Hot flashes

I don't know how much time passed, it felt like an eternity.

The suffocating weight on his body and the almost abusive kisses and tongue finally stopped.

Xiao Jue propped himself up, his sweat-drenched chest heaving in the dim candlelight, his gaze fixed heavily on Zhou Heng—

His young body was covered in red marks, like fallen, gaudy petals scattered on the snow. He trembled slightly, his chest heaving rapidly, his lips bitten until they were bright red, and his eyes even glistened with a hint of tears.

Zhou Heng kept his eyes tightly closed, his eyelashes wet and stuck together, his hands still in the position of being pressed on his head, but his knuckles were no longer so white from the force, revealing a kind of weakness after exhaustion.

Xiao Jue looked at him for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing, then he rolled off the bed, his bare feet stepping onto the carpet, his voice still hoarse and languid with satisfaction: "Get up and go wash yourself."

Zhou Heng didn't move or open his eyes, as if he could escape everything that had just happened.

"Didn't you hear me?" Xiao Jue's voice deepened.

Zhou Heng's body trembled, and he slowly and stiffly sat up.

He lowered his head, not daring to look at Xiao Jue, much less at the marks on his own body. He hurriedly pulled at his stripped undergarment and tried to put it on in a flustered manner.

But his fingers were trembling so badly that he couldn't thread the strap through the buttonhole no matter how many times he tried.

Xiao Jue had already put on his outer robe. He glanced back at him, said nothing, and simply walked to the side, picked up a clean cloth and a new set of undergarments, and threw them onto the couch: "Use this."

Zhou Heng bit her lip, silently put down her wrinkled old clothes, and picked up the new one. The fabric was soft and had a faint scent of soap, clearly prepared in advance.

He dawdled as he dressed, his mind a jumble of thoughts, wanting nothing more than to find a secluded place to bury himself.

"Let's go to the bathroom." Xiao Jue had already tidied himself up, and apart from slightly heavy breathing, there was almost no trace of the intensity he had shown a moment ago. He walked up to Zhou Heng and reached out as if to pull him.

"I'll go by myself!" Zhou Heng suddenly shrank back, his voice so sharp it almost cracked, like a frightened cat. Go take a shower with him?

Are you kidding me! What's the difference between that and throwing a lamb to the slaughter? Who knows what might happen while you're washing it!

Xiao Jue's hand froze in mid-air. Looking at his fearful and wary eyes, his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly before relaxing.

"Whatever you want." He didn't insist, his tone returning to its usual calm, revealing no emotion. "The water is ready, in the small tent on the west side of the outer room."

After saying that, he stopped looking at Zhou Heng, turned around and left the inner room first.

Zhou Heng held the clean clothes and sat on the couch for a few more seconds before finally catching his breath. He stumbled off the bed, not even bothering to put on his shoes, and rushed barefoot to the outer room as if a ghost was chasing him.

Sure enough, the bathhouse was a small cubicle on the west side of the outer room, filled with steam and a tub of water at a comfortable temperature.

Zhou Heng fastened the makeshift door latch with his back, then leaned against the door panel, slowly slid down to sit on the ground, hugged his knees, and buried his face in them.

My body was still trembling slightly, and the places on my skin where I had been kissed and bitten burned with a strange, tingling pain.

My mind is a mess; those images and feelings from just now are replaying uncontrollably.

That's too much... way too much.

He sat on the cold ground for a while until the hot sweat on his body completely cooled down, bringing an uncomfortable sticky feeling, before he finally mustered up his strength, took off the tattered undergarment that barely covered his body, and immersed himself in the warm bathtub.

The water temperature was just right, relieving my tense muscles and some hidden aches and pains.

After washing for a long time, until the water was a little cold, Zhou Heng slowly climbed out, dried himself with a cloth, and changed into a clean and soft new undergarment.

He hesitated for a long time before finally mustering the courage to open the bathroom door.

The outer room had quieted down again, with the charcoal fire burning quietly. Xiao Jue had returned to the inner room, where the curtains were half-drawn.

Zhou Heng, barefoot, quietly moved to the door of the inner room and peeked inside.

Xiao Jue had already lay down, his back to the outside, seemingly asleep.

Zhou Heng breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt inexplicably stifled.

He tiptoed to the edge of the bed, glanced at the empty space on the outer side, and hesitated. He really didn't want to lie down there, but there were no extra blankets in the outer room, and the floor was cold…

In the end, he carefully lay down on the edge of the bed, trying to stay as far away from Xiao Jue as possible. His body was stiff, and he even breathed very softly.

The person next to him, who had been facing away from him, suddenly moved.

Xiao Jue rolled over, stretched out his long arm, and pulled Zhou Heng into his arms, holding him tightly, his chin resting on the top of Zhou Heng's head. The movements were so natural and practiced, as if he had rehearsed them a thousand times.

Zhou Heng froze, instinctively trying to struggle.

"Don't move." Xiao Jue's deep voice came from above, slightly hoarse, and with an undeniable warning. "Or are you still not satisfied?"

Zhou Heng froze instantly, too afraid to move.

"I'm... satisfied!" he hurriedly and softly defended himself, his voice trembling with shame that he himself was unaware of.

Xiao Jue seemed to give a low "hmm" and didn't say anything more, but tightened his arms around him, holding him more tightly in his embrace, his warm breath brushing against the hair behind his ear.

Zhou Heng leaned stiffly against this aggressive embrace, his nose filled with Xiao Jue's clean and crisp scent, mixed with a faint musky scent unique to them after their lovemaking.

The posture was far too intimate, exceeding the boundaries of normal comrades or even master and servant. Yet he dared not move an inch.

He could feel that Xiao Jue's body was still warm, and his heartbeat was steady and strong, transmitted through the thin fabric. But his own heartbeat was so fast it felt like it was about to burst out of his chest.

My mind was a jumbled mess, but my body, exhausted from the intense exertion, gradually relaxed against my will. My tense nerves were slowly eroded by the warmth of her embrace and the rhythm of her breathing.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Heng finally succumbed to the overwhelming drowsiness and his consciousness sank into darkness.

The person holding him slowly opened their eyes after his breathing became even and deep.

In the thick darkness of the night, those eyes, deep and cold as a pool, gazed silently at the sleeping profile of the person in their arms, and only closed again after a long while.