His Majesty And I ✔️

Tea Leaves

"I didn't say yes."

"Should I cry to have you let me stay?"

He massaged his cheek, the horror of being slapped masking his visage.

"This woman is too cruel. Hao, you will stay for the night but you are sleeping on the floor."

"I  didn't make you sleep on the floor in Yi Yuan," she protested.

Her jumping on the bed like a kid irritated him because he carried her off and lightly threw her on the floor.

"Ouch... Yuwen Hong! You treat the person you will sleep with like this? I hope you sleep with one eye open."

"Call Court Lady Nam and have her prepare a makeshift bed for you there."

"It gets very cold at night!"

"Servants sleep on mattresses, you complain now?"

"I'm no longer a servant," she sulked. "I'm your woman."

"You better hurry," he opened his blankets, "because once I am in bed and ready to sleep, I will order them to switch off the candles whether you are ready or not."

Li Lian summoned Court Lady Nam to prepare a mattress with bedding for her. They did this as Yuwen Hong sat in his bed, back to observing the map he came with. He traced his fingers on it in deep thinking.

When they were done, Yuwen Hong told them they might as well blow off the candles. The attendants left them in a pitch black room. Li Lian did not know what to say. Sleep well?

He didn't say anything so she didn't say anything either. She cuddled herself warmly trying to sleep but she couldn't doze. Sleeping was uncomfortable without the bandage of cloth that she normally wrapped around her back when lying on surfaces this hard. The mattress was't like a padded bed. Her back arched and she continuously turned.

Yuwen Hong hissed. "I wake before sunrise and you are making it hard for me to sleep."

"Forgive me," she mumbled and tried to keep straight. What was with her back? Recently she felt like it was on fire when she was uncomfortable.

She couldn't keep straight. She was not comfortable here. Maybe she should quietly leave and go back to her quarters. But she couldn't bear to do the walk of shame. People would be talking about her tomorrow that she was thrown out by the emperor.

What to do? What to do?

She was about to get up when she felt herself being airlifted into his strong arms. "What are you doing?" She twisted in his arms so he would put her down.

"Doing what I should have done a long time ago." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "We have shared a bed before at the Borderlands, why can't we have that again?"

Her insides soared.

Yuwen Hong snickered. "Is it only in my arms my Little Fox can sleep in?"

"Everything is not about you."

He slowly lay her on the bed. It was way plush, snug and pleasant to her back than the floor. "Why can't you sleep then? Does sleeping with me scare you because you are afraid I will kill you?"

He was still making it about him. This man.

He made himself comfortable next to her and pulled the blankets up to their waist.

"My back actually hurts."

"Where?" He turned her to give her back to him. "Point at it for me."

"Here."

He massaged her on the spot she pointed at. His hands kneaded and rubbed with a sultry sensuous rhythm. He worked on the exact spots she yearned to be touched.

"There is something on your back that is unusual."

"What?" she hyperventilated. She was breathless due to his surreptitious torment.

He didn't respond either. The intensity of the moment had them lustful. He loosened her nightwear, pushing it down for access to massage her skin-to-skin.

She was mentally lethargic, she fisted her hands and her toes coiled. His hands were deliberately provocative, they slid down her back and snaked to her chest.

Li Lian sharply breathed in when he pinched her nipple. Her back arched, wanting more.

Before he could take her further she disturbed the moment with her words. "Some tea leaves are eaten and some discarded after use. I'm not willing to be a used tea leaf again, discarded when in the throes of steamy... hot waters. Your Majesty, are we doing it tonight?"

His hand trembled as if he would throw away his sanity and strip her naked. She felt it, the desire in the air, the mood swaying with pent up need and want. His fingers circled her nippple, hesitating, then he let her go.

He threw cold water on them by changing the topic.

"I will have them perform acupuncture on you tomorrow, maybe you are tense and need release through your meridians."

"I don't think that is necessary."

"Anything concerning you is important." Pushing her nightwear up to cover her, he pulled her to him and had her head rest on his chest. "I did not have you for a long time, and now I have a chance to make it up for all the lost years."

Yu'er was so sweet. Maybe he liked her as implied. In this recklessness where she was falling, she wasn't falling alone. He would be there to catch her. She won't be broken as long as he is there. Due to this, could she trust him and tell him everything?  Yet, blood was thicker than water. Her nation assassinating their dragon was inexcusable.

She felt him breathe in her hair before asking her, "What is your favourite food?"

It was a random question but a testament to the fact that they didn't know each other because of the years they were separated. They had grown and therefore changed.

"Vegetables."

"Yuk. You have a blend taste."

She giggled. "Good for my skin. What about you?"

Yuwen Hong loved food. You only had to see the portions they served him and how he almost ate everything, to know that.

His hand trailed up and down her back to soothe her. "Meat. I love meat: shark fin soup, fried prawns, spicy crabs, dezhou braised chicken, pekin duck..."

As Yu'er continued listing his favourite dishes, what he had tasted as gifts from kings, some he got when travelling, she realised that this man was lonely. As he said earlier, all he wanted was just a friend he could open up to.

The dragon was just as human as everyone else.

S.V