Chapter 136: You’re Still Dressed

Hanchuan’s mouth followed the path his hands had already taken.

The last of their argument disappeared when he kissed the center of Zhiyi’s chest right over her heart. He released her hands, and one immediately entered his hair while the other settled against his shoulder.

She didn’t pull him closer or urge him to hurry. She simply held him as he moved down her body, her fingers traveling with him as though she disliked losing even that small point of contact.

The quiet trust in the gesture settled somewhere beneath Hanchuan’s ribs.

His entire day had been spent guarding pieces of her from people who believed their need gave them the right to take.

Director Han wanted her calculations. The city wanted her attention. Every report arriving downstairs carried another problem large enough to make her forget that she required food, sleep and time that belonged only to her.

Hanchuan wanted her too, but not as another resource to consume.

He wanted the woman beneath him to forget the city for a while. He wanted every thought of water queues and failing buildings replaced by his hands, his mouth and the certainty that nothing outside their bedroom could reach her unless he allowed it.

Zhiyi’s breathing changed when his mouth closed over her breast.

Her fingers tightened in his hair, and her back lifted from the mattress.

The movement brought her closer with an honesty she rarely gave words, and Hanchuan answered it by wrapping one arm around her waist.

She softened against him.

He kissed her slowly, lingering until her head tipped back and the hand on his shoulder began moving without direction.

Her palm crossed the back of his neck, then returned to his shoulder before her fingernails pressed lightly into his skin.

Hanchuan looked up at her.

The careful focus that usually sharpened Zhiyi’s gaze had dissolved. Her lips remained parted, and the flush spreading across her skin had nothing to do with the deadly heat beyond the shelter walls.

She was beautiful when she was solving problems.

She was beautiful when she stood beside him without flinching while the world learned what kind of man protected her.

But this version of her belonged only to him.

The thought brought his mouth back to her body.

Zhiyi inhaled sharply when his hand slipped between her thighs. Her leg shifted beside him, opening without hesitation, and Hanchuan felt the welcome in the movement more powerfully than he would have felt any carefully chosen invitation.

"Hanchuan," she moaned, his name left her on an uneven breath.

He raised himself enough to kiss her. Zhiyi met his mouth immediately, and the hand in his hair held him there while his fingers continued touching her.

She had never needed many words between them.

Hanchuan knew the change in her breathing when pleasure began to build. He knew the way her body moved toward him when she wanted more and how tightly she held him when thought became impossible.

Knowing her this well didn’t make the moment predictable.

It made every response precious.

He kissed the corner of her mouth, then the sensitive place beneath her ear. Zhiyi tilted her head to give him better access while her nails pressed more firmly into his shoulder.

The bed, the clock and the city disappeared around them.

Nothing remained except the woman beneath him.

Hanchuan touched her with all the patience he hadn’t believed he possessed when they entered the room. He could have carried her quickly toward release.

Instead, he gave her time to enjoy every slow movement of his fingers and every kiss he pressed against her throat.

Zhiyi had surrendered enough comfort in the name of efficiency. She wasn’t sacrificing this too.

Her breathing grew unsteady. The arm around his shoulders tightened, and one leg curved around his side until she held him against her.

Hanchuan lifted his head.

Her eyes were closed, but she turned toward him as soon as his mouth left her neck. The small movement found him without sight, trusting him to remain exactly where she expected.

Emotion struck harder than desire.

He brushed the loose hair away from her cheek. "Look at me."

Zhiyi opened her eyes.

Hanchuan nearly forgot how to breathe.

There was no city in her gaze. No unfinished model or distant calculation. She looked at him as though he were the only thing inside her world.

For several seconds, he allowed himself to believe it.

Then his fingers moved again.

Pleasure crossed her face before she could contain it. Her lips parted around his name, and Hanchuan kissed her while her body tightened beneath his hand.

He kept her close when the tension broke.

Zhiyi shuddered in his arms. Her breath escaped against his mouth, and her fingernails pressed deeply enough into his shoulder to leave marks.

Hanchuan welcomed every one of them.

He continued touching her until the final tremor passed. Even then, he didn’t move away. He held her against his chest while her breathing slowly quieted and her hand loosened in his hair.

She remained beneath him with her eyes closed.

Hanchuan kissed her forehead.

The tenderness of the gesture seemed to reach her more slowly than everything else had. Her face turned toward his, and her lips brushed the base of his palm.

The spontaneous kiss nearly destroyed him.

He had survived the pressure of keeping nine shelters functional and the knowledge that millions of people were beginning to understand how little protection their city could provide.

None of it weakened him as completely as Zhiyi showing him affection without being prompted.

His thumb crossed her cheek.

When she opened her eyes, Hanchuan was still watching her.

"You’re staring," she murmured.

"I know."

She waited for him to explain.

Hanchuan could have told her that he wanted to remember the way she looked now, protected from every demand except his. He could have admitted that carrying her into the bedroom had been the first selfish thing he had allowed himself all day.

Instead, he lowered his mouth and kissed her softly.

Zhiyi accepted the answer.

Her hand traveled down his chest, following the line of his body until her fingers reached the waistband of his pants.

Only then did she appear to notice what he had neglected.

Her gaze moved down before returning to his face with a faint crease between her brows.

"You’re still dressed."

The dissatisfaction in her voice warmed him more thoroughly than the room ever could.

Hanchuan caught her hand and kissed her fingers. "Not for long," he assured her.