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Ningguang rouses from her sleep and takes a deep breath. The morning sun is still hidden behind the silk curtain. Her mind is trying to re-orient as she registers the arm below her head and the bundle of warmth to her side that is her wife. Beidou is still asleep, her scarred face is exceptionally soft without worries of storms and politics, limbs strewn across the bed.
It’s not often that Ningguang is able to catch the captain in her sleep. Beidou is an early riser—and by early it means waking way before the sun does; sailor things, she supposed—while Ningguang wakes considerably later, usually after she smells Beidou’s cooking from her dreams. In the nights, Beidou prefers to wait until Ningguang is asleep. She likes watching her sleeping face, Beidou admits one time rather abashedly, and she is sweet like that, afraid to overstep a boundary even in the smallest things such as this.
And now, Ningguang begins to understand Beidou’s fondness. She must be very tired after almost half a year's journey, Ningguang thinks. The Alcor and several of Crux’s other battleships, including Ginan, Mimosa, and even Imai that’s usually stationed in Schenznaya, had docked in Guyun Stone Forest almost at twelve o’clock strike last night. Beidou doesn’t usually station half of her fleet in Liyue, so although the harbor was almost asleep, it had caused quite a commotion. The Kaiyang and the Tianji had almost sent the Millelith, but Ningguang had managed to stop them in time, assuring them that she can handle it personally.
It was quite hard to stifle a laugh at their incredulous expressions. Her relationship with the captain is hardly a secret anymore, but why does her coworkers act like she has committed second degree murder every time she makes zero effort to hide it?
“I sent her on a personal mission to the Dark Sea,” she said, hiding her smile behind a fan.
The Kaiyang squinted at the naval fleet from afar, completely unconvinced. “Personal.”
The Tianji placed a hand on the Kaiyang’s shoulder, knowing full well that going against the Tianquan would most likely be fruitless, especially if it concerned the Uncrowned Dragon King. “The night is late and the citizens have grown restless. We shall address this in the court tomorrow at noon.”
Both political figures retreated into the night, and Ningguang wasted no time in making her way to the Alcor. When she arrived, Beidou had awaited her on nearby shores, her men unloading what appeared to be the last of the crates. Ningguang hadn’t realized she was running until she threw herself into Beidou’s embrace and felt her feet leave the floor as Beidou lifted and spun, her carefree laugh booming across the night shore, echoing through the crooks of the stone forest. Ningguang vaguely registered the fond exasperation of Beidou’s closest crew members before they dispersed to give them privacy.
“My love, my heart, my moon,” Beidou beamed with the largest grin across her face, and Ningguang saw the stars emblazoning the night sky. The longing that she had so desperately tried to keep to herself poured like a broken dam, prickled the corner of her eyes it drew tears, and Ningguang did nothing else but pull her love into a searing kiss.
“Beidou,” she whispered as their forehead touched. “My light. You’ve come home to me.”
Beidou gave a light peck on her lips. They have been married for more than seven years and yet such a small gesture still did wonders to Ningguang’s heart. “Even if Celestia took my limbs, I’ll always come back to you.”
“I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you too much.”
“And I’ve missed you like the moon yearned for the stars.”
Ningguang chuckled, and she felt another surge of warmth as she saw Beidou’s grin turned into a softer smile. “You spent too much time around Kazuha, beloved. Speaking of which, where is he?”
There was a whistle of wind, and Kazuha descended smoothly from wherever high point of the Alcor. Beidou lowered her to the ground, and Ningguang came over to pull Kazuha into an embrace.
“I’m home, Mother,” he greeted.
“Welcome home, dear son,” she said, unable to resist the urge to kiss his forehead. “It’s already very late and you two must be very tired, should we retreat to the Alcor instead?”
“No offense to the Sea, but I’m up for a change,” Beidou said, and Kazuha hummed his agreement.
Ningguang nodded. “Alright. Wait a moment.”
She focused her energy into her Vision—it glowed brightly, painting the sands of Guyun with gold, and they watched as the Jade Chamber slowly made its way to the Alcor.
Beidou looked at her with a wide eye as if she had grown a fifth head. “Ah-Guang, I love you and you look very hot right now, but you can’t do this.”
