Something Euphoric

The sun and the moon in her universe had realigned with all the stars. Jay Yi was supposed to feel ecstatic. 

She didn't.

She could not chase the image of Hwan's oddly hurt eyes out of her mind. Even in her befuddled state, she had recognised that his hurt wasn't solely about her decision to leave his chamber. It was something more. The invisible connection she felt with Hwan had been more potent than ever, and deep inside, the need to know what that 'something more' was gnawed at her. 

Stepping out into the chilly corridor where the silver-infused night inserted itself through the narrow slats of the hanjis drawn over the large windows lining the hallway, Jay Yi met with Hwan's entourage, who stood as if waiting for her. Out of sheer habit, she bowed and then smiled involuntarily as, flabbergasted, they all bowed back, "Your Royal Highness!" 

Jay Yi returned their greetings with a nod of warm acceptance and turned to Eunuch So, "Please take me back to my Palace." 

With a most respectful bow, Eunuch So stretched his hand, showing the way to the outside, indicating he would follow her.

The kind young Eunuch who had so sweetly come to Jay Yi's defence earlier appeared with a tray with the mesh and the hat. In a few minutes, court lady Nam had placed the hat back on Jay Yi's head, her binyeo now nestling cosily in her sleeve pocket.

The satiny, glinting metal of the binyeo suddenly brought back the image of Hwan's disappointed look flashing into her mind. 

 It was not duty or any misplaced sense of honour that stopped me...

 Now that she was out of Hwan's distracting, hypnotic presence, her mind was beginning to unspool the conversation she had with Hwan. Her vice-like grip on her impulses was starting to loosen. 

 You are not listening to anything I am saying...

Was that true? 

Her wayward thoughts were interrupted by court lady Woo, who cleared her throat, her eyes pointing to Jay Yi's midriff. 

Belatedly, Jay Yi realised she had left her belt inside. Embarrassment painted her cheeks crimson. With great effort, she kept her hands from covering her face. She heard a click. The young Eunuch was holding out his belt to court lady Nam. 

What must they think? Jay Yi stole a quick glance at them, but she found nothing other than reverence and serenity. Court lady Nam locked the borrowed belt around her waist with an impassive face. 

Back into the comfort of the library where the kitchen maid's dress waited for her, Jay Yi let out a sigh, her eyes fixed on an abstract point beyond the dimly lit shelves, her mind a jumble of thoughts that tumbled over each other without cessation. 

  There is one Jay Yi, and I love all of her. .....

 I want you to know how proud I am of you for everything you are...

 It has always been my choice.....

Hwan's words played over and over like the lines of an ancient melody looping in her head uninvited. 

 I want you because you exist...

Jay Yi gave a vigorous shake to her head to clear her mind. She glanced at the eunuch hat in her hand, looking at its oblong shape without seeing it.

You have to trust me, too....

Her head snapped up, the familiar library chamber coming back into focus. 

Unhesitating, her mind made up, she stepped out and faced Eunuch So, who had been patiently waiting for her outside. "Please inform Court Lady Kim my return will be slightly more delayed than I anticipated."

Hands clammy, she found herself back, staring at Hwan's chamber door once more. The even inlay of thin strips of lights across the latticed door meant Hwan was still up. 

"Your Majesty, it's Eunuch So asking permission to come in with -"

"Enter," Hwan's muffled voice boomed from behind the door before Eunuch So could complete his sentence. 

Hwan was still standing where she had left him. His back was to her, and his hands were clutched behind him. The window shutter was rolled up, and even though the chamber lights had been lowered, throwing most of the massive room into a lulling dimness, the intense light from the moon blazed the corner Hwan was standing in. 

The beam of the resplendent moonlight bathed over his brooding silhouette, forming a shimmering nimbus around him, creating an air of mystery that only sped up her pounding heart. 

Jay Yi made her way to him on rebellious legs as if wading through waist deep water.

"Did you see Her Royal Highness safely back to her chamber, Eunuch So?" Unaware of her presence, Hwan asked without turning. 

