Liuxian grabbed him by the waist and pressed his mouth against his, deep and unhurried, the kind that left no room for thinking about anything else.

Guiying grabbed his shoulders and kissed him back.

Liuxian walked him backward until the back of his knees hit the bed and they went down together.

He pulled back and looked at Guiying beneath him, chest rising and falling, lips slightly swollen, looking up at him with those warm brown eyes that had no business being this devastating.

"Can I take this off?" Liuxian said, his fingers already at the hem of Guiying’s shirt.

"Yes.m" Guiying said.

The shirt came off.

Liuxian looked at him, at the scars mapped across his skin, and pressed his mouth to each one slowly, working his way down Guiying’s chest and stomach without rushing.

Guiying’s fingers went into his hair and tightened.

"Liuxian—"

"Stay still.." Liuxian said against his stomach.

Guiying stayed still.

Liuxian’s hands moved to his shorts, fingers hooking into the waistband. He looked up at Guiying.

"Still okay?" he said.

"Yes.m" Guiying said, and his voice came out considerably less steady than he intended.

The shorts came off.

Liuxian took his time.

That was the thing about him, he did nothing carelessly and this was no exception.

Every touch was deliberate, every movement unhurried, and Guiying who had spent five years enduring something that had nothing to do with want found himself completely undone by someone who was paying attention to every single response his body gave and adjusting accordingly.

"You’re so responsive.." Liuxian said, his mouth at his inner thigh. "Every time I touch you."

Guiying covered his face with his arm.

Liuxian pulled it away. "Don’t hide, my love.."

"I’m not hiding..." Guiying said.

"You are." He held Guiying’s wrist against the bed and looked at his face. "I want to see you."

Guiying looked at him.

Liuxian held his gaze and did something with his hand that made Guiying’s back arch off the bed.

"Liuxian—"

"I have you," Liuxian said simply. "Relax."

And Guiying, for the first time in a very long time, did.

Guiying lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

He had bite marks on his neck, his collarbone, his shoulder, and somewhere on his waist that he was choosing not to think about too hard.

They had not gone all the way. But it had gone far enough that at one point his hand had found its way to Liuxian’s dick and he had gone completely still.

He stared at the ceiling.

That thing was going to be inside him soon.

It was huge.

He pressed his lips together.

He wanted it.

That was the honest truth and he was not going to pretend otherwise.

He trusted Liuxian in a way he had not trusted anyone in a very long time, maybe ever.

They were one month into this marriage and Liuxian had not once done anything that made Guiying feel like he had to brace himself.

He was never going to be Shen Zihao.

Guiying knew that the way he knew certain things, not from hope but from evidence.

He trusted him.

He just also needed a moment to reconcile that trust with the size of what he had just felt in his hand.

He was still staring at the ceiling when Liuxian came out of the bathroom fully dressed and looked at him.

"Get dressed.." he said. "It’s seven forty in the morning New York time. We’ve just landed."

Guiying sat up slowly.

Zhang Wei appeared in the bedroom doorway with a change of clothes draped over his arm.

He had clearly gotten word about the weather because everything he had brought was light and breezy, the kind of clothing that made sense in summer humidity.

Guiying took it without comment and Zhang Wei disappeared.

Liuxian looked at him as he got dressed. "How good is your English?"

Guiying thought about it briefly, stroking his chin. "Anything beyond introductions and you’ve lost me."

Liuxian nodded. He reached into his jacket and produced a phone, already set up with a local SIM. "Your SIM won’t work here."

He handed it to Guiying. "Don’t go anywhere without me. It’s easy to get lost here if you don’t know the city." He pulled out a folded stack of dollar bills and handed those over too. "Just in case."

Guiying looked at the phone and the money in his hands.

"I’ll finish the work meetings by day three," Liuxian said. "After that the rest of the time is ours."

Guiying nodded and pocketed both.

He looked out the small bedroom window.

Outside the New York morning was already bright and warm, the tarmac shimmering slightly in the early heat.

He had never been here before.

Not in this life and not in his last one.

He picked up his bag and followed Liuxian out of the bedroom.

The private terminal on the New York side was quiet.

A black SUV was waiting on the tarmac, the driver standing beside it.

Guiying came down the stairs and stopped.

The heat was immediate and thick, the kind that made Beijing summers feel mild.

He looked around once then got in the car.

"The hotel we’re heading to, is called Global, it’s a five star hotel and I paid for a penthouse suite."

Liuxian said to Guiying whose attention was outside.

He nodded his eyes not leaving the window.

New York was so much different than Beijing, but the crowd was equally similar.

The air here was different from home.

"Liking what you see? There are a lot of places to go sightseeing. And lots of good food to eat." Liuxian sighed, leaning back.

"Like what? Where are we going to, when you’re done with work?" Guiying asked, turning from the window, his gaze locking onto Liuxian’s.

"Well, let’s see." He said stroking his chin. "We could visit Disneyland, Niagara Falls, go to Vegas and play Russian roulette. You name it."

Guiying nodded, they all sounded like fun places to go too.

"We could also go to club, get high and fuck all night.."

-_-