“I can’t?” Ningguang asked with faux innocence, the way she knew would drive Beidou insane. “But I’m doing it.”
“But if the people—”
“The people, the people,” Kazuha sighed resignedly. “Dajietou, you have met Mother longer than I have, yet you still don’t understand. It’s as if the winds are moving against a block of wood.”
“She will get it, one day,” Ningguang said, “but unfortunately, that day is still far, far away.”
The Jade Chamber stopped above their heads, and a plausterite platform wide enough for the three of them descended soundlessly.
“Going home after a five-month voyage to a son and a wife bullying you,” Beidou grumbled as they stepped onto the platform. Kazuha and Ningguang shared a giggle, and despite the complaint, Ningguang saw the fond smile forming on Beidou’s lips.
The Jade Chamber was already emptied of its workers, and without them it feels so spacious. The light in the main hall flickered to life as the owner stepped foot inside. There was a gentle thrum as the Jade Chamber floated back into its original position above the harbor. Ningguang told Beidou and Kazuha to rest in their rooms while she drew a bath for both of them. Kazuha nodded and excused himself, while Beidou followed her to the bathrooms, never once willing to leave her side. Just like a puppy, Ningguang mused to herself. She should’ve known, yet there’s no stopping the gleeful smile that’d otherwise hurt her cheeks if she wasn’t so happy having Beidou’s larger frame and warmth around her.
“You must be very tired, my sun,” she said when they sat on the edge of the bathtub in the second bathroom, waiting for the water to fill. She reached Beidou’s face, the side with eyepatch, and something moved the strings in her heart as Beidou, closing her eye, leaned into her touch and the tension left her shoulders. “Rest for tonight. You can tell me everything about your voyage tomorrow.”
“I met some gods in the Dark Sea,” Beidou said, almost a mumble, but there’s a hint of pride in her voice.
“Shush. Tomorrow, darling. Let’s get you out of these, hmm?”
Ningguang helped Beidou out of her eyepatch, shawl and boots, noting every new scar she could spot with her eyes, sighing in relief upon knowing they were all treated and healing. When she reached to undo the buttons on Beidou’s qipao, Beidou gripped her wrist to stop her, eyes shot open in alert.
“What’s wrong, love?” Ningguang asked, concern pricking on the corners of her heart.
Beidou’s throat bobbed as she gulped. “Promise me you won’t get mad.”
“I … I promise,” Ningguang said, unsure, and fear creeps into her skull.
Slowly, Beidou undid the button of her clothes, then the belts of her tight bodice. Scarred skin came into view when she got rid of the garments. Ningguang had each and every one of her scars remembered, so it’s not particularly hard to spot a new one, especially if it’s quite big and located right below Beidou’s left breast, just two inches from her heart.
“ Oh , oh Archons.”
“Ah-Guang,” Beidou quickly took her hands in her own. “My heart, I know it looks bad, but please believe me that I’m completely fine now. A lot of things happened and the Dark Sea is a strange place, but I’m fine now. Will you believe me, my love?”
Ningguang couldn’t help but trail her gaze back to the scar. It’s so, so close to Beidou’s heart …
“Beidou—”
“No, Ah-Guang. I know what you’re thinking right now. I don’t regret making that voyage, and you shouldn’t, too. Here.” The captain brought her hands to the scar and let her touch it. It was rough, but the skin was tender, and Ningguang flinched. She could feel Beidou’s heartbeat—she felt nauseous. “See? It’s not hurting at all, and it’s completely healed.”
“Are you sure there isn’t any—anything stuck inside? Have—have you really—”
Beidou let go of her hands to cup Ningguang’s face, forcing her to look back into the pair of sunset. “ Ningguang .”
Ningguang found her breath hitched.
“Have you forgotten that I promise to always come back to you? I won’t die in the lands of the cowardly gods who fled from the War, and if someone dares to keep me away from you, I will tear through the Abyss with my bare hands.”
She didn’t realize she had been crying when Beidou wiped her tears away with her thumbs. Beidou pulled her into a hug, and Ningguang clutched onto her, burying her face on the crook of Beidou’s neck and her salt-scented hair. Beidou whispered gentle reassurance into her ears, “It’s alright, I’m here now,” along with a soothing rub on her back, and the worries and fear that kept echoing in Ningguang’s mind began to ebb away.
