Fanfiction3: A-Li's Three Lives, Three Worlds - Chapter 47 (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花)
Chapter 47
written by TVAddcit & kakashi - NSFWedited by LigayaCroft and Panda
“Who gave me this, Nǎinai?” Mei Lin held the wooden hairpin close to the old woman’s face. To her own annoyance, she sounded weepy and sullen as she asked, like a petulant child. Was it because she already knew the answer and because she did not want to deal with what it meant?
“Gun Gun,” the confirmation came. The old woman did not even have to look. “He made it.”
He made it?
Nǎinai snickered. “He asked Fu Gang for instructions. As if he had not enough on his shoulders already with A-Li and Xiăohŭ gone! He sat here hunkered over, carving away every night, cutting his beautiful fingers again and again…”
“I get it, Nǎinai,” Mei Lin interrupted her.
The fur mittens. Her favorite steamed buns. A necklace made from the teeth of a bear. The wood he chopped for her bath, often late at night. Now the hairpin. Yes, she got it.
But what should she do?
***
Twenty-five days ago…
“Is he your first?”
Mei Lin’s heart wanted to stop as her face exploded with heat.
“You can talk to me, child,” Nǎinai said and patted her hand. “And you need to talk to me. What has your mother told you… or not your mother, your… maid? Ah, I do not know how you royals get the necessary education.”
Her mother. Her mother had looked at her one day, up and down with appreciation. You will be a woman of great beauty soon, she said with pride. Lin’er, do you already know what happens when a man and a woman are intimate with each other?
She had said “yes” because she had heard all there was to hear and read all there was to read about it… was what she thought. Of course she hadn’t known anything.
Thinking about her mother brought tears into her eyes.
“Don’t cry, you silly girl,” Nǎinai said. “Consider yourself lucky. He is a very fine, very well raised man. You two are excellently matched. Maybe your parents have even considered this match before?”
“Never!” Mei Lin exclaimed. An image of her father rose in her mind. She tried to imagine his wrath at learning what she had done, but somehow, she tried to conjure up his scowling face in vain. All she could remember was what he looked like when he smiled at her. It just made her cry even harder.
“Let me tell you about my first time,” Nǎinai said. “I was sold for money even before I had my first monthly bleeding. He was old and fat and drunk. Of course, I didn’t want it. I learnt to adjust with time, but I was not as lucky as you.”
If this was meant to make her feel better, it didn’t. Nǎinai squinted at her.
“Is it because he is promised to another that you cry?”
Gun Gun? Her face screwed in sympathy for the woman who would be wed to him. At least that stopped the tears. But… was he? She tried to think whether it had ever come up as a topic. Her brother would be the one to know, he loved to go on and on about royal lineage and who was matched to whom and how that affected the power balance in the realms and… yes, there might have been someone Gun Gun was to marry, but she couldn’t remember.
“Even if he is, it does not matter, child,” Nǎinai chuckled. “He is here and he wants you.”
He wanted her. Why did Gun Gun want her? Her hair always looked horrible, her clothes were ill-fitting, her skin was burnt from the sun, her hands were rough.
He must be bored, she surmised. Of course, a body so used to… to this kind of thing, how long could it go without? Not long ago, he had tried to get close to Xiăohŭ, likely for the same reason, but Li-Ge had won that competition. So of course, he would try with her next. She shuddered involuntarily. So embarrassing.
“I am… I am not good enough,” Mei Lin pressed out defiantly, expecting the old woman to laugh at her. But she didn’t.
“Ah, child… you will get better with practice. Has he been with many women? Why do I even ask… of course he has. Let him teach you. It is fine to make them wait a bit, child, but you should never torture those that we feel close to.”