Jay Yi gazed at his broad, proud shoulders, straight spine and tall form encased in the blinding white tunic in the silver outplay of the moon over the dark shadows. The air of melancholy was unmistakable. It had taken her a long time to realise that this handsome, proud, royal man had given her his loyalty and love without condition. And she had failed to acknowledge it. Her heart ached at knowing how he must have been wounded again when she had overlooked his requests to trust him, even to consider what he was trying to tell her repeatedly. 

A slight movement of his head indicated his surprise at not receiving a prompt reply to his question. Hwan still didn't turn but angled his head slightly to the left, the corner of his eyes glancing back sideways but not seeing her as she was out of his line of vision. His body hardened into a silent question of someone accustomed to receiving an answer without fail.

She nervously cleared her throat. 

Hwan spun around, his white robes creating a blur of flapping motion around him. His face was now cast in shadows, but the shock of seeing her was transparent, disbelief etching each syllable as his lips formed a "Jay Yi?" in astonishment. 

Jay Yi bowed a deep curtsy. The sound of his sensuous baritone woke up the fluttering butterflies that seemed to have taken permanent residence in the pit of her stomach. 

"Is everything all right? Are you all right?" Even in the soft, suffused lights of the lanterns, she could see his ocean-deep, syrupy dark eyes under his slightly arched straight brows, brimming with worry, warmth, and tenderness, all for her. 

"Yes, yes, everything is all right, Your Majesty," Jay Yi swallowed the drumming in her throat.

Painfully conscious, she went to the lantern perched on the chest next to them and lifted its exterior shell, removing the double sheets that helped dim the lantern and placing the spare screens neatly on the side before returning the cover to its base. The eunuch belt he had removed earlier from her waist still lay on the table. She traced it absent-mindedly, unnaturally struck dumb, unsure what to say now that she was before him.

"Why did they not collect it?" She stole a glance at him, attempting to make inane talks as superficial to her ears as her need to toy with the belt.

The brightened light illuminated the firm lines of Hwan's face, the heat of his gaze burning her. 

"I asked them to leave it here," Hwan added to the frivolous conversation, bidding his time while he waited for her to say what was on her mind. 

"The sweet young Eunuch who rose to my defence earlier lent me his," she smiled.

Hwan tilted his head, trying to fathom why she had returned to his chamber. She looked nervous and fidgety. His heart was kicking against his rib cage painfully. 

He felt intensely aware of her. And he knew she was equally aware of him.

Their bodies did not listen to their minds, communicating with each other through an imaginary semaphore, signalling a yearning Jay Yi adamantly had been trying to deny. 

The lantern's golden glow shone on her translucent skin, her short, pert, upturned nose starkly contrasting with her full-bodied lips. Hwan's gaze moved over her, taking in the drab eunuch uniform that once again hid her like a chrysalis encasing the metamorphosing butterfly that Jay Yi was, his delicate yet of tinsel strength, fiercely independent, opinionated and stubborn woman who was always on the verge of flying out of reach. He didn't dare go close to her, let alone touch her, for fear she would flee again. 

"You must be wondering why I have come back, Your Majesty," Jay Yi began awkwardly, her fingers fiddling with the belt, her eyes focused on it. 

"It's doubtful you have returned to fetch that belt, especially considering you are already wearing a replacement," he said softly. 

She bobbed her head in assent. "I came back to apologise because I ran away. Again. What we had this evening was something wonderful. Yet I behaved selfishly, and -"

"Jay Yi, you do not need to apologise for anything."

"Your Majesty, can you deny you wish the evening had ended differently?" Her unexpected question whipped the air out of his body, flaming a familiar hunger and fanning a wild assumption that she had come back because she, too, yearned for that different end, his rational mind dismissing it as a figment of his vivid imagination. Yes, the molten gaze peering deep where his heart lay kicked up a tempest of hope. Throat dry, he stared at her transfixed.

