Chu Yun woke up in drowsy stages, his muscles lax and liquid from the night before. He shifted in the bed and felt Xiao Zai's arm tighten around him, keeping him in place. He also became aware of the hardness still pressed inside him.
He felt behind him awkwardly. Xiao Zai's knot had gone down, but improbably, he hadn't slipped out during the night, and now, the motions of Chu Yun waking up had worked him back to hardness.
Chu Yun rolled his hips backwards, wrenching a sleepy moan from Xiao Zai, who tightened his arm reflexively and pushed his hips into Chu Yun, seeking more while still clinging to the last vestiges of sleep.
It seemed like a waste to pull away when they were both enjoying this languid, lazy rutting, so Chu Yun didn't. Making a mental wager of how long it would take for Xiao Zai to wake up fully.
Not long, it turned out. Chu Yun's only warning was a choking gasp, and then a hiss buried in the back of his neck.
"Good, you're up, I was tired of doing all the work myself," Chu Yun said, voice dispassionate, as if it wasn't his own arousal that had prompted him to make use of Xiao Zai.
Xiao Zai snapped his hips into him, making Chu Yun groan, and slid his arm down his abdomen, wrapping his leaking cock in a loose fist. "Are you taking advantage of me?" he rasped, his voice warm with amusement and sleep, made gritty by the awakening of lust.
Chu Yun dug his fingers into the flesh of the arm around his middle. "You like being taken advantage of."
Xiao Zai's answering laugh was lost in the snap of his hips and the slick sounds of their coupling, no longer as lazy as it had began.
---
Hours later, Chu Yun finally wrenched himself away from the soiled bed and Xiao Zai's grabbing hands.
"We are respectable people," Chu Yun insisted, stepping out of the wooden bathtub and dripping water all over the floor. Uncaring of the floors now that it wasn't his rooms. "We aren't going to spend the entire day locked in here fucking."
He could feel Xiao Zai's gaze on his back as he slipped the inner robe over his wet skin, making it stick to the planes and curves of his body.
"Why not? It seems like such a wonderful idea," Xiao Zai sighed mournfully, sinking against the edge of the tub. "One day I'll chain you to the bed."
Chu Yun shot him a look over the shoulder. He still hadn't made up his mind regarding how Xiao Zai's sudden bouts of possessiveness made him feel -- still din't know if they were something he wanted to encourage or not.
But in the meantime, he could take advantage of them.
"I'll let you, on the day you become King," he said, smirking around the words. "I'll even call you 'my King', and 'his Majesty'."
"What about alpha?" Xiao Zai asked, his nostrils flaring, his fingers digging into the edge of the tub.
Chu Yun pulled his long hair to the side, revealing the unblemished expanse of his nape. He trailed his fingers down the smooth skin. "I'm your alpha, why would I do that?"
He heard Xiao Zai's frustrated growl behind him, as he picked up his discarded outer robe from the floor. If Xiao Zai didn't want to be teased, he shouldn't make it so much fun for Chu Yun.
---
It was a lovely winter day outside, the sky was so blue it hurt the eyes, and the sun had decided to grace them with its rare presence.
Chu Yun took the opportunity to inspect the progress on the last of the estate's courtyards, while drinking the foul medical concoction that kept his stomach bug subdued.
He felt a pang of guilt whenever he thought about it, and how he still hadn't said anything to his parents. He wasn't sure he should, not by letter. It could be easily intercepted and he didn't anyone to learn of the pregnancy.
Still, Chu Hean had stolen away in the middle of the night from a Zui forest, after seemingly colluding from someone from Su, his parents needed to learn about that.
He finished his medicine with a grimace and went back inside to write a letter to his father informing him of everything that had transpired.
He had no sooner sent Hua Nanyi to post the letter when Fan Jiang approached him, his head lowered. He greeted him politely, and then asked:
"I was wondering if his Grace would allow me to spend a few days at the Crown Prince's estate." His cheeks flushed faintly as he spoke, giving away just what exactly he would spend those 'few days' doing.
Chu Yun was grateful for what Fan Jiang had done, both his warning and for staying loyal to their household when in direct competition with Xiao Yuan. He knew he sneaked away often to visit the First Prince, but on the wake of such personal tragedy, perhaps he felt like Xiao Yuan needed to taken care of.
A kinder person would have said yes and sent him on his way with well wishes for Xiao Yuan, and perhaps a gift.
But while Chu Yun was kind, he was also an opportunist. "Of course, in fact, I should pay his Royal Highness a visit too, we can take the carriage."
Fan Jiang's face paled somewhat. "That's not necessary, his Grace doesn't need to inconvenience himself on my account..."
Chu Yun grinned and slapped Fan Jiang on the back, shocking him even more. "Nonsense, you'll be more comfortable on the carriage, beside as his brother-in-law, it's my duty to offer my condolences and support during such a difficult time for his Royal Highness."
Fan Jiang knew there was no point in arguing with him, and could only hang his head in the defeat as he followed Chu Yun towards the stables.
For his part, Chu Yun was going to take the opportunity to plant a few more seeds of discord.. The King wanted his first son completely broken under his authority -- perhaps Xiao Yuan would appreciate being given an alternative.
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