“I didn’t mean to doubt you. I’m sorry, my light,” Ningguang said into her hair.
“It’s alright. It also scared the shit out of my crew. They said Kazuha was the one who remained calm and guided me back to health, but I know he cried when he thought I must be sleeping.” Beidou chuckled at the memories. “Don’t tell him I told you this.”
“I won’t.” Ningguang pulled back to see Beidou’s face, before leaning forward again to capture her lips in a staccato of kisses. She wrapped her hand around Beidou’s neck and the other woman pulled her impossibly closer—
“Oh shit.”
They jumped as they felt the water from the tub overflowed. Ningguang quickly turned off the faucet and they stood there, looking at each other, before Beidou turned into a laughing fit. Ningguang felt like she hadn’t heard it in forever—five months were too long—and so she saw that there was no use in holding the happiness that bubbled in her stomach, fluttering like butterflies, and manifested in a form of a laughter of her own. And only then had she realized that her face hadn’t been smiling so wide like this in so long.
“I’m going to tell Kazuha his bath is ready,” Ningguang said as they calmed down. She walked to leave, but a gentle grip on her wrist stopped her in her tracks. She turned back to see Beidou’s lone eye looking at her expectantly—hopefully.
“Will you join me?”
She had taken a bath earlier, but, “Of course, darling,” she said in a heartbeat.
Beidou let her hand go, and she went to find Kazuha in his room, playing a note with his leaf. He had his door open, as if he’d been waiting for her, and turned to the sound of her approaching footsteps.
“You look tired, Mother,” Kazuha regarded her sympathetically. “I take it that you’ve seen Dajietou’s wound?”
“Nothing gets past you,” Ningguang laughs lightly, leaning against the doorstep. “I must admit it gave me quite the fright. But Beidou said she’s alright and I trust her. Your bath is ready. I’ve prepared some snacks for you too.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
Ningguang watched as his gaze fell to the floor. She hadn’t spent as much time with Kazuha as Beidou had, but she knew this boy was holding back something. He was so very similar both to Beidou and herself, and sometimes she wondered if he actually was indeed their biological son from another universe.
“Kazuha,” she called, gently, as if afraid to startle him, and offered a smile when Kazuha looked back up, “can I come in?”
Kazuha let out a breathless chuckle. “Mother, this is the Jade Chamber.”
“I fail to see the point.” Kazuha raised his eyebrows, clearly hadn’t gotten used to the concept of owning a personal room, and Ningguang laughed. “So? Can I?”
She stepped in as soon as she got his assent. He stood still and his eyes were wide when Ningguang reached to touch his cheek. He looked so young, yet Ningguang could see the bags under his eyes from his sleepless nights. “You know you can tell me anything, right, little one?”
The young man was stunned, though he recovered rather quickly. His red eyes turned mellow, and there was a little bit of … guilt. He looked so much like Beidou, right then, whenever she felt guilty of not being able to stay by Ningguang’s side all the time. “I … I thought I’d lose another friend and—failed to do anything for the second time.”
“But you didn’t, did you? Beidou is here and safe, and it’s all because of you.” Ningguang patted his cheek fondly. “It seems that I owe you my life.”
Kazuha offered her a sheepish smile. “I thought family doesn’t owe each other anything.”
There was a surge of warmth that washed over her. Really, where did Beidou find such a lovely boy? Ningguang pulled him into a tight hug. “And you’re right. Thank you for being born, Kazuha.”
“Well, thank you for seeing a son in me.”
She kissed his forehead for the last time. “Get some rest, little one.”
“You too, Mother.”
Ningguang headed back to the second bathroom where Beidou had been waiting for her. She hadn’t moved an inch from where they sat on the edge of the tub earlier, and Ningguang watched as her face lit up upon her arrival.
“Had a talk with the little guy?”
“He was worried about you,” Ningguang said, getting herself out of her clothes. She ignored the way Beidou’s eyes followed her movement as she went to get their stools and placed them in front of the showers. “He’s similar to you in that way.”
“ Me? ” Beidou said, incredulous.