Close? Yes, they were indeed close. And that was part of the problem. He had been there when she had run around naked at Kunlun, making sure she would trip and fall into the nettles. He had been there to push her into the Infinity Pool even before she could swim. He had thrown sand into her eyes when they had played in the forest. He had even pulled her hair on many occasions. He had… he had laughed at her broken heart when she had seen her first crush kiss another woman. He was… he was… such an annoying… such a…
“Whatever you decide to do,” Nǎinai wheezed as she got up, “you must take this herb today. It doesn’t have a pleasant taste, so make sure to at least get all the pleasure out of the other activity.”
She shuffled over to the cabinet and took out a jar. “Continue taking it for another 7 days at least. Where are you in your cycle? It is not foolproof, so you might want to be extra careful a week or more before you become fertile. Ah, don’t blush, girl. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We women help each other.”
***
Present day
Not again! There he stood leaning against the gate, hands hooked in his trousers, repeatedly kicking the dirty snow with the tip of his boot. The sun at this time of the day was still very feeble, but even this little was sufficient to make his hair glimmer like molten silver. She shrunk back, but it was too late - he had seen her. His back straightened and he looked into her direction with a hopeful smile on his face.
Swallowing hard, she walked toward the stables. He started walking too. Alarmed, Mei Lin changed direction to veer off towards the kitchen, but that did not help a thing. Clearly very determined to finally speak to her, he lengthened his strides. She already braced herself and got ready to shout at him when somebody called out his name from outside, with urgency.
He stopped and turned his head. It was one of the men from the village, waving to him to come. It was already way past the time he usually had to leave to take care of town business- normally a safe time for her to do her chores around the house.
“Mei Lin,” he softly called after turning his attention back to her. “Have you gotten my present?”
“Present? What present?” she bellowed. She kept the hairpin under her pillow, but he needn’t know that.
“Please, can I speak to you today? When I get home?”
“I don’t have time,” she said, “there are so many patients…”
“I will wait up for you,” he said.
“I won’t be coming back at all,” she lied.
The expression on his face changed in front of her eyes, from hopeful to… crushed. He looked crushed and sad and her heart clenched in sudden sympathy. It wasn’t that she wanted to see him hurt. She just did not understand… Had he not realized she was fine with not speaking, or rather, had nothing to say to him? Why did he keep being so attentive to her?
A second man appeared at the gate to see what was keeping Gun Gun. He waved to them, signalling he was soon coming. “Mei Lin… Mei Lin, please. Please let me talk to you. Please. Whenever it is convenient.”
She stood still and pressed her lips together. He knew how to beg like this? This place had sure changed him. Also his looks… he no longer looked like a cultivated and carefully groomed flower one wanted to stare at all day, but much more like a… a tea plant. A beautiful tea plant. An herb one wanted to taste and once one had tasted it, kept thinking about and wanting to taste again.
She huffed angrily.
“Mei Lin…,” his lips that spoke her name, when had they begun to draw her eyes to them?
“Mei Lin…,” had he just blushed? “I… I need to… I want to apologize for… you….” aggravated, he exhaled, throwing his hands into the air in a gesture of defeat. Like a miniature cloud, his breath hung temporarily in the air between them before it dissipated in the cold.
“Are you making fun of me?” she exclaimed angrily.
“W...what?” he stammered. “No. No! I… you were not…”
Angrily, she stomped her foot. “Yes, fine, I have never done it before, so what? Laugh at me all you want, but everybody’s first time is their first time! Now leave me alone, I am busy!”
Angry tears shooting into her eyes, she turned around and ran away, wanting the earth to swallow her up and him to disappear forever.
***
He had tried. He had tried everything he knew to try and still she wouldn’t talk to him. She was getting more and more skillful at avoiding him too, keeping herself very busy with her patients, not eating when he was eating if she ate at all, locking herself into her room when he managed to be around when she was…
Gun Gun sighed deeply.