"I am not always rational in your arms, Your Majesty, but it does not excuse that I was amiss in understanding you and your perspective. I came here to be heard, meaning I should have heard you, too. I failed. Yes, I was hurt that evening, and then it progressively turned into frustration and fear, blinding me to all possibilities that might have explained it differently." Jay Yi took a long breath. "How is it different from what happened this morning? You were magnanimous to hear my side of the story. But when it was my turn to lend you the ear you deserved, I held onto my assumptions. Mianhae. I am ashamed." 

Stunned, Hwan was too moved to speak. He swallowed, his gaze moving lingeringly over her bowed head. 

Fastening her eyes to a rectangular piece of interlocked wood between them, her hands clasped together as she said, almost inaudibly, "I finally understand what you have been trying to tell me for so long now, how you do not see the person I am outside of my original identity as anyone different. I might disagree with it, but it does not make your stance any less valid. I disrespected you by being dismissive as you tried to explain how your actions were not driven by guilt, regret or duty." Jay Yi left the table and walked closer to him, her face aglow in the shimmering moonlight as she faced Hwan, "I returned to tell you I believe and trust you, Your Majesty."

Hwan didn't move. Now that she had said her piece, Jay Yi was unsure what to do next. Jay Yi stole another glance at him and met a gaze that was as inscrutable as a riddle without clues. 

"Have you come to learn what drove my actions that evening?" His tone was neutral, almost wary. 

Hwan's guarded response confused her.

"Partly."

"What if I said I'm not in the mood?" Hwan came back, his tone carefully detached.

 Feeling disappointed at his unemotional poise, Jay Yi lowered her head. "I understand. It's not as important anymore. You must have had a good reason relevant only to that one instance, and I will not let that one action define our relationship. That is all I had come to say. I will take your leave-"

Her monologue hung in midsentence as Hwan hauled her to him, his fingers spanning her entire lower back, securing her tight against his hard body. Shock rendered her speechless.

She raised her eyes to meet his, and his gaze was a flash of a lightning bolt, white-hot with desire, immolating her. Jay Yi felt boneless as she melted into him. The only solid thing that seemed to remain in her body was her heart, which was galloping faster than any horse she had ever laid her eyes on. 

"You came to hear my side of the story, and you are not leaving until you did, and it's an order," his voice was thick. "As you pointed out, that will make us even. Do you understand, Jay Yi?"

Her nerves thrummed with excitement and anticipation. Jay Yi worked her throat muscle, "It's only fair. You can hold me to it."

A sleek finger grazed her cheek.

"Ah! Then I should give you a fair warning. It could be that once you have heard it, I might decide not to let you leave, and I need you to understand that you will not have any say in it," Hwan's voice had dropped so many decibels that it almost sounded like a lion purring to his mate. 

Parched of moisture in her throat, Jay Yi could only nod.

Alert eyes searched her face for resistance, careful not to let his euphoria overrun his senses and found none. Lust, yearning and prudence elbowed each other for space as Hwan tried to calm down his heart, thundering in rapture.

Jay Yi's brain seemed to dissolve, his blistering gaze razing all resistance that her sane mind could think of, her awareness narrowing down to the synchronised drumming of their madly racing hearts and the heat of their fused bodies that felt nude despite the thick layers of clothing between them. 

Stepping back, Hwan swiftly took off her eunuch hat and placed it on the flat surface of the chest. For the second time in less than an hour, long, efficient fingers clicked the belt at her waist and deposited it next to its errant partner. Bending down, he placed an arm behind her knees and hoisted her in his arms. Her palms became moist as she locked them behind his neck. 

A sound that was half groan and half delight, Hwan swooped down to claim her lips. His invading tongue sent flames of blazing pleasure licking through her veins. He drank her like he was sucking honey from a honeycomb. 

