After My Rebirth, My Husband Pampers Me Everyday!

Chapter 150: THE TUB IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR TWO

He paused, then let out a slow breath.

"No, that’s not entirely honest." His voice dropped lower, stripped of its usual composure. "The truth is I was afraid you would reject it, I wasn’t sure my heart could take that, so I said nothing and spent the entire day at my desk thinking about you anyway."

The city moved past the windows and the car stayed quiet around them.

"I want no one else but you, Guiying," Liuxian said, low and unhurried, each word placed with care. "I need only you. Every morning I wake up and it’s you, every evening it’s you again, you are the one I yearn for with every part of me that is capable of yearning."

His arm tightened around Guiying’s shoulders and stayed there. "Only you. That has not changed and I don’t believe it ever will."

Guiying stayed very still against his side for a long moment, and then he said quietly, "I missed you too. The day felt strange without you and I kept thinking about it but I didn’t know how to say it." He turned his face slightly into Liuxian’s shoulder and let it rest there. "I want only you too, Liuxian. Just you. I don’t need anyone else."

Liuxian went still the way he went still when something caught him off guard and he needed a second to absorb it properly, his hand pausing against Guiying’s arm.

Then he shifted, tilting Guiying’s chin up gently with two fingers, and Guiying let him, tipping his face up without resistance, and Liuxian kissed him — soft and unhurried, the kind of kiss that wasn’t trying to go anywhere but simply wanted to stay exactly where it was. Warm, quiet and complete.

Guiying kissed him back just as softly, his free hand finding the lapel of Liuxian’s jacket and curling loosely into it, and for a moment the city outside ceased to exist entirely.

When they pulled apart Liuxian rested his forehead against Guiying’s and breathed, his eyes closed, while Guiying stayed there with him feeling something in his chest settle into a warmth so steady it was almost unbearable.

"Two kisses tomorrow morning," Liuxian murmured against his mouth. "Don’t forget."

Guiying smiled against his lips. "I won’t forget."

The mansion was warm and low-lit when they got in, and Uncle Wang was already at the door, his eyes doing a quiet sweep over both of them before he stepped back and held it open.

"The tub is ready," he said.

"Thank you, Uncle Wang," Liuxian said, his hand finding the small of Guiying’s back and staying there as they walked in.

Old Li appeared briefly from the kitchen, set a small plate of butter cookies and two cups of barley tea on the side table by the stairs with the quiet efficiency of a man who understood that sometimes people didn’t need conversation, said "eat something" to Guiying in a tone that left no room for argument, and disappeared back inside.

Guiying picked up a cookie and ate it on the way up the stairs.

The bathroom was steaming gently when he pushed the door open, the tub full and fragrant and the lighting low and warm, Guiying stood in the doorway for a moment and just breathed it in before undressing, sinking in slowly, feeling the heat work its way through his shoulders and down his back and into every place the day had settled and made itself at home.

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the rim.

He could still see it when he closed them — the ground stained red with blood, Ren Hao’s face — but it was quieter now, held at a distance by the warmth of the water and the stillness of the room and the faint fragrance of whatever Uncle Wang had put in the bath that was doing something very effective to his nerves.

He didn’t hear Liuxian come in.

He only registered him when the door clicked shut again,he opened his eyes to find Liuxian leaning against the vanity with his jacket already off and draped neatly over his arm, his sleeves rolled to the elbow, looking at Guiying with an expression that was perfectly composed and completely innocent.

"You look better," Liuxian said.

"The water helps," Guiying said, and closed his eyes again.

A pause.

Then the sound of a cufflink being set on the vanity.

Guiying opened one eye.

Liuxian was working on the second one, unhurried, setting it down beside the first with a small precise click before reaching for his shirt buttons with the calm focused energy of a man simply getting ready for bed and thinking nothing of it whatsoever.

Guiying watched him.

"What are you doing?" he said.

"Getting in," Liuxian said, without looking up from his buttons.

"This is my bath," Guiying said.

"The tub is large enough for two," Liuxian said, still perfectly reasonable, shrugging his shirt off his shoulders and folding it over the vanity with the same unhurried composure he did everything, and Guiying stared at him for a moment before deciding he had no particular objection and saying nothing more.

Liuxian got in behind him.

The water shifted and resettled and then Liuxian’s legs were on either side of him, his chest was warm against Guiying’s back, one arm came around his waist and settled there, pulling him in gently, Guiying sat very still for a moment before leaning back into it and letting his weight rest against Liuxian’s chest.

Liuxian pressed his lips to the back of Guiying’s neck and held them there for a moment before moving, tracing a slow path along the curve of his neck and across his shoulder, unhurried and deliberate, like he had all the time in the world and intended to use every bit of it.

Guiying’s breath shifted.

"You’re doing this on purpose," he said.

"I don’t know what you mean," Liuxian said against his shoulder, and pressed another kiss there, and then another just below his ear, and Guiying tipped his head slightly to the side without meaning to and felt Liuxian smile against his skin.

His lips moved down across the curve of his shoulder and along his collarbone then to the center of his chest, slow and deliberate and entirely without urgency, Guiying sat in the warm water with his eyes closed and his head tipped back against Liuxian’s shoulder and said nothing more because there was nothing to say and nowhere else in the world he wanted to be.

"Liuxian," he said softly, after a moment.

"Mm," Liuxian said against his skin, his lips stilling but not lifting.

"Thank you," Guiying said. "For today."

Liuxian lifted his head and pressed one kiss to the side of Guiying’s face, then rested his chin on his shoulder and pulled him a little closer and held him there, and said nothing, because some things didn’t need an answer.

The water stayed warm around them and the night stayed quiet outside and neither of them moved for a long time.

"I want to make you scream tonight, make you cream until you’re begging for babies.."