Wen Shilan managed to check Qi Yan’s fury, though not entirely. Before they left, Qi Yan struck Tang Wan once more. Three blows in succession wouldn’t kill Tang, but they would keep him in bed for months.
Tang was capable enough that he shouldn’t have been helpless against Qi Yan. But the first blow had caught him completely off guard. After that, fighting back was difficult.
The muscle relaxant was still affecting Wen. His legs were so weak that Qi Yan had to carry him from the car when they got home. Wen looped his arms around Qi Yan’s neck and rested against his chest. Surrounded by that familiar warmth, he realized how much he had missed him. Terribly much.
Wen clung to him, but Qi Yan felt none of the pleasure he usually would. His blood seemed to race wildly through his veins, as though it might burst free.
He had been so close to arriving too late. So close.
Qi Yan laid Wen on the bed. His gaze was cold as an ice-coated blade, moving inch by inch over Wen’s skin, as though he wanted to cut him open and devour him whole.
He had been gone for only a week, and someone had nearly hurt Wen.
“Wen Shilan, you’re coming back to the Werewolf Planet with me.”
It wasn’t a question this time. Wen had to go.
What had happened today was already more danger than Qi Yan could bear.
“Stopping me from killing Tang Wan used up every bit of patience I had left. So don’t make me angry again, Wen Shilan. All right?”
His voice was low. He bent to brush his cheek against Wen’s smooth, pale face. With his soft silver hair, he looked like a rebellious young man. But his narrow eyes held emotions so dense they seemed to wrap around Wen layer by layer, as though he wanted to bind Wen’s soul and never let him escape.
Qi Yan knew why Wen had stopped him from killing Tang. Wen had always cared deeply about his duty. Tang was Silan’s current general. If he died, the planet would be left without a leader, and no one else in the Federation could presently pass the trial furnace and take his place.
A planet without a general might face destruction. Wen hadn’t spared Tang for Tang’s sake. He’d done it for Silan.
Qi Yan still couldn’t understand it. If someone dared hurt him, he would kill them without a thought for the consequences.
Wen wouldn’t. To Wen, duty to his planet came before love, and even before his own safety.
Qi Yan’s hand slipped down Wen’s cheek to his throat, coming to rest around the slender, pale column of his neck. Wen had no mental power, and the muscle relaxant was still in his system. He had no strength to resist.
The slightest pressure would be enough for Qi Yan to kill him. Wen’s life was in his hands.
But how could Qi Yan ever let Wen die? He didn’t even dare tighten his grip. His hand rested loosely around Wen’s neck as he lowered his head and brushed their noses together.
Their lips were close enough that their breaths mingled.
Wen closed his eyes and tilted his chin up a little. He had stopped Qi Yan from killing Tang simply because his mission wasn’t finished. Qi Yan’s reaction, though, was exactly what he’d expected.
Whenever Wen’s safety was involved, his ex-husband became especially fierce. Wen suspected he was in for a difficult time today.
“Qi Yan, I…”
“Shh.”
Qi Yan put a finger to Wen’s lips, stopping him.
“You don’t need to say anything. Just be good and listen to me. Stop fighting it. This time, you’re coming back to the Werewolf Planet.”
…
Wen opened his eyes and stared at Qi Yan without speaking.
Qi Yan was the one who wouldn’t listen. Wen couldn’t be blamed for not explaining.
He hadn’t intended to refuse this time. The moment he learned Tang planned to keep him captive, Wen knew he would end up going to the Werewolf Planet.
The work he needed to do on Silan was done. His mission wasn’t complete yet, but he no longer needed to stay there. He had been going to say yes to Qi Yan.
But Qi Yan clearly still thought Wen Shilan was going to refuse, so he gave him no chance to speak.
The familiar scent of crabapple blossoms filled Qi Yan’s senses. It calmed him a little, but only a little. The next moment, he thought of how, if he hadn’t arrived in time, someone else would have been close enough to smell Wen’s scent. Fury and frantic jealousy came rushing back twice as strong. His voice turned colder. “Do you know what Tang Wan would have done if I hadn’t arrived in time? He would have taken off your clothes, layer by layer, just as I’m doing now.”