Hwan let her slide from his arms, her body gliding past every hard and strained muscle in his body, sending hot waves of awareness and arousal pumping through her like a torrential downpour. Hwan kept her imprisoned in his arms, their mouth still locked as her feet touched the soft texture of the bed, strangely harmonious with the rock-like, powerful muscles tingling the soft skin of her palms and fingers. 

Fiercely aroused by her hesitant exploration, Hwan helplessly ground into her.

Her legs wobbled as her soggy brain processed him pulsing against her, and Jay Yi sank into the bed, breaking the kiss. With a muted growl, Hwan let her go and then dropped to his hunches beside her, wrapping an arm behind her to support her weightless body that seemed to float and then gathered her onto his lap.

Hwan cupped Jay Yi's face and watched her. Pink saturated her skin, lips swollen deliciously, eyelids droopy with desire. His heart swelled with love and tenderness. She had come back for him. For them. 

Her kiesang spirit was alive and kicking, and he wanted to shout with joy.

Jay Yi never ceased to amaze him, always keeping him guessing. Life with her would be like riding a cart drawn by magnificent horses hell-bent on riding in different directions.

"You are distracting me, Min Jay Yi. We are not even yet," he teased, even as his hand wandered down from her face to her throat and then her chest, teasing, kneading, moulding, his mahogany eyes hooded with desire as he watched her reactions intently, making her reel with hunger and leaving her jittery with shivers shooting down to her toes. Jay Yi was sinking into a drug-like stupor, her body falling backwards, suspended on Hwan's arm as he supported her.

"Then you need to stop, Your Majesty," Jay Yi tried to focus on him, one arm looping from underneath his, grabbing the fabric at the back and the other latching onto his sleeve for purchase.

Hwan sobered, sitting her up and cradling her. "I do not want any more misunderstandings between us, Jay Yi. I mean it when I say if I could go back and change it, I would never have stopped."

"Then why did you stop?" She nodded and then gasped as his hand sneaked underneath her tunic and continued his sweet torture, her ultra-sensitive skin under his manipulative fingers creating sensations that made her dig her heels into the bed and curl her fingers at his back and his arm.

"I stopped because of several reasons. Which one do you want to know first?"

"Whichever you want to share first." Jay Yi arched at a particularly pleasurable point, her toes curling into the bed, tumultuous sensations sending shivers down to her core, not caring as long as he carried on what he was doing.

Hwan's hands stilled and then vanished from under her tunic. Jay Yi sighed with acute disappointment.

Instead, his hands travelled to her head, removing the mesh and freeing her hair of its knot. The silk of her hair tumbled open. Hwan laced his fingers lovingly through the strands. He inhaled her temple. "I love your hair," he said huskily. 

Curious, Jay Yi traced his jaw. "Who is getting distracted now?" was her turn to tease. She knew Hwan had his mind set on clearing the air between them. Her impatient eyes searched his face.

"Well, let's see. From what I know, it would be painful for you. So it made me nervous." 

Jay Yi recalled him mentioning that. A warm, fuzzy feeling filled her heart.

"I know it hurts for women every time and might be bad, but I was prepared," Jay Yi said in her usual candid style, following it up with a very shy, flushed, "I am prepared."

"Every time? Who said that?" Hwan brought up a knee against her back, making a nest of his legs and drawing her closer to him, guiding her upper back to rest on the crook of his arm, her hair a curtain over it, his other arm curved cosily around her waist.

"The dowager told me," Jay Yi recalled the conversation with distaste. 

"What did she tell you?" He gently nudged her to face him by applying soft pressure on the side of her face.

Jay Yi stared at a point beyond his shoulder.

"Jay Yi?"

No response.

"Whatever it is, I don't think it will live too long."

That brought her attention back to him. "Ne?"

"Whatever it is that you are glaring at behind my shoulder seems to be in grave danger of losing its life," laughter glimmered in his eyes. "What did the Dowager say to upset you so?"

Jay Yi gave a long-suffering sigh. "She told me that as soon as our wedding night is over, I must think of filling the Queen's quarters with concubines. That way, once I beget a son, you would no longer need to come to me." Hwan could see fumes of consternation swirl from her ears. He gave a bark of laughter. 

