Morning light streamed through the curtains, filling the room with a gentle, crystalline glow.
On the bed, the silver-haired female insect still curled within the quilts, her breath steady, lashes quivering lightly, as if still immersed in last night’s indescribable, vivid dream.
Gu Qing lay on his side, drawing him completely into his embrace, his palm resting lightly on the other’s bare back. His fingertips gently caressed the smooth skin, unable to resist leaning down to place a kiss beside Milton’s ear.
Feeling the warm breath, Milton slowly opened his eyes, his gaze still hazy and flustered. The next moment, he seemed to finally realize they were still completely naked. His ears instantly flushed crimson, and he reached out to pull the quilt up to cover himself.
Gu Qing beat him to it, wrapping his arms around Milton. He gave a low, playful bite to his earlobe, his tone teasingly suggestive: “Last night… I saw everything I should have seen, and even some things I shouldn’t have. Isn’t it a bit late to start covering up now?”
Milton’s cheeks instantly flushed crimson, his entire body burning like a flame. His eyes darted away, yet he couldn’t escape Gu Qing’s gaze, brimming with amusement.
“My queen—” Gu Qing called him lazily, his voice low, hoarse, and gentle. His fingers slowly traced from Milton’s forehead down his cheek, the movement intimate and tinged with mischief. “Were you satisfied last night?”
Before the words had fully left his lips, his fingertips trailed downward, threatening to tease once more.
Milton’s eyes widened in shock. He immediately grabbed Gu Qing’s hand, his voice low with embarrassment and anger. “Gu Qing, you… don’t push it too far!”
Gu Qing tilted his head innocently, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Is loving your own queen really going too far?”
He lowered his head, gently brushing his forehead against the other’s, his voice soft as a feather’s touch. “You didn’t say no last night.”
Milton: “…!”
His eyes flushed crimson with fury, yet he collapsed limply into Gu Qing’s embrace, too weak even to fight back.
He pushed away the hand roaming over his body, gritting his teeth and growling, “Touch me again and I’ll bite you.”
Gu Qing raised an eyebrow, watching him with a half-smile, his voice lazy and teasing: “Bite me? Hmm… You bit me last night too. Pretty hard, actually.”
“Gu Qing!!” Milton nearly bristled with embarrassment, hastily snatching the blanket to wrap himself into a tight ball.
Gu Qing wouldn’t let him have his way. With a sweeping arm, he scooped both man and blanket into his embrace, pressing them tightly together once more.
“Stop hiding, my queen,” he murmured with a low laugh, his palm gently tracing the contours of Milton’s bare back. His voice was like a spring breeze caressing willow branches, yet it carried the lingering echoes of unfulfilled desire. “I remember every inch of you, more clearly than you remember yourself. After all the care I took to please you last night, you’re hiding like this now? Isn’t that a bit cold-hearted?”
Milton was speechless, her face flushing like a ripe shrimp. She tried to push him away with her elbow. “You… you have no shame—”
“Didn’t you say I’m your one and only?” Gu Qing murmured suddenly, his tone no longer playful, as gentle as the softest starlight in the night. “Then what’s wrong with me kissing you, holding you, thinking of you, caressing you…?”
His palm tightened, pinning Milton against his chest. His voice carried suppressed passion and longing: “I want to cherish you on the tip of my heart forever, Milton. From this moment on, until the starry seas fall silent.”
Milton froze, then managed to squeeze out after a moment: “…Th-then at least let me put my clothes on first.”
“No.” Gu Qing refused decisively, a smile curling his lips. “I haven’t had enough yet.”
With that, he lowered his head to kiss him again, sealing Milton’s flushed, angry protest with a passionate kiss—as if last night’s lovemaking had never ended.
Only when Milton was nearly breathless did Gu Qing reluctantly end the kiss, licking the swollen lips with a gesture that felt both soothing and like a final plunder.
“If we keep this up, we’ll be stuck in bed all day.” He chuckled softly, finally releasing the man in his arms, his tone tinged with restrained regret. “My queen is too tempting. I can’t guarantee I’ll always be able to resist.”
Milton gasped for breath, his face flushed like a ripe apple. He turned away uncomfortably under Gu Qing’s gaze, muttering softly, “Who asked you to resist…”
Gu Qing heard it perfectly, raising an eyebrow as he feigned leaning closer.
“Don’t come any closer!” Milton tensed, pulling the quilt tight with a guarded glare.
“Fine, fine, I won’t come closer.” Gu Qing raised his hands in mock surrender, rising from the bedside.
When his bare back came into Milton’s view, Milton’s breath caught abruptly. Across the bronze, taut muscles, several vivid red scratch marks crisscrossed with the deep purple bite mark on his shoulder, appearing particularly chilling in the morning light. Milton buried his face guiltily deep into the quilt—those marks constantly reminded him of how he had clung to this tree like a wildly growing vine last night.
Gu Qing watched the bulge beneath the covers, his eyes brimming with amusement. Instead of leaving, he leaned down, fingers catching the edge of the quilt, pulling it down until Milton’s eyes—shy, misty, and violet—peeked out.
“What are you hiding from?” Gu Qing murmured teasingly, then pressed a tender kiss to that smooth forehead, his voice soft as silk. “I’ll make breakfast for you. Be good. Sleep a little longer.”
Only then did he drape his outer robe and turn to leave. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw Milton clutching the exposed corner of the quilt, those glistening eyes glaring at him fiercely. Yet that gaze had lost its usual sharpness, replaced instead by a dazed and bashful look born of being overly cherished—much like a kitten that had been badly bullied and was now putting on a show of bravado.
Gu Qing’s smile grew even gentler as he closed the door softly. Soon, faint sounds drifted from the kitchen, accompanied by the crackle of the energy stove igniting. The air gradually filled with Milton’s familiar cooking aromas.
Under the covers, Milton shifted silently. He could feel the warm golden spiritual energy pulsing deep within his reproductive cavity, like a pair of gentle hands soothing the exhaustion from last night’s overwork.
He clutched his pillow, his face flushing crimson, sighing inwardly: This man was truly too much. Yet he loved it. Loved it so much… he couldn’t even bring himself to blame him.
Soon, Milton propped up his slightly aching body, raised his trembling hand, and gently touched the delicate necklace at his collarbone—the “Eternal Flame Star Chain” lay quietly encircling his snow-white neck, its starlight faintly flickering, as if Gu Qing’s warm palm still lingered upon it. His fingertips traced the smooth crystal, sensing the potent spiritual energy within, his gaze growing ever softer.
This was more than mere adornment. It was a vow, a mark, and in this vast sea of stars, an eternal light belonging solely to him and Gu Qing.
Milton smiled softly, lowering his head to kiss the pendant. It felt as though through that light, he could connect with that person’s heart, never to be parted. He recalled the husky yet resolute declaration whispered in his ear last night— “You are the only light in my heart, and my eternal belonging.”
He murmured softly, his voice gentle as if afraid of disturbing this beautiful dream: “…Me too. The only one. Forever.”
The light within the room flowed quietly, reflecting the fiery passion in his eyes, like starlight, growing ever deeper and more intense.