Ningguang pushed her wife to sit on the stool before pouring warm water, tentatively, all over the other woman’s body. She pulled a stool for herself and sat down before she began to wash Beidou’s body. “You hid your wounds from me when we were younger, and even after I told you that I want to know, you always hesitate because you’re worried of making me worried. Something along the lines of, ‘ I don’t need to burden you on top of the Qixing stuff, blablabla .’ You’re the one who insisted on keeping our relationship a secret out of fear of what my business associates would do to me until Keqing came to us and told us we looked like fools.” Ignoring Beidou’s groan, she continued, “You took two-third of the Crux with us when you’re escorting me to Snezhnaya in a diplomatic mission. You sent that merchant—uh, what’s his name … Hai–Haiyan? Peeing in his pants with burnt marks around his neck.”
“Alright, firstly, it’s Snezhnaya —of course I’ll get the tightest security for you. Secondly, that Haiyan guy called you names,” Beidou crossed her arms petulantly and sulked—Ningguang looked away from how it pushed up her chest. She distracted herself with a soapy massage on Beidou’s shoulders and hands.
“I’ve been through worse, my light.”
“No one gets to call my wife names,” Beidou insisted. “I was only teaching him a lesson.”
“That’s still not counting how you only took half of the Crux with you to the Dark Sea, because you’re afraid something will happen to me while you’re gone. Isn’t that right, dearest?”
“W-well,” Beidou cleared her throat, and Ningguang couldn’t help but smile fondly at the tint of pink painting her cheeks that she knew didn't result from the warm water, as if she hadn’t expected Ningguang to figure it out. “Since we’re dealing with, you know, Abyssal powers and Nightmother and whatever dark and mysterious name they use … I want to prepare for the worst.”
“And I really, truly appreciate the gesture.” She poured water to wash the soap, and they switched places. “Though I may or may not have asked your crew to do some … domestic policies enforcing.”
A sigh escaped her lips when Beidou gently massaged her nape, the area she knew the stiffest from all her paperworks. “I’m glad they can actually be of help. Though if you’re talking about their opinion on it, you should ask them directly. You’re maybe like their sister-in-law, but you’re still the Tianquan, unfortunately, and almost every member of the Crux family doesn’t like the laws.”
“Unfortunately?”
“In this context, I mean,” Beidou backpedaled quickly.
Ningguang hummed. Beidou’s hands on her sore muscles felt so nice. “I should start selecting gifts, then.”
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Beidou continued to wash the rest of Ningguang’s body. After the soap was rinsed away, they stepped into the tub, and Ningguang let herself be pulled into Beidou’s lap with her back against her chest and her strong arms around her waist. Only then Ningguang could let herself relax completely, finally in the arms of her beloved. They spent some more time just chatting away with stolen kisses in-between—sometimes alongside a gentle reminder to not fall asleep in the tub. When they got to their bedroom after drying up and putting on some clothes, Beidou fell asleep as soon as her body hit the mattress.
Ningguang chuckles at the memory, and a soft call from her still sleeping wife pulls her back to the present. She leans forward to plant a chase kiss against the bridge of Beidou’s nose, and watches as it scrunches in delight.
She decides to let her wife sleep some more—maybe she’ll try to make breakfast, changing things up a little bit. She shifts, carefully detaches herself from the entangled mess that is her and Beidou’s limbs, but her attempt to get away is soon stopped by the arms circling around her torso—the next thing she knows, she’s within Beidou’s embrace, just as they were in the bathtub last night, Beidou’s lips in her hair.
“Can’t go,” her wife mumbled sleepily.
Ningguang feels her heart melting, if it hasn’t already. She can’t really resist the opportunity to spoil her wife. “Alright, I’ll stay a bit longer.”
The other woman seems to like her answer, for she pulls her closer, breathes her in, and sighs contentedly. Ningguang shivers at the brush of exhale against her skin. She never gets enough of this, the feeling of Beidou’s skin against hers, the warmth of her love and the gentle breeze or the morning that seem to be lulling her back to sleep. How her heart feels so full to the brim, almost overflowing. She misses this so much, after spending five cold moons alone to sleep and had no Beidou to wake up to.