“And the muscle relaxant in your system would have left you with no strength to resist.”
“Wen Shilan, this might hurt a little. Bear with it. Maybe then you’ll remember, listen to me, and understand that the safest place for you is at my side.”
Everything was unfolding just as Wen had expected. He’d known Qi Yan was going to make him suffer for this.
Wen opened his mouth, but this time Qi Yan stopped him before he could get out a single word. He didn’t kiss Wen. Instead, he used a strip from Wen’s torn shirt to cover his mouth, tying it behind his head in a neat bow.
No one had ever treated Wen this way before. His eyes widened in disbelief, fear tangled in their bright depths.
“Mmph! Mm-mm-mmm-mmph!”
Qi Yan! Are you asking to die?
Where did you get the nerve to do this to me?
Unable to speak, Wen could only make muffled sounds of protest.
The muscle relaxant left him too weak to fight back. He pushed feebly at Qi Yan, several times trying to reach behind his head and undo the knot. Each time, Qi Yan pulled his hands away before he could touch it. Then he loosely bound Wen’s wrists with another strip of cloth. It wasn’t tight enough to hurt, but in Wen’s present condition, he couldn’t break free.
He’d gone mad. He really had gone mad.
When had Yan Shiqing ever been made to suffer an indignity like this? Lu Yan had some nerve. Just wait until they were back in Boundless Space. No, he wouldn’t have to wait that long. The moment the strips of cloth came off his mouth and wrists—
He’d make that damned puppy regret it!
Wen Shilan couldn’t fight back. He couldn’t even voice a refusal. All he could do was endure whatever Qi Yan chose to do.
After what felt like an eternity, Wen’s eyes flew open. For an instant, his bright eyes looked unfocused, their outer corners deeply flushed.
“Wen Shilan, I love you.” Qi Yan’s movements were fierce, but his voice was impossibly tender.
Their intense encounter went on so long that the bow tied behind Wen’s head finally worked loose. At last he could speak, though his voice was painfully hoarse and trembling. “Qi Yan, please… give me a break.”
With the last of his strength, Wen lifted his bound hands around Qi Yan’s neck. His beautiful eyes shone with tears as he looked up at him, a pitiable sight.
There it was again. Wen always did this to make Qi Yan give in. Even knowing Wen was playing on his sympathy, Qi Yan still wanted to listen and stop.
Ordinarily, he would have ended things quickly and gathered Wen into his arms to comfort him. This time, he couldn’t. He was determined to make Wen remember this.
Qi Yan removed Wen’s arms from around his neck and untied his wrists. Wen thought he had relented and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could offer Qi Yan a conciliatory smile, Qi Yan turned him over.
Unable to see Wen’s face now, Qi Yan bent down against him. His voice was gentle, but his words dashed Wen’s hopes. “It’s only just gotten dark. We have the whole night ahead of us. The real punishment hasn’t even begun.”
He nipped Wen’s earlobe softly and felt a flicker of pleasure when Wen flinched.
Outside, the sky had only just begun to darken, while Wen’s voice was already growing fainter.
“Qi Yan, I hate you. I hate you.”
Wen barely had the strength to speak; the words came out more like a murmur. Dark marks covered his back, arms, lower stomach, chest, collarbones, and neck. Against his porcelain-pale skin, they made him look painfully fragile.
Qi Yan gazed at Wen Shilan with something close to obsession in his deep-blue eyes.
He loved this man so much. Even now, it didn’t feel like enough. He found himself wishing he could swallow Wen whole and keep him inside him.
But he couldn’t, and he never would.
Wen’s last thought before he passed out was: If Qi Yan doesn’t wear me out to death on this bed tonight, I’m going to kill him when I wake up!
Of course Wen wouldn’t die. Qi Yan could never bear to let that happen. He kept transferring energy to Wen throughout the night. Wen would survive, and once he recovered, his body would even be somewhat stronger than before. For now, though, he would be briefly overwhelmed.
That came only at the end. Pleasure and pain had mingled, and Qi Yan could tell Wen had felt pleasure too. The pleasure was real. So was the pain.
Qi Yan wanted Wen to remember this. Then next time, he would be afraid, and he would listen!
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