[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke novel Chapter 404

Chapter 404: Invite Me

Steam curled upward in soft, ghostly ribbons, carrying the mineral scent of the water. The faint echo of droplets falling from the carved stone walls created a rhythm that was both quiet and endless.

"Xion," Darius called as he helped the healer remove the extra robe from his shoulders. "Are you in pain?"

The healer couldn’t help but sigh, but halfway through, it turned into a shudder when the air in the hot spring enveloped his bare torso.

"No, I’m not. I am perfectly fine now. As fine as I can be."

From their bedroom all the way to the springs, Darius had asked him that same question over and over, as if the answer might change if he caught Xion off guard.

His earlier breakdown had rattled the Archduke badly, and no reassurance seemed enough to loosen the man’s grip.

It wasn’t hard to understand the reason.

Though crying had managed to calm Xion’s violent emotions down, it would take some time for both of them to return to normal.

The future where Xion would have to do everything without any special support, and where Darius wouldn’t see him groaning in the middle of the night and spitting blood.

His musing stopped when a hand reached for his waistband.

"I can do it," he said, clutching onto his trousers.

Xion was suddenly conscious of how close they were, of how he might appear after being on the bed for so long.

His body reeked of gloominess, and the way his ribs were jutting out, it looked horrible even to him.

I look like a mushroom, he thought.

White from lack of sun, with edges that had curled in on themselves. And yet, Darius acted as if he were looking at something priceless.

It was then he realised with mirth that just a few months ago, the two of them had been here.

At that time, Darius had acted like a perfect gentleman, leaving him alone to soak in the hot spring.

Now that he was well aware of his husband’s less-than-innocent thoughts, he highly doubted Darius hadn’t been harboring some fanciful thoughts then.

Yeah, it was better not to risk it.

"Can you... maybe... turn around?"

"Sure."

With how easily Darius agreed, it stunned Xion until he heard the latter sentence.

"For the sake of my own sanity and self-control..."

Xion glanced at the broad, sculpted back before him, then down at himself, and almost laughed. What could Darius possibly see to tempt him?

Shaking his head, he turned around as well, removing his shoes and socks.

He had barely touched the drawstring before his hands stilled. Long fingers were already there, brushing over his knuckles.

In the next breath, heat bloomed as Darius pulled him flush against his chest.

At some point, the great northern lord had rid himself of his own clothes at the fastest speed.

Xion could feel the contour of those muscles he hadn’t seen for a long time.

"You said ’sure’ a moment ago." He shook his head, smiling all the same.

"I also said ’for my own sanity and self-control,’" Darius murmured against his ear, "and you know I have none when it comes to you."

Xion couldn’t help but laugh.

"You are so silly, you know," he leaned back, letting those long fingers fiddle with the cords. "Sometimes, I wonder what you would be like if you were not from this world."

Lips were onto his neck, gently sliding over to his shoulders.

"That’s simple," Darius said, pausing to kiss the curve of his shoulder. "I’d still be your lover. Or chasing you. Or already married."

It was said with the same certainty he gave his soldiers when ordering them into battle.

For a man called the devil, for the cold-blooded warlord, love was really that simple to him.

Something to protect at any cost. Something he could kill and even die for.

Perhaps it was that relentless devotion that had dragged Xion back to him.

And perhaps it was what made the sudden bite to his shoulder send a startled sound tumbling from his throat.

"Ah! Hey—don’t bite—mnnh!"

The hand that had hovered innocently over his trousers slipped inside, and now it was shamelessly roaming over his thigh.

Xion instinctively held Darius’ wrist, trying to stop him from causing trouble.

But when had the Archduke been so easy to stop in this kind of situation?

"Bath, I-I want to take a bath."

"Ask me, baby." One of Darius’ arms circled his waist, tracing a slow, maddening path around his navel. "Ask me to join you. Invite me."

His fingers measured a line from his navel down, as if calculating something. The depth where he could possibly reach with his cock without hurting Xion.

"With pleasure, my darling. And I’ll make sure you’re clean from head to toe."

It was far too easy, Xion thought, to lose myself when I am with you.

His dear husband was hard. He could feel it touching his spine all too well.

Was he anticipating that Xion would be willing to have sex back then? How... sneaky.

Blushing, with water droplets clinging to his skin... Ah, his baby looked like a fresh apple. So supple, enticing him to take a few more bites.

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