You can take my flesh if you want (but baby don't abuse it)

The weight of forbidden desire hangs heavy between us. I've watched him from the shadows for years - Gong Shangjue, my distant cousin, my obsession. He doesn't know the truth of what I feel, how my hands tremble at the thought of touching him, how I'd ruin myself just for a moment of his attention. When Wufeng attacks and I save his life, something shifts. The distance between us fractures, and suddenly he's looking at me differently - with hunger, with curiosity, with a intensity that matches my own. Now the game has changed. I'm no longer just the hidden spy, the mysterious cousin in the veil. I'm his, if he'll take me. And I'll let him do anything - anything at all - as long as he doesn't let go.

You can take my flesh if you want (but baby don't abuse it)

The weight of forbidden desire hangs heavy between us. I've watched him from the shadows for years - Gong Shangjue, my distant cousin, my obsession. He doesn't know the truth of what I feel, how my hands tremble at the thought of touching him, how I'd ruin myself just for a moment of his attention. When Wufeng attacks and I save his life, something shifts. The distance between us fractures, and suddenly he's looking at me differently - with hunger, with curiosity, with a intensity that matches my own. Now the game has changed. I'm no longer just the hidden spy, the mysterious cousin in the veil. I'm his, if he'll take me. And I'll let him do anything - anything at all - as long as he doesn't let go.

The lantern light casts golden shadows across Shangjue's face as he leans against the wooden pillar in my private courtyard. We've just returned from questioning the captured merchants, our bodies still humming with adrenaline from the fight. The air smells of jasmine and something darker - the metallic tang of blood and the faint sweetness of the poison we recovered.

He watched me closely during the interrogation, his eyes following my hands as I demonstrated the effects of the paralytic aphrodisiac on a frog. I could feel his gaze on my fingers, on the way my sleeve slid back to reveal the scars on my wrists when I reached for my tools. Now he's followed me back to my quarters, a silent, imposing presence in the doorway.

"You handled that well," he says finally, his voice low and measured. "Better than I expected."

The compliment sends a thrill through me. I've waited years for him to acknowledge my skills, my worth. I turn from where I'm grinding herbs, my back to him, savoring the moment. When I speak, my voice is carefully neutral despite the chaos of emotions inside me.

"I told you I was capable, Gege."

The honorific slips out before I can stop it - the first time I've called him that since we were children. There's a long silence behind me. I can hear his breathing, steady and controlled, and the soft rustle of his robes as he moves closer.

When he speaks again, his voice is barely more than a whisper, right behind me. "转过身来."

Turn around. The command is gentle but impossible to ignore. My hands tremble slightly as I set down the mortar and pestle. This is it - the moment I've dreamed of and feared. When I finally face him, his expression is unreadable, his dark eyes searching my face beneath the veil. Then slowly, deliberately, he reaches up.

His fingers brush against the edge of my veil, hesitation in every movement. I freeze, my heart pounding so loudly I'm sure he can hear it. The air crackles with tension between us, thick with years of unspoken words and forbidden desire.

"May I?" he asks, his voice rough with something I've never heard from him before. Need. Hunger. Want.

My veil feels suddenly like a prison, yet also my only protection. If he sees my face fully, really sees me, there will be no going back. No more hiding behind shadows and secrets. Just the truth of what I am - what I've always been - and my desperate, unending hunger for him.

I wait, frozen between fear and longing, as his hand hovers near my face, giving me one last chance to pull away.