She feels Beidou shift behind her, ever so slightly, and there’s a slow, warm kiss against the skin of her exposed nape. One of Beidou’s hand trails to her hip, before it ghosts upwards to cup one of her breasts, all while the other hand draws a calming pattern on the lower side of her stomach where Beidou knows she’s sensitive. Ningguang’s breath hitches as Beidou begins to knead.
“Beidou, darling?” she calls, but there’s no answer from her love. Is she still asleep?
The hand on her breast moves in a lazy pattern, almost searching, circling around the growingly stiff bud. Ningguang can’t help but arch her back at the teasing touches, suddenly very aware of the arousal between her legs. Then there are sleepy pecks across her shoulder, before Beidou kisses the shell of her ear.
“Ah-Guang …,” Beidou says in her state of half-sleep, low and hoarse, and Ningguang shudders. It’s almost too much with how Beidou’s arms are keeping her in place and making her squirm at the same time. Ningguang’s leg flinches when Beidou touches a particular spot on her stomach, and all she can do is clutch the sheets and bury her face into the pillows—the heat travels from her abdomen down to her toes and up to the corner of her eyes. She cannot contain the wanton moans as Beidou slots a thigh between her own legs, and soon Ningguang finds herself grinding against the toned muscle.
“Ah-Guang … missed you so much …,” Beidou slurs and shifts even closer.
“Beidou,” Ningguang says, more like a whine. Whatever words formed in her throat dies with the pinch of her nipple, her body arches forward as if to chase. "My captain—are you awake, dear?"
The vibration from Beidou's sleepy hum sends sparks to the back of Ningguang's vision. “M’wake … wanna touch you, that alright?”
“You're already touching me,” Ningguang says, only half exasperated because she, too, has missed this so much.
Ningguang barely registers the low chuckle as a particularly smooth stroke on her stomach and a flick of her nipple make her vision go white and her body tense. She goes slack after a moment, breathless.
Beidou doesn’t intend to give her time, though, because as soon as her heartbeat slows, Beidou shifts their body so Ningguang is laying on top of her, her hand that has been touching her breast travels downward to pry open Ningguang’s leg by her thigh. This position makes Ningguang’s head spin, and all she can do is lay back against Beidou’s shoulder, her wife’s hot breath next to her ears, and wills herself not to whine at the tender stroke on her inner thigh that Beidou draws with her thumb.
“Missed Ah-Guang’s cute little tummy,” Beidou says, some of her sleepiness has ebbed away, replaced by excitement in its place. “Comes so fast just from that. Did you miss me that much?”
“ Yes ,” Ningguang says a little too quickly, and Beidou laughs, so tender and full of love that settles another rush of heat between her legs.
“I’ve missed you so much, too. So much and so much more. I thought I’ve prepared myself for everything, but the Dark Sea is …,” she trailed off and sighs. “Let me just show you how much I’ve missed you—can I, please, Ah-Guang?”
Ningguang senses that the captain’s voyage isn’t something she wanted to discuss, at least not now, so she turns her head and kisses Beidou’s face as best as she can from this position. “Show me, then, my light.”
Beidou gets her out of her underwear, torturously slow that Ningguang grabs her hands and pushes in an attempt to speed up the process, but Beidou only chuckles, not budging an inch. “Let me do this for you,” she says to her ears, and Ningguang bites back with a needy whine of, “Hurry up, then,” that turns into a hiss instead.
(Beidou has the audacity to laugh, and Ningguang wishes she can kiss that mouth shut.)
Once her undergarments are finally discarded, Beidou pries her legs open once more. “How do you want me, my heart?” she asks, as if it isn’t obvious she’s going to fuck her three knuckles deep. But Beidou is always making sure what they do is what Ningguang wants. Despite people’s common perception about her, Beidou likes to please, and there’s a pride in being the only one to know about it.
“Fuck me like how you imagined to when you were away,” Ningguang says.
There’s a pause—Ningguang can imagine the blush that spreads across Beidou’s face, up to her ears and down to her chest. Then there’s a slow exhale—Ningguang notes how the hands on her legs grow tense—as if Beidou is trying to hold back. “That’s … a little bit dangerous. Are you sure?”
