Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 363; Breakfast

"True." She swung her legs out of bed, stretching her arms above her head. The movement pulled her nightshirt taut across her shoulders, and Lu Yuze found his eyes following the line of her spine, the graceful curve of her neck. "Let’s start with breakfast. Check on the children. Then we can decide which enemies to torture today and which to let torture themselves."

As she began to stand, clearly ready to face the day ahead with her usual ruthlessness, Lu Yuze felt that familiar sense of partnership settling over them. Whatever came, family pressure, corporate politics, ancient celestial wars, they would face it together.

But not yet.

Not just yet.

His hand shot out with surprising speed, fingers wrapping around her wrist and tugging her backward with gentle insistence. She made a small sound of surprise as she fell back onto the mattress, barely catching herself before she landed fully in his lap.

"Lu Yuze, what...."

"But we can stay lazy in bed for a few more hours or so," he interrupted, his voice carrying that lazy, indulgent tone he so rarely allowed himself. His arm snaked around her waist, holding her securely against him. "The children are downstairs making breakfast. Ting Fei is handling business matters. Your enemies are panicking without our intervention. For once, we actually have time."

Shuyin tried to pull away, but there was no real force behind it. "Too much sleeping is detrimental to your health," she protested, though her lips were already curving into a smile that belied her words. "We’ve already slept enough. We should...."

She didn’t get to finish the sentence.

Lu Yuze’s hand came up to cup the back of her neck, his fingers sliding into her tangled hair, and he drew her down to him with deliberate intent. His lips captured hers mid-word, swallowing whatever practical argument she’d been about to make.

The kiss was different from previous, less desperate, less driven by the need to process trauma and fear. This was something else entirely. Slower. More intentional. The kiss of a man who knew he had time and planned to use every second of it.

Shuyin’s initial stiffness melted almost immediately. Her hands came up to brace against his chest, whether to push him away or pull him closer, even she wasn’t entirely sure. But after a heartbeat’s hesitation, her fingers curled into the fabric of his sleep shirt, holding on rather than pushing back.

Lu Yuze took that as the invitation it was. His other arm wrapped more firmly around her waist, shifting their positions until she was fully in his lap, her knees on either side of his hips, facing him directly. The new angle let him deepen the kiss, his mouth moving against hers with practiced skill, learning what made her sigh, what made her grip his shirt tighter, what made her press closer.

When they finally broke apart for air, both breathing harder than the kiss alone warranted, Shuyin’s eyes had gone dark jade green with something that had nothing to do with magic or celestial power. "We really should....." she tried again, though the words came out breathless and unconvincing.

"Should what?" Lu Yuze’s voice was rough, lower than normal. His thumb traced the line of her jaw, tipped her face up so he could meet her eyes directly. "Should I rush downstairs to face more chaos? Should I jump immediately into planning and scheming? Should we deny ourselves this rare moment of privacy because there are always fires to fight?"

His hands settled on her hips, keeping her anchored in his lap even as she seemed to debate the wisdom of staying there. "For once, wifie, we have no immediate crisis. No children in the room. No ancient guardians needing guidance. No enemies bursting through doors." His lips curved into something between a smile and a smirk. "Let me be selfish. Let me have this time with you before the world demands our attention again."

Shuyin stared at him for a long moment, and he could see the calculation happening behind her eyes, weighing responsibilities against desire, duty against want. She’d spent so long prioritizing revenge and survival that allowing herself simple pleasure seemed almost foreign to her nature.

Then, slowly, deliberately, she leaned back down and kissed him again.

This time there was no hesitation, no debate. Her lips moved against his with intention, her hands sliding from his chest up to his shoulders, his neck, finally tangling in his hair the way his were tangled in hers. The kiss deepened, intensified, became something hungry and consuming.

Lu Yuze made a sound low in his throat, satisfaction and desire and possessive pleasure all mixed together. His hands moved from her hips up her back, feeling the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric of her nightshirt, tracing the delicate architecture of her spine. She was all lean muscle and graceful curves, strength wrapped in deceptive softness.

Shuyin shifted in his lap, and the friction made them both gasp against each other’s mouths. Lu Yuze’s hands tightened on her waist, holding her still for a moment, giving them both a chance to breathe, to think, to decide how far this was going to go.

"The children," Shuyin whispered against his lips, though she made no move to pull away. "They could come back."

"They’re making breakfast," Lu Yuze reminded her, his voice rough with barely controlled want. "That gives us at least twenty minutes. Probably more if they’re actually cooking rather than just eating what the staff prepared."

"Twenty minutes," she repeated, and something wicked flashed in her eyes. "What exactly do you plan to do with twenty minutes, husband?"

The challenge in her tone, the slight emphasis on that last word, sent heat pooling low in his belly. "Everything I can," he answered honestly. "Though I suspect twenty minutes won’t be nearly enough."

He kissed her again before she could respond, one hand cradling the back of her head while the other roamed her back, her sides, learning the geography of her body with reverent attention. She responded in kind, her own hands exploring the muscles of his shoulders, his chest, the hard planes of his back.