Moonlit Hearts

Chapter 65: Where Ice Breaks Softly

The water bit into his skin like cold glass, numbing but clean. Lan Wangji stood waist-deep in the ruins of Odin's sacred pool, surrounded by weathered stone and the distant hush of falling leaves. The silence here was sharper than the wind-almost reverent, as though the destruction had left something purer in its wake.

He had come alone. Or so he thought.

A sharp splash broke the stillness.

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying's voice rang out, gleeful and clear as he surfaced beside him, hair slicked back, face split by a grin. "You have to tell me before you come out here to freeze to death in holy water. It's rude not to invite your husband."

Wangji blinked droplets from his lashes. "You'll freeze."

Wei Ying swam closer with a teasing smile. "Then warm me up, husband."

Wangji raised an eyebrow, but there was the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth. "You keep calling me that."

"Well," Wei Ying said, circling him with a delighted glint in his eye, "you are the love of my life, and I'm planning to marry you, so I'm just practicing."

"We are not married yet."

Wei Ying grinned wider, pressing a wet kiss to his cheek. "Semantics."

Wangji cupped his waist, pulling him flush against his chest. "Impatient."

"Terribly," Wei Ying said, his breath warm against Wangji's mouth. "Want to teach me patience?"

Wangji didn't answer. He just kissed him.

It started playful-laughter echoing off cold stone, stolen kisses between splashes-but melted into something slower, something rich with unspoken promises. Wei Ying clung to him, legs wrapping around his waist, and Wangji bore his weight easily, carrying him through the water like he was always meant to hold him.

Clothes slipped away like petals on the surface, drifting forgotten. Every kiss deepened. Every touch found skin still warmed from the garden firelight and chilled now by the sacred pool. Wei Ying sighed his name in half-laughter, half-surrender.

"Lan Zhan..." he whispered, when Wangji's hand settled low on his back, when his mouth found the curve of his throat.

"Yes."

"I'm not cold anymore."

"Mn."

"But I still want you to keep warming me." 

Wangji gave him a long, knowing look. His hands slid down from Wei Ying's waist beneath the water, fingers drawing light paths along his back. "You're insatiable," he said, voice low but touched with fondness. And still Wangji obliged-with lips, with slow, careful hands, with every part of himself.

Wei Ying grinned, pressing closer until their bodies fully met beneath the surface. "Only for you."

Their kiss deepened again, but this time it was slower-more claiming than teasing. Wei Ying curled his fingers into Wangji's hair, pulling him closer with quiet urgency. The warmth between them bloomed fast now, heat gathering under the chill surface of the water like fire sheltered from the wind.

Wangji guided Wei Ying gently, his hands secure and reverent, settling him into his lap beneath the surface. Wei Ying's knees tightened around him, a quiet gasp leaving his throat as their hips aligned.

The friction was muted by the water but no less intoxicating.

Wei Ying's voice broke softly as he leaned his forehead against Wangji's. "It still feels like a dream. Being with you like this."