Dangerous . Ningguang’s heart picks up a beat. “Have a little more faith in me, my sun.”
“Okay … safe word is ‘vase’.”
Beidou’s hand goes to the dripping heat, and Ningguang lets a low, long moan out from her throat as Beidou touches the edge, ghosting, barely there. She draws a circle around, up and down, avoiding the spot where she knows Ningguang needs to be touched the most—slow and meticulous, as if they have all the time in the world.
“ Beidou ,” Ningguang warns with a grip on Beidou’s arm. Her heart drops to her stomach when Beidou takes her hand away and places it on her hips instead. But Ningguang can’t turn over and shove herself into Beidou’s face even if she wants to, because she has made her assent and she’s not going to go back on her words. She can’t find strength in her legs anyway, but that’s hardly the point.
“Patience,” Beidou plants a kiss on Ningguang’s shoulder as the hand on her hips snakes to her stomach, and the other one that has been holding her leg still goes closer to her core.
There it is again, tender strokes of Beidou’s fingertips on her lower stomach, but this time it’s accompanied by similar rhythmic strokes on her outer lips. It’s maddening, how Ningguang can feel admiration and love from Beidou’s touch, so much so that it sends sparks of electricity across her spine that makes her back arch and her toes curl. Yet it’s not enough—just about the edge —Ningguang needs more, just a little bit more to get there, but Beidou is taking her sweet time.
(And Ningguang lets her, despite her whines, despite how her legs twitch at a particular stroke on her stomach that she wishes was Beidou’s fingers instead, deep inside her.)
“Every waking night I tried to remember your voice,” Beidou says onto her skin, and Ningguang really, really wants to see her beautiful face. “But there are no days, and each passing moment in the darkness I kept praying that the memory of you stayed with me.”
Ningguang’s breath stutters when Beidou brushes a skin closer to her core and then up, almost on her clit. She lifts her hand to search for Beidou’s face and her heart flutters in her ribs when Beidou meets her palm with a kiss.
“I thought I’d forget,” Beidou murmurs into her palm, more to herself than anything—there’s a slight tremor in her voice that Ningguang barely catches. “Ningguang, I was so afraid.”
Before Ningguang can say anything, Beidou finally touches her where she wants: she cups Ningguang’s heat in her palm before dragging it upwards in an appreciative manner, and spreads Ningguang’s aching lips. Unhurriedly, at last, she dips in a finger. Ningguang’s hips jerks; there’s barely a moment to register before Beidou sets her pace, slow at first, as if to relish and map out every crook and shape, and then a little faster—just barely, with longing and yearning unspoken yet so loud—in a way that draws out gasps and groans out of Ningguang’s throat.
“I–you’re here now, Beidou,” Ningguang manages to say, and it must’ve spurred something in Beidou, as she suddenly pushes Ningguang’s clit harshly with her thumb and curls the fingers inside simultaneously. Ningguang’s legs jolt as her whole body shakes—Beidou resumes her motion, drawing out her pleasure.
And Beidou keeps moving even when Ningguang has come down from her high. It would be a lie to say that the friction against her overstimulated core isn’t delicious, and Ningguang shamelessly welcomes the new rush of warmth in her abdomen. She can’t hold back the whine when Beidou’s hand on her stomach shifts to her clit and captures it between two fingers, pinching it experimentally.
“Beidou … it feels so good,” Ningguang says between her wanton sounds.
Beidou kisses her temple—she adds a finger, and Ningguang moans at the stretch. “It feels good? Is Ah-Guang enjoying herself?”
“Yes!” Tears roll down from the corner of her eyes and Beidou licks them away. “More, my heart—I want more.”
“Okay,” Beidou says softly into her hair. “Whatever you desire.”
She adds another finger and rams into her harder, deeper that it hits the spot that never fails to make Ningguang see stars. The other hand massages her clit in tandem, bringing her to a new level of pleasure with every stroke. Beidou's name spills from her lips like sobs of broken prayers, and Beidou responds to each call of her name with a murmur of I love you ’s and a flick of her clit or a stretch of her fingers inside.
