A Love Beyond Time

Chapter 19: Do you really love me, Seimei?

2,000 years ago—The Celestial Kingdom, Jade Fox Forest

Shi-Yuan stretched lazily as he slowly awakened. Yawning, eyes still closed, he turned to his side and reached for the person beside him.

His hand touched nothing but air and cool, smooth silks.

The young immortal opened his silvery-blue eyes, still languid and soft with the remnants of dreams and sensual pleasures, and looked around the massive cave. A mass of white in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and he turned his head.

Yu-Hu was seated at his dressing table, all fragrant and dewy from his morning bath, combing his satiny long hair. His eyes were closed, his ridiculously lush lashes forming thick curtains on his sculpted cheeks, and his trademark soft half-smile graced his lips.

He was the perfect picture of graceful ataraxy and numinous beauty. Like a pristine white lotus blooming in the winter lake.

Quiet contentment filled Shi-Yuan as he stood, his gaze transfixed upon Yu-Hu. Like the previous few times when he had been privy to this tranquil and otherworldly side of the Celestial Fox, protective affection and tenderness welled within him, and he blinked back a sudden sheen of tears.

A part of him wished that he was an artist so that he could immortalize this beautiful scene with ink and paper.

If only time and space could stand still right at this moment. How I long to hold this feeling close to me for all time.

Those thoughts that crept unexpectedly into his head gave Shi-Yuan pause, and he frowned. He did not know why he felt such tendresse towards the Celestial Fox. By right, he should not. It was against the Celestial Law for residents of the Kingdom to fall in love. In fact, it was the gravest taboo.

Furthermore, he had an assignment to complete. A critical mission tasked him by the Jade Emperor himself.

He could not afford to get distracted.

Maybe Yu-Hu has bewitched me, he mused.

Nonetheless, his body moved as though it had its own mind, and his arms encircled Yu-Hu's broad shoulders tightly.

"Shi-Yuan," the Celestial Fox turned and smiled. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine." Shi-Yuan's breath caught in his throat, and his face pinkened when Yu-Hu pecked his lips impishly. He looked at the rose-colored marks on the latter's pale throat and touched them gingerly.

"I'm sorry for last night. I got a little too carried away and might have been a little too...rough. Did I hurt you?"

A soft chuckle, sultry and alluring, answered his question.

"No, you didn't. On the contrary," Yu-Hu leaned closer and whispered into his ear. "You gave me a lot of pleasure." The Fox ended his reply with a sharp, playful nip on Shi-Yuan's earlobe.

"And I believe I didn't disappoint you either."

"Yu-Hu!"

Stepping away from his teasing lover, Shi-Yuan spluttered his name aloud in embarrassed indignation as the pink on his cheeks darkened and spread, earning him a delighted chortle. To disguise his shy discomfiture, the young immortal averted his eyes, and his gaze landed on the comb on the dressing table. Yu-Hu had been using it earlier before his interruption.

It was a sandalwood dragon comb. The shaft was the long, sinuous body of a dragon, gracefully undulating in flight, while its majestic head, with its noble countenance, formed the handle. The creature, exquisitely carved down to the finest, most minute details, was so incredibly life-like that one was inclined to believe it would come to life any moment.