Chapter Text
The footsteps were light but sure as they crossed past the threshold of his chambers. Shen Qingqiu felt the corners of his lips lift up as he turned to greet his guest. "My lord husband."
Luo Binghe swept inside the room, ever regal. "Dearest wife." His eyes were bright and blazing.
Carefully Shen Qingqiu walked over to meet him halfway, quickly drawn into his warm embrace.
"This wife has missed you," Shen Qingqiu murmured in his ear. Luo Binghe had spent weeks away placating the unrest in the Southeastern front, where discontent reigned after several human colonies attacked a demonic one.
Truly, the merging of the realms brought forth more problems than blessings. But Luo Binghe was a determined ruler, and he would always succeed in whatever he put his mind into.
Shen Qingqiu liked that about him. His husband would rule with an iron fist and no one would dare oppose him and live to tell the tale.
There was still blood on his robes. That Luo Binghe had gone directly to his quarters upon his return sent a bolt of self-satisfaction through his spine.
"I have had a bath drawn for you," he said as he reluctantly pulled away. "and a meal."
"My wife spoils me," Luo Binghe said, with a chuckle. "It should be I who should be serving you."
"Nonsense," Shen Qingqiu responded, smiling. "My lord husband has been occupied with maintaining the peace in the realm, does it not fall to the wife's duty to attend to him?"
Luo Binghe smiled, pecking his cheek with a soft kiss. "I have the most attentive wife," he declared.
They exchanged more flatteries as Shen Qingqiu led him to the wooden tub, drawing the divider to provide him privacy. He touched his hair gently, and offered to help him bathe, but his husband waved him off, but not before squeezing his hand.
When Luo Binghe emerged, dressed in fresh robes, the table was already set and laden with food, candles flickering in the wind. Shen Qingqiu gestured to it, sitting by the table. Luo Binghe took his seat beside him, their shoulders brushing.
He fed Luo Binghe choice meats directly into his mouth, wiping the juices that dripped down his chin. In return, Luo Binghe refilled his cup with wine, tipping it down his throat. His fingers lingered by Shen Qingqiu’s lips. Shen Qingqiu took care to flick out his tongue to lick those probing digits, the taste of his husband’s skin spicy and familiar. A swirl of arousal pooled in his groin.
“What has kept my wife busy these days?” Luo Binghe pressed, their knees touching under the table. Shen Qingqiu smiled, fluttering his eyelashes coyly.
“The palace tributes have arrived yesterday,” he responded vaguely. His going-ons were hardly of interest; he stayed within the palace walls, reading books and practicing his instruments. In his husband’s absence, he managed the palace affairs, but it had now become a well-oiled machine, with Shen Qingqiu’s loyal servants reporting any anomalies to him. “They were all accounted for.”
He paused. “But it was my husband’s arrival that this wife has been waiting for, all this time.”
It was remarkably easy to lead Luo Binghe to the bed. His husband rose, eager, shedding his robes. Shen Qingqiu himself was clad only in a sheer outer garment and a light inner robe, and these he allowed his husband to have the pleasure of tugging off.
Luo Binghe’s eyes roved his pale skin, admiration clear in his gaze. Shen Qingqiu was pulled into his lap, and kisses were peppered throughout his body, starting from the neck before inching downwards.
Shen Qingqiu dug his nails into his skin, enjoying the feeling of intimacy. Luo Binghe was gentle and passionate; he knew everything Shen Qingqiu liked. It was intoxicating, being in Luo Binghe’s arms.
He worshipped his whole being, made him feel made anew. Shen Qingqiu gasped and moaned, stimulated all over from Luo Binghe’s ministrations. Truly his husband was masterful in the arts of sex.
The candles flickered low, close to mere nubs. Shen Qingqiu, sated and satisfied, found the crook of Luo Binghe’s neck, and lowered his head into that junction, their breaths in sync.
“Tell me you love me,” he murmured, pressing his bodies close together.
“This husband loves Shen Qingqiu,” Luo Binghe returned, devotion shining in his eyes.
Shen Qingqiu nodded with satisfaction, and allowed himself to curl further into the heat of his husband’s warmth.
It had been the same answer to his question in the past three years.
Luo Binghe was perfectly, completely under his thrall. He would never betray him, never hurt him, and never leave him.
He would love Shen Qingqiu and no other.
Truly, that love spell worked perfectly.