No Light: 3 Lives, 3 Worlds , Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms AU

Part 10: Her

"Qian Qian . . . "

She froze, her mind struggling with patches of other memories, of being held . . .of yearning to kiss those lips. It hadn't been a dream, had it? She rubbed at her forehead, as that moment of heady magic burned anew inside of her. Forcing her mind to retrace those flashes . . .back to moments of murmured sighs and near silent moans. In the darkness of the night, with only the moon to light their way, there had been heat and warmth. She had burned, even as she had sought to be closer to the fire. His arms had been strong around her waist, and she had nearly strangled him with the hold she had around his neck.

"Ye Hua. . . . Ye Hua, you . . ."

They had been close, so close.

Pulling back from the past, forcing herself to remain in the now, she gazed into his dark eyes. Bai Qian felt as if the air was frozen in her lungs. She couldn't have looked away from his gaze even if she wanted to; she was lost. In all of her existence, she had never come across someone so brazen. Staring at him blankly, her mouth slightly open, she told her body to act, react, but her muscles refused to listen.

He gazed into her shocked eyes, waiting for something, anything. His arms were still wrapped around her waist, his face inches from hers, the two sharing breaths as the moments ticked by. Time, that had stopped for a moment, began to move once more. The world around them came to life, and he reached up and gently closed her mouth with a touch of his finger against her chin. His fingers remained, caressing her skin, stealing a touch he knew he had no right to. In that stolen moment, he closed his eyes and inhaled, taking the scent of her deep inside.

Bai Qian finally jerked back, pushing out of his arms and rubbing at her chin, trying to erase the sensations his touch had evoked. Glaring at him mutely, she blew out air from her lips, hoping to cool the heat in her cheeks. "Merely?' she whispered, and then cleared her throat, hitting at her chest a time or two. "Merely?" she yelled this time and saw the townspeople were staring at them once more. While she'd been having her mini-crisis, Ye Hua had unfrozen the lot of them to stand around and gawk. She scurried away, silently berating herself for feeling embarrassed. He was the one who had acted hastily.

"You left all of your things behind," he noted huskily from behind her, his voice sending a shiver down her back. "If you left now, you'd only have to return. Why not begin your journey tomorrow?"

She turned back, her eyes surreptitiously tracing his lips before darting up to meet his interested gaze. She could still feel the heat, her lips inflamed from the gentle impact of his. Her mind was reeling, and he could calmly talk about returning to Mt. Junji?

"Qian Qian," he urged persuasively, "Let's go home."

"Qian Qian, let's go somewhere today. The immortal realms have much to offer us."

"Where would we go? Why would we go?"

"We've been on Mt. Junji for some time now. I've left many times to take care of business, but you, you haven't left the mountain at all. I'm sure there are things that we can explore out there."

. . .

"I don't want to."

"Qian Qian, please."

. . .

"Fine."

Her head jerked back, seeking to clear it of all confusing thoughts. Remaining silent, she moved away from him, struggling to think through the storm his kiss had awakened.

"Or are you afraid, Goddess?" he called out tauntingly.

She whirled around, just in time to see a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Taking in that expression, she retorted mutinously, "I know what you're doing." When he said nothing, she continued curtly, "I'm not afraid of anything." And yet, she began to walk towards Mt. Junji, feeling she had something to prove to this young pup.