It only takes a moment for Ningguang to reach her peak again—this time with a cry of her love’s name, her hips jerking upwards and burying Beidou’s fingers even impossibly deeper, and she comes gushing into the welcoming hand, long and hard. Beidou slows her pace but doesn’t stop—a calm, steady motion that coaxes every single drop.
Ningguang thought she can finally take a break—oh how wrong she is indeed. Beidou doesn’t let her catch her breath. She picks up her pace as soon as Ningguang’s body slacks, not heeding that Ningguang is still twitching from her last orgasm. She pinches at the clit in time with her bite on the spot where Ningguang’s neck meets her shoulder.
“ Oh! Be gentle, my dear, I’ve just—”
But Beidou’s thrusts only grow harder as she finds another spot to bite, then another, soothing the pain with a lick and a kiss so tender it makes Ningguang’s mind hazy with pleasure, and Ningguang’s hands panic to search for something she can cling onto. There aren’t many options, being on top of Beidou like this, but eventually she finds purchase on Beidou’s upper arm and her hair. She’s sure the nails digging into Beidou’s skin will definitely leave a mark, but that’s not her fault.
“You can take one more, right, love?” Beidou says, low, into the shell of her ear.
“Beidou, I—”
“Yes you can. You will,” she asserts. Ningguang throws her head back as Beidou inserts her fourth finger, gentle and careful, yet the stretch sets Ningguang aflame and splits her mind and Beidou only continues her relentless pace.
It’s all too much: the fingers on her clit, the thrust into her dripping heat, the encouraging whispers of you’re taking me so well, love , and yes, you can in response to her pleas of I can’t, it’s too much, Beidou, Beidou, Beidou , but Ningguang can’t stop—she can’t stop grinding herself down into Beidou’s hand and she can’t stop asking for more.
“Beidou—”
“Ah-Guang,” Beidou says in response.
Ningguang opens her eyes and turns her head, searching for Beidou’s eyes and unable to succeed. Suddenly, there’s a growing loneliness eating at the corner of her eyes. “Beidou— oh Archons —”
“I’m here, my moon,” Beidou patiently waits and coaxes her, encouraging her with a small kiss on her temple and her hair. “Say it, and I’ll do anything you ask.”
“I want to—see your face, my light,” she says, breathless. “Please,” she adds, knowing that she won’t last much longer.
Beidou obliges immediately, settling Ningguang down onto the sheets and nestling between her legs. She leans forward to capture Ningguang lips in a deep, searing kiss, and soon her hand continues its motion when Ningguang slings her arms over Beidou’s shoulders. Ningguang moans into their kiss and Beidou is more than willing to drink them all.
A sense of relief washes over Ningguang as she takes in Beidou’s sunset eyes that are filled with yearn, and the scars over her right brow and across her left eye. She traces them with the tips of her fingers: the sensation is so very familiar yet so distant. Beidou holds her with a steady gaze.
“I love you,” Beidou says, and Ningguang finally lets go.
–
She doesn’t know how long it takes her to regain her senses back. She’s slowly pulled into consciousness with gentle kisses peppered all over her face, patient and so full of love that Ningguang can’t help but sigh contentedly. Beidou’s smile that blooms across her face is akin to summer.
“Hello, my moon,” Beidou says, her voice warm, dripping with honey. The sunlight that peaks through the curtain makes her mahogany hair aglow, and Ningguang thinks Beidou has never looked so dashing. “Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you anywhere, did I?”
Ningguang pulls her down by the shoulders and kisses her chastely on the lips. “Of course you didn’t, darling.”
“I’m so glad to have come home to you,” Beidou sighs softly, her warm breath fans across Ningguang's face. “The way back home felt so surreal until I’m finally back in your arms.”
“You’re here, now,” Ningguang strokes the skin under Beidou's scarred eye.
“That I am,” Beidou shifts downward and plants a kiss of promise on her sternum. “I want to stay like this with you for the whole day.”
For the whole week, month—for Eternity , goes unsaid, but even after all these years, Beidou is still unsure if she could let herself be selfish. So Ningguang says it for her, for them.
“I want you in my arms for the rest of my life.”
Beidou is stunned for a moment—but when she recovers, Ningguang sees the most beautiful smile. She leans forward and their lips meet again, and again, and more after that.
“If you’ll have me, then, please.”