Xiaochuan looked at the Emperor's face as if he was in a trance. What did he have to offer? He didn't know.
He was just a B-Class Omega.
"I... I don't know," Xiaochuan whispered, his voice caught in his throat. The rough fabric that wrapped around his shoulders slipped from his shoulders, leaving him exposed to Chengyuan's burning gaze.
"Do not lie to me," Chengyuan growled low in his throat, and the sound sent a jolt of pure electricity straight to Xiaochuan's core. "You know exactly what I want."
One of Chengyuan's hands moves from Xiaochuan's back to the back of his head, his fingers tangled firmly in the sunset pink strands to tilt his head back. The vulnerability of the position made Xiaochuan's pulse skyrocket, he was completely at the mercy of the emperor, trapped on his thighs and the overwhelming intensity of his gaze.
Chengyuan leaned in, his nose brushing against Xiaochuan's neck, inhaling the intoxicating scent of plum blossoms that seemed to radiate from the omega's skin.
Xiaochuan felt his resolve melting. The omega in him was screaming for the Alpha to close the distance. The friction of their skin, the contrast of his soft, frame against the hard muscles of the Emperor, it was intense, it was too much.
Xiaochuan thought for a while, if he could be brave enough to be daring, to test the waters and see what the Alpha could do.
"Then take it," Xiaochuan whispered, his eyes fluttering shut as he leaned forward, finally surrendering to the magnetic pull.
Chengyuan didn't need to be told twice. He let out a sharp breath and crashed his lips against Xiaochuan's.
It wasn't a gentle kiss, it was a claim, like the collision of two storms. The one raging outside and the one that had been raging between them since the moment they met. Chengyuan's tongue swept into Xiaochuan's mouth, tasting of wine and heat, one hand gripped the back of Xiaochuan's neck to hold him closer, while his other hand gripped Xiaochuan's waist with a possessive strength.
Xiaochuan moaned into the kiss, his fingers tangling in the Emperor's dark, damp hair, pulling him closer as if he could merge their bodies into one. The hearth, filled with crackling of woods, the room, filled with flickering firelight, and the howling wind all faded into a blur.
In one fluid motion, Chengyuan moved without breaking the kiss, cradling Xiaochuan in his arms as if he weighed nothing at all. He turned their positions and laid Xiaochuan down on the bed, hovering over him like a shadow. The firelight bathed them in gold, highlighting the flush on Xiaochuan's cheeks and the dark hunger in the Emperor's eyes.
Xiaochuan's hands were still buried in Chengyuan's dark hair, his lips swollen and tingling from the Emperor's bruising kiss. He expected to be pressed further into the furs, to feel the full weight of the Alpha finally claim him.
Instead, Chengyuan suddenly stiffened.
He pulled away with a sharp, abruptness that left Xiaochuan gasping for air in the sudden cold room, despite the roaring light from the corner. The Emperor's eyes weren't filled with the same dark hunger anymore, instead, they looked confused, clouding over with a look of sudden, sharp realization, as if he'd just stepped back from a border he hadn't intended to cross.
"Your Majesty?" Xiaochuan whispered, his voice trembling and confused. He reached out a hand, but Chengyuan was already moving, away from him, away from the beds.
Without a word, the Emperor reached for the edges of the thick cloth and pulled them up and over Xiaochuan's bare shoulders, tucking him in. He adjusted the oversized blanket, smoothing it down over Xiaochuan's frame as if he was trying to erase the skin he had just been worshiping.
"Rest," Chengyuan said. His voice tight and strained. "The storm is still going on, and I don't think it's going down soon. We'll resume traveling after, and you need your strength to pass the time until the path is clear."
"But-"
"I will dry your clothes," Chengyuan interrupted, his jaw tight.
Xiaochuan watched, bewildered, as the Emperor walked away from the bed. The firelight played across the powerful muscles of his back as he walked to the center of the room and picked up Xiaochuan's discarded, damp clothes from the floor.
Xiaochuan propped himself up on one elbow, his pink hair falling over his face. "Are you…. are you leaving? I thought-"
Chengyuan finally turned his head, and the look in his eyes, compared to the way they were before, surprised xiaochuan. The Emperor's obsidian eyes were cold, the was he regarded xiaochuan from across the room was strange and unusual, and there was a flicker of something unsettled.
He simply looked at the omega and drew a deep breath. You leave me no choice little moon.
"Sleep, Xiaochuan." He said in his Alpha voice, it was the absolute, irresistible authority of a King.
Xiaochuan's protest died in his throat and a sudden, heavy wave of tiredness washed over him, turning his limbs to lead. He tried to blink, to stay awake and ask what had changed, but his body no longer obeyed him, it was a command his instincts couldn't refuse.
His head sank back into the bed, and the last thing he saw through his blurring vision was the silhouette of the Emperor leaving the room, disappearing into the raging storm outside.