.  An equal."

Yunlan's response was insistent.

"You're more than an equal.  So much more.  What if I told you that you, just the way you are, are all I want?  Nothing else."

Shen Wei thought back to that night the other week, when Zhao Yunlan had kissed Black Robe back to the extent that he thought his heart might burst out of his chest.  Explaining why he doubted what the detective was saying was true, even if the man did not realise it himself, would have been impossible.

"I'm sorry, Yunlan," he said, sadly.  "I want to believe you.  I really do.  But I don't.  And I'm not sure you do either."

Turning, he slowly walked away from the other man and into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.