"You have made an enemy of her indeed."

"I know she does not like me anymore, but -"

"But?" He prompted, a wayward finger tracing her from the barely visible throat to her navel, traversing the valley between her breasts tantalisingly. Hwan saw awareness flare in Jay Yi's eyes instantly. He hardened torturously in response.

"I don't think she was being mean just for the sake of it. She meant it. And I also have seen some of it myself. It looks painful." Jay Yi quelled the apprehension that slithered through her unexpectedly. 

"What?" Hwan almost let her out of his hold in shock. His mind went berserk thinking of all the dangerous places she might have ventured to come upon something so forbidden. He turned her inward, so she faced him directly. "What did you see? How - what kind of places did you go to?" He could not keep the scold out of his vexed voice.

"I did not need to go anywhere. Dogs are everywhere," Jay Yi replied defensively, looking away, a telltale little red bloom spreading across her neck.

"Dogs?" Hwan's eyes popped out. And just like that, he dissolved into a fit of laughter. His shoulders shaking in delight, he grasped her tight, laughing into her neck. 

"What is so amusing?" Jay Yi was quite miffed. 

"Oh, my precious love, for someone who claims she is not the 'prim and proper' Joseon maiden and an investigator to boot, you are greener than all those 'prim and proper' maidens put together," Hwan could hardly control his mirth, his fervent desire and his endless love for this brave but naive woman exploding his heart.

"No one has been willing to teach this particular lesson, and dead bodies do not speak. Master Myung Jin even stopped operating on adults when I was in there," Jay Yi complained and pouted prettily while she played with the fastening holding his nightdress together. "And have you never seen dogs like that?" 

 "You forget, I roamed outside of the Palace quite a bit. I even met a robber once who stole all the money I had…..and then she dared to steal my heart…." Hwan ribbed her, taking in her brilliant eyes. "I assure you, it is nothing like what dogs do," Hwan said, his eyes moist with laughter. 

"And how would you know?" He was famous as the monk prince in the entire Palace. Was there something she did not know? After all, he was always surrounded by beautiful women for the picking if he so wanted. Jealousy tore through her. She pulled back to glare at him with slits for eyes.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked her in mock seriousness.

"No," her honey-brown orbs were in danger of turning black any moment.

The corners of his eyes crinkled in merriment. "One of the perks of being a Crown Prince is a thorough education on producing heirs. The lessons were.. um...quite enlightening."

 Jay Yi did not want to hear any more; the lurid images of those lessons made her want to claw at something.

"I assure you all of the lessons came from very unattractive sources," He was immensely enjoying her jealousy-driven rancour.

"I do not want to know about them. You are digressing again, Your Majesty."

"I am, am I not?" His mouth tugged at her earlobe. "You have no idea how much I am looking forward to this magnificent source of learning I have in my arms. Men in scholarly robes are not the best role models for imparting such knowledge." Jay Yi's eyes widened as comprehension sank in. Hwan was enjoying pestering her, but she didn't mind any more. "Do you want me to show you how different?" He asked. His eyes changed, becoming enflamed as he went over her body, almost undressing her. She inched closer so it would be easy for him to keep doing the delicious thing he was doing.

"Mnnn....you have made me too curious, Your Majesty, so please stop deviating. What were the other reasons?" She sighed in bliss.

Chuckling, he tipped her head up by her chin with a gentle forefinger. "We did not have much time on our hands. I did not want to rush something I felt so powerfully about. You would have needed time to recover."

Jay Yi's eyes shone, overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness.

"But those were not the main reasons."

"Then?"

Hwan grasped her chin and looked directly into her eyes, a strange, feral possessiveness glinting ominously in his gaze. 

"No one knew you were with me. When I make you mine, I want no ambiguity, no hushed whispers. Let me make it crystal clear: you are mine. No one should dare mistake otherwise, ever. I will slice off the tongue that so much as thinks differently."

