That night, the rest Luo Xiao had, made him feel like he had fallen into a heavenly cloud, and basked in the setting sun with a smile on his face. It had been absolutely wonderful, and when the moving light from the window finally hit his eyes late in the morning, he muttered under his tongue some unintelligible words and rolled over, inadvertently ending up in Jiang Yao’s open arms.
“Oh!” he gasped, suddenly fully awake as he opened his eyes to look at the prince.
Jiang Yao looked so perfect as their eyes met that his breath just stopped. His defined, shaped features were outlined by the warm light, and his black eyes seemed to absorb it and twinkle in return. His lips and eyebrows were perfectly shaped, and together with a few stray hairs that fell on top of his face seem to outline everything perfectly. Everything about him was just so beautiful, so much so that Luo Xiao found himself entranced.
If a few months ago someone would have told him that he would not only meet, but grow to appreciate, and enjoy the company of this mystical man by his side, he would have laughed it off.
“Does such a person even exist?” he would have said, and just smiled weakly.
But now he knew that such wonderful things did exist, despite coming with a price. After all, a contract between the two was still in place.
Luo Xiao shook his head briefly, shaking off all of those thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to worry about them.
“Good morning, Jiang Yao,” he said with a smile on his lips before sitting up.
This whole time Jiang Yao had just watched him, not saying a word. Obviously, he also had his own thoughts about the way Luo Xiao had looked at him, but chose not to say them. His eyes travelled from the boy, who had stood up by now to fix up his clothes and hair, to the herbs still left in piles around the cauldron, which had cooled off by now.
“Did you sleep well, my Xiaoxiao?” he chuckled as he stood up, walking behind Luo Xiao and hugging him around the waist. His chin leaned down on Luo Xiao’s shoulder, and his eyes looked at him from the side with a smirk of a true seducer.
The blush on Luo Xiao’s face wasn’t as immediate as it would have been previously, but he was still startled momentarily by the gesture. Luo Xiao was a lot more used to it than before, but every time Jiang Yao did something like that, he still felt a bit surprised at first. The redness covered his cheeks quickly, but he smiled, gently leaning back into the embrace, and just enjoyed it. All the while his heartbeat was getting faster and faster.
“Yeah, I feel quite well rested, but we have work to do,” Luo Xiao’s expression became determined before he got out of the embrace, and walked over to the cauldron and pile of herbs.
Jiang Yao raised an eyebrow. “More medicine making?”
While putting away the herbs in his storage bag, Luo Xiao shook his head. “Of course not! I can continue my studies back at the Academy. Although reaching this success stage was quite nice too. However, we came here for something else, didn’t we, Jiang Yao?”
He turned around at those words, his hands putting the cauldron away at that very moment. A warm smile was on his lips, making his visage look almost heavenly in Jiang Yao’s eyes. Almost, since he was a demon after all, and in the eyes of the common folk heavenly things were not for them. Even though those were just myths with no basis in reality.
The prince raised an eyebrow. “Oh, what would such a thing be?” He smirked, walking closer. His hand gently found itself under Luo Xiao’s chin, lifting it gently. The corner of his lips raised itself even more at the thought of Luo Xiao wanting less of the refining, and more of the fun that he was quite ready to provide, only if he ever asked for it.
Oh, those wide eyes, how much he wanted to look into them forever. Those soft cheeks, how much he wanted to hold them in his hands. And those lips, so cute and perfect. Oh, how much he wanted to kiss them until the end of time.
And that’s what he chose to do. He leaned forward and lifted Luo Xiao’s face as their lips drew to a close. The two of them drew together, as Jiang Yao’s hands found themselves around Luo Xiao’s back, pushing him closer. This was where the prince thrived, feeling joy just from holding his lover close and not letting go, and he most likely would have continued were it not for Luo Xiao himself.
Albeit all flushed and red, he had put his hands on Jiang Yao’s chest and pushed him away slightly, ending the kiss before it could go any further. Eyes wide, he looked up at the prince’s face, now turned questioning and disappointed, and took a deep breath. “Jiang Yao, that’s not it.”
“We came here to go to the Beast Ridge, remember? A place where I would be able to learn to fight even better than before, and raise my cultivation with your help,” he paused. “I understand that you want to hold and kiss me, but…”
He couldn’t find the strength to continue, and he bit his lower lip, lowering his head. The look that Jiang Yao was giving him, in those deep black eyes was draining all the courage he had managed to muster, even if it wasn’t a negative or dark gaze.
Luo Xiao rarely opposed Jiang Yao’s decisions, but this time he felt that they had already wasted too much time. He had a goal that needed to be accomplished, and his time was limited. He had to return to the academy, and later he needed to get revenge on Jiang Luo.
The Moon Anise was something that could strengthen Jiang Yao, and they had to get it. Although Luo Xiao knew that Jiang Yao was extremely strong, he still felt bad about knowing that the last Moon Anise was given to him, and that it could have raised Jiang Yao’s cultivation base to another level.