Why was she so angry with him? Well, he knew why. But why would she not let him explain, let him… make it up to her? Did she hate him? He had always thought they were just teasing each other, but now he wasn’t sure. Was he despicable in her eyes? …These questions plagued him as much as the thoughts of her. The memory of her naked body and the feel of her…Gods help me…Gun Gun closed his eyes and tried to forget because it was torture…
“I see Mei Lin has still not given in to your courtship,” Nǎinai said. “Bfuuuuuuurrt” the mouthful of porridge that he had just put into his mouth spurted out and splattered all over the table. Bo’er, who was playing with Qian Ling in the corner, started to giggle.
“Is my food not to your liking?” the old woman asked.
Gun Gun was still coughing as he started to wipe the table down. Gods. His dignity… that could not be saved anymore. “N-no, it’s excellent porridge. I just ate too fast.”
“I gave her contraceptives,” Huo Mao said with a stern voice, “I thought you should have enough experience and sense to take precautions before getting at it. But I guess you highborn men do not care about this sort of thing.”
Mortified, Gun Gun stared at her. His face must be the deepest red it had ever been. He looked over at the two children, but they were no longer paying attention to the grown ups and were back at playing.
“You… you are mistaken, Nǎinai,” he finally pressed out, “I do care.”
It was the truth, he did. As a child growing up in a rather unpleasant place without his father for many years, he did not want any other child to have to go through the same just because he had not been careful. But he had also forgotten they were like mortals right now and thus more vulnerable.
“Let’s say that’s true,” she continued her scolding. “But you certainly do not know anything about virgins.”
She certainly had a point there.
“Nǎinai,” he confessed, “I did not know this about her.”
“I see how that could happen with someone who pretends to be so tough,” the old woman nodded.
“And now I fear she will never…,” he heaved a deep sigh. “Never speak to me again.”
Huo Mao started to chuckle. “I think differently. I think she will soon do much more than speak to you. She is still young but certainly no fool.” Patting his head and pinching his cheek, she shuffled over to her weaving loom.
It was all the encouragement he needed.
***
The distance from the bathhouse to her hut wasn’t too far but the air was chilly and had Mei Lin shiver violently as she sprinted across the dark and silent courtyard. Once inside, she sighed contently. Her small room was considerably warmer thanks to the two coal basins emanating their heat, making it possible for her to relax completely after another very busy day.
Somebody had prepared a hot bath for her tonight. Again. It had been steaming away, waiting for her when she returned. It was very wasteful, but seeing he was the one chopping the firewood anyway...
Her room was small and simple, but comfortable enough - and most importantly, hers alone. It smelled very nice tonight, she thought. She had a narrow bed off to the right of the entrance. It was made of bamboo with rattan slats as head and footboard and a canopy with plain hangings. Certainly not a bed for a princess, but comfortable enough. In her mother’s palace, the beds were the size of half this village, but on Mount Kunlun, she had gotten used to a life with no luxury at all. Next to the bed, there was a small table with a candle, which she lit. It gave the room a warm and cozy glow. Off to the other side of the room was a dresser also made of bamboo, with shelves built in for her meager belongings. Li-Ge and Gun Gun had made it for her.
Heading straight for the dresser, Mei Lin threw off her half-frozen, dirty tunic and pants and kicked them into the corner. She would have to wash them tomorrow, but tonight, she was too tired to care about anything having to do with housework. She starting rummaging in the dresser for a sleeping gown, only finding her least favorite one because it was such a rough fabric.
The candle light fluttered. She threw a glance towards the window to make sure it was shut - it was. Then, she looked towards the bed.
Someone was sitting there, or rather, lounging - all relaxed, leaning back against the headboard, face and upper body hidden in the shadows.
She squealed in terror like a little pig, but when she recognized who it was, she flew at him, instantly livid, grabbing the first thing she got her hands on - his topknot - and started pulling violently.
“You scoundrel!” she screeched, “how dare you sneak in here like this!”
He managed to look guilty, at least a little bit, as he was trying to get her hands out of his hair. She only pulled harder until the knot came undone and she could get a hold of two fistful of hair.