A primitive thrill coursed through her body at Hwan's zealous words. She knew Hwan meant it. 

"I didn't understand when you mentioned that day. I am sorry, I was so angry at you."

"I know. I was wrong to leave you the way I did. It's not an excuse, but I was too close to losing control and made a blunder. I am never going to leave you again. When you come to me, I want the world to know I made you my woman. Like tonight...."

Jay Yi's eyes widened as her breathing became laboured, her nails digging into her palm as she bunched his smooth, soft cotton tunic. 

"Will you come to me tonight, Jay Yi?"

Her rib cage was too small to hold her thundering heart, the riot of images his seductive voice created making a dough of her sanity.

"Do I have a choice?" Her breathless question was rhetorical. 

Hwan dropped his arms around her, straightened her, and looked into her eyes. "You always have a choice, Jay Yi."

He sat without touching her and waited.

Jay Yi suddenly realised what he was doing. It was always my choice...

An unaccustomed shyness enveloped her as she laid her heart bare, "Yes, I will, Your Majesty," 

Hwan let out a shuddering breath. "You will never know how painful that little wait was for me, Jay Yi!"

His unassuming words filled her with an overwhelming love and something akin to regret. Speechless, her eyes followed his long fingers as he tugged open the ties of her tunic, his hands working through the multiple, layered fastenings that held the folds of fabric hiding her.

As cool air touched her skin, she instinctively paused, shyly pulling back on the ends of the tunic to cover herself. "What if someone comes in?"

"When their King is with his woman inside his bed chamber?"

Jay Yi's hand flew to her mouth as she reddened with embarrassment. "Is that what they all are thinking of me?"

Hwan lips curved into a delicious bow of a smile, his hand digging into the silky skin of her waist under the flaps of her starched tunics, the other weaving through her hair, gripping her neck. He pulled her so close that she could see the shining flecks of light dancing in his eyes. "What if they are? You are mine." 

She was drowning in a deep pool of smouldering desire and pride. 

"I will just be another one who could not wait any longer. Some might sigh of relief," Hwan chuckled, alluding to the unsavoury rumours swirling around in the Palace as Jay Yi made a face at him.

His eyes locked with Jay Yi. Holding her by the shoulders, he abruptly, though gently, pushed her back, her length now occupying the middle of the bed as he slid his upper torso on her, one arm encircling her, the other hand gripping her hip, a knee separating her legs, his engorged body moving against her sensually, telling her more than words could. "I love you, Jay Yi. There is no going back for me tonight. But I know you care about what the people working for me think. So if you want to leave -" 

Hwan did not get to finish as Jay Yi looped her hands around his neck and placed her mouth on his, and she whispered back, "I love you too, Your Majesty."

With a groan, he crushed her to him. Urgency overcame him as his hands flew over her, caressing, tugging at the obstructions that kept their skin separated. With deliberate movements, he eased the tunics off her shoulders and then explored her feverishly. 

As the last bit of clothing came off her, Hwan breathed, a slight tremor of his hands betraying his passion. "I have dreamt of you every waking hour, every night, been dreaming of you in my arms for so long it's been a torture," his voice was gravelly. 

All of a sudden, an impatient longing took over her senses. Her hands found themselves at the knots of fabric on Hwan's tunic, making short work of the ties. Hwan leaned back. Jay Yi stared at him with wonder as he peeled off his nightdress, revealing in all glory what her eyes had only seen and felt in bits and pieces. 

Swallowing, Jay Yi bunched her hands at her chest. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. His beauty did not stop at his face. The muted light from the lampshades glistened on his body, throwing his enormously potent male form in stark relief. She drank in the splendour of Hwan's chiselled torso, his skin polished into a warm gold over the ripped cords of muscles as far as her eyes could travel. He was massive, powerful and belonged to her. Jay Yi felt her heart would burst.

