The Poisoned Pen: A Guardian Story

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Brief Reprieve

Zhao Yunlan shook his head, as if physically trying to dispel the thoughts circulating there.  For some reason, the worry about Shen Wei's safety that was always in the back of his mind had now suddenly magnified to the point that he was filled with a real sense of foreboding.  But, he had no idea at all what had caused it.

"Are you feeling okay?  Do you have a headache?" The author moved across to the detective, a look of concern on his handsome features.

"I'm fine, really," he reassured the other man.  "Shall we skip some stones? I  haven't done it since I was a child, and the lake is very flat today."

"That would be nice." Shen Wei smiled at his companion. "To tell you the truth, I have never skipped stones with someone else before.  Only on my own."

"Well, that's changing right now." Zhao Yunlan beamed at the writer a little too widely, as if trying to overcompensate for his earlier dark thoughts.

As Shen Wei looked on, he started enthusiastically hunting around on the shoreline of the small lake for suitable stones, stooping down every now and again to peer more closely at potential candidates.

Before long, a substantial pile of small rocks was at the author's feet.

"You could have helped," the detective said, his tone slightly petulant.

"Sorry," Shen Wei apologised. "I suddenly had an idea for the next chapter of my novel and my mind just went elsewhere."

"I'll forgive you then," Zhao Yunlan offered, graciously. "It's important to keep the creative juices flowing whenever you can.  I hope my character has some impressive fight scenes coming up."

The writer frowned as he thought, ignoring the other man's deliberate attempt to bait him about the inspiration for his protagonist.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I've never written a real fight scene before.  I'm not sure I could do it justice."

Moving behind Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan slipped his arms around the man's waist and rested his head on his shoulder as they both looked out over the lake.

"Don't be ridiculous.  And anyway, you don't know until you try.  Remember, there's always the delete button!"

The author raised an eyebrow.

"Was that meant to be encouraging?  If it was, it didn't work."

The detective pressed a quick kiss on the side of the other man's neck before releasing him.

"You don't like empty flattery.  Come on, I didn't scour the ground for ten minutes and get my hands all dirty for no reason."

The next half hour was full of carefree laughter and gentle teasing as each man tried to outdo the other with their stone skipping skills.  At the end of the contest, it was Shen Wei who emerged the winner, with Zhao Yunlan protesting good-naturedly that he was doomed to lose from the outset.

"It's very unfair," he said, as he took the writer's hands in his own. "You spend all day typing.  Your fingers are naturally more flexible than mine."

"Nonsense," Shen Wei said, laughing lightly. "You know full well that it's all about technique.  Don't blame me for your own failings."

"Fair enough," the detective conceded, before his tone turned suggestive. "Anyway, isn't it better to have good technique in other things?"

Without warning, he pulled his target forward against his chest, and for a while, the author was content to stay there and absorb the warmth from his man's body.  However, the moment ended all too briefly when Zhao Yunlan spoke next.