“Out!” she shouted, “out!”
He managed to disengage her hands and to hold them tight in his, away from his now halfway unbound, tousled hair that shimmered in the dim light.
“Mei Lin,” he whispered. “We need to talk.” He got up, still holding on to her hands, towering over her. Her heart hammered frantically in her chest, but not from the fright she had gotten earlier. It was his heated gaze that did it to her, his gaze and his scent, so thick and arousing.
He let go of her hands, but his arms came around her before he pulled her towards his broad, solid chest.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he whispered into her ear, “I am so, so sorry. I had no idea, Mei Lin. I would never have…”
She tried to disengage herself from him, but he was too strong. “Of course you would never have,” she hissed at him, “with your standards.”
He just held on more tightly.
“Do you really not know,” he then said, his voice raspy all of a sudden, “do you not know how much I want you? Please don’t punish me any more, Mei Lin. Tell me what to do for you to forgive me.”
It was the quivering of his voice, the very slight yet still noticeable trembling in his body that prevented her from kicking him where it hurt the most and throwing him out while administering as much additional pain as she could. It was his luck that she knew him well, this Bai Gun Gun. She had spent more than half of her life with him. She knew that his dazzling handsomeness was what all the other women saw when they looked at him. She knew how apt he was at hiding his emotions behind a haughty facade. But he had never been able to fool her.
His vulnerability gave her courage. More, his sincerity broke her heart a little. No, she had never wanted to give him pain.
That realization made everything quite simple.
***
Gun Gun had been sure she would immediately notice him when she came rushing in from the cold. When she hadn’t, he had wanted to announce himself but before he could utter a word, she had started to take her clothes off and he had simply frozen in enrapt reverie. Her hair was pinned up in a bun, exposing her full back, her perfectly round bottom and her long legs. The candlelight teased her luminous skin and perfect curves, calling to him to touch them. Her fury at him shortly after was justified but he was way past the point of no return. Even in her sack-like sleeping gown, she was the most desirable thing he had ever seen.
He was surprised when she lifted her face, moved her hands behind his head and pulled his mouth down onto hers. Their kiss made his blood sing and her body soften in his embrace. An electrifying moan escaped her lips as he moved his hands down her back and lower, to knead her buttocks and to press her to him.
Barely resisting an urge to grind into her, his hands lowered further down to the back of her thighs and she yelped as he lifted her up, before aptly wrapping her legs around his waist. He turned around and lay her down on the bed as gently as possible.
Even though he didn’t feel like being gentle at all.
She started pulling at his tunic and he shrugged it off his shoulders quickly. Her hands glided up his chest and over his shoulders slowly. The appreciation in her eyes made him feel proud, but she surprised him again by pulling his head down anew, demanding more kisses. Hovering above her, their mouths glued together, he searched and found the knot to his pants, managed to undo it and kick them off unceremoniously. Taking off each other’s clothes could be turned into quite a game, but there was no time for this tonight. He already reached for the hem of her sleeping gown and glided it over her legs, over her waist. Before he could fully appreciate the sight of her womanhood, she had pulled away from him to wrestle the ugly thing over her head. It landed on top of his clothes on the floor.
Here she was in front of him, her hair cascading around her face and shoulders, a sea of black tresses framing her godly face. This time, she did not cover her nakedness, she let him look all he wanted. He felt like a drunk man, when he had not had even a drop to drink this time.
“So beautiful,” he whispered and started slowly kissing his way down her neck. Her skin was hot and silky smooth against his mouth. He licked his way down towards her breasts and swirled his tongue around the areola. Her nipples were erect and ready, but he did not yet want to give in, so he continued to tease her breasts all around it.
“No, here,” she said breathlessly and grabbed his head, pushing one of her breasts into his mouth.
His mouth latched onto it obediently and his teeth clamped down on her nipple before he sucked, hard. She gasped and her body jerked and she tugged at his hair with force. He moved over to the other breast and sucked on the delicate pink nipple just as hard.