Her eyes travelled all over in awe and met his eyes. The shy, reticent, almost monk-like Prince she had once known was nowhere in sight. Instead, a gorgeously aroused, luxuriously confident and royally proud man regarded her lazily, openly elated with her worshipping gaze, a sensuous smile curving his lips, his intense gaze penetrating her soul. Colour flooded her cheeks. Jay Yi felt nervous and shaky. She was caught in a vortex of desire, feeling as though she was drowning without knowing how to swim to the surface.

Bending down, Hwan pulled her to him. Jay Yi trembled as the satin of his skin grazed against hers, the feeling novel and thrilling. A scintillating wave of pleasure coursed through her. A slick, wet throbbing at her core told her how precariously close she was to coming undone. In a trance, Jay Yi's hands reached out to touch the velvet of his muscular chest of their own volition. Gingerly, she pressed her hands on his smooth skin, her hands moving shyly, curiously. Shivering, Hwan encircled her wrist before her hands became too adventurous. 

"Slow down, lady, or I will not be able to hold for too long. I don't want to hurt you too much," Hwan gritted through his teeth as he took deep breaths. The pain of holding himself back caused beads of sweat on his forehead. 

"I don't care if I hurt. This cannot be worse than a cut from an arrow."

Jay Yi's courage was a neverending ocean. Pride and tender love brimmed over in his heart. "Oh, sweetheart, what did I do to deserve you?"

Without waiting for her reply, he bent his head, his mouth voraciously closing over a rosy tip, and his fingers ventured into a wet elixir at the core of her private being where no one had ever been. 

Jay Yi baulked and rolled away in an instinctive modesty. Hwan pulled her back and held her down, pouring soothing, alluring endearments into her ears. Hwan traced her alabaster skin from her bare toes to her sweaty forehead, especially pausing over the scars she acquired in Gaeseong and then Paju. His eyes saw parts of her she had never seen. A delightful blush spread over her body as desire clashed with embarrassment. She tried to close off from his prying eyes in a silent implorement by folding her legs and turning to a side. 

"Shh...you are magnificent, Jay Yi. Don't be shy," Hwan breathed as he firmly laid her open to himself, sending her a pure, hot, molten black heat blazing across her body. The residual hesitance evaporated in steam as her whole body became a wet mush. In return, Hwan slowly but steadily allowed her to set off on a discovery of her own. Their bodies entwined in a primitive, yet novel, dance of passion and reached for more. Jay Yi lost her mind as waves of pleasure threw her over the crest and crashed her below, her cries of pleasure reverberating around the chamber, not caring who would become privy to her abandoned revelling in the sensations Hwan had unleased on her. At her sweet, unconstrained, free-spirited response, Hwan became demented with the need to sheath himself within her, to possess her, to own her essence.

Hwan murmured soothingly in her ears and cupped her face. "I am sorry," he said as he started to fill her body and soul with all he had. The searing pain elicited an involuntary cry she could not control. Then she looked into Hwan's eyes, liquid with love and awe, and wonderment washed over Jay Yi. It was incredibly painful, yet the enthrallment in Hwan's gaze, the beauty in the rhythm of their bodies as they moved to music of their own, brought tears that had little to do with the pain she experienced. Hwan paused, kissing her tears gently, almost reverently, and she smiled tumultuously. She tightened around him convulsively. Hwan's control broke as he helplessly thrust to reach the divine peak of unbridled release. Jay Yi responded in kind as, at some point, the pain started blurring into a strange, unfamiliar pleasure. Finding her hand she had curled into the bed by her head, Hwan threaded his fingers through hers, holding it tight, as they spiralled down deep, and then soared high above, where the sun and the moon of their universe perfectly aligned with the stars. Hwan covered her lips yearningly, soaking in her moans of ache and joy. Stars exploded as their passion crested the pinnacle. Spent, Hwan whispered in fierce possessiveness, "My kiesang spirit, you are mine, forever mine!"

She did not know what he meant, but something euphoric filled Jay Yi, telling her, at last, she had bloomed into a woman. Hwan's woman.