“More,” she moaned. His hands came up to help his mouth, but soon, one of them started to slowly move down her body. When his fingers found her wet folds, she gasped. He caressed her womanhood lightly, one finger pressing into her soft, wet heat, waiting for her to relax, then adding a second.
“They tell me I am good at this,” he whispered.
“Are you not good at everything?” she breathed.
He looked at her as he slowly moved his fingers in and out of her. Rotating his hand upwards, he hooked his fingers inside of her walls and used his thumb to rub her nub. Too shy to look back at him, she closed her eyes as her breathing grew heavier and small moans escaped her mouth. He continued until she clamped tightly around his fingers as her body jolted in climax.
When she opened her eyes again, he pulled his fingers out, dripping with her nectar and licked them clean. Her eyes grew a little wider and he grinned. “Mei Lin, I want to taste more of you.”
Her only answer was her labored breathing and parted lips and a flash of excitement in her eyes. He lowered his head to lick and kiss a trail down to her belly. He shifted his body lower, parting her legs, kissing the insides of her thighs. He cupped her buttocks and lifted her to him, his tongue parting her swollen and soaking lips, slowly moving it up and down, then becoming more demanding.
When his tongue flicked and swirled around her clit, her hips undulated to its rhythm. His hands caressed her thighs, her belly, her breasts. His tongue flicked faster until Mei Lin gasped. He looked up at her as he continued to flick and suck and she looked at him with an admiration he had longed to see in her eyes, maybe for a long time. When she came, her eyes flickered shut and she moaned out her pleasure loudly. It was ample pay-off for his efforts.
He felt like he was going to explode any minute though.
Her beautiful body was flushed, her skin coated with a sheen of sweat and her chest was falling rising and falling rapidly. Gun Gun scrambled up and lay down next to her. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. “Taste it,” he whispered. And she did.
***
She could feel the length of him, rock hard, pressing against her thigh. She could feel her womanly parts throb happily from their satisfaction earlier, mixed with growing excitement for what was to come. She had just licked her own juices off this man’s face. Having this giant thing inside of her again was probably no big deal.
“Mei Lin, I promise to not hurt you like the first time,” he said, “but I need…”
“I am not worried,” she answered.
“I will put it in very slowly,” he said.
He put one arm around her shoulder, embracing her, and with the other took her leg, hooking it around his waist. She stiffened and placed her hands on his chest, bracing for the pain she thought would follow.
He kissed her again, long and deep, until she relaxed a little. He was at her entrance and slowly moved the tip of his shaft up and down her wetness. He then shifted again and pulled her leg a little higher over his hip before he slowly pushed into her. She was dripping wet and slick from her previous orgasms and to her surprise, there was only a slight resistance. He stopped and waited, then pushed further.
“By the Gods,” he breathed.
He started to move his hips, at the same time caressing her back and kneading her buttocks. His thrusts became deeper, but he was still doing it slowly, letting her body adjust. There was hardly any pain- only waves of pleasure. She tilted back her head, wanting it to last forever, but from his labored breathing, she was quite sure it wouldn’t. She started to move her hips to meet his and he started to thrust faster. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she clung to him. She was panting now, feeling it come like a wave, starting where he was lodged so deep inside of her and radiating out through her whole body. Tightening around him repeatedly, she climaxed again, moaning loudly. He moaned an echo as he thrust deep, one, two times more and then she felt him release his hot essence inside of her.
“You,” he said afterwards, in that husky voice that gave her goosebumps, “are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
Possible that this was a line he dropped on all his lovers, but it pleased her to hear him say it nonetheless.
“You may visit my room again,” she said quite satisfied as she looked at the beautiful man next to her - a man who wanted her. He smiled and hugged her close. Soon after, he was fast asleep. She listened to his breathing and wondered what it all meant.
Chapter 48