By the time I was back, Ren’s eyes were closed as he continued to battle his fever. Sorry Ren but I need to remove some of your clothes to wipe you with cool water, I apologized silently to Ren inside my head. I slowly reached out my hand and began disrobing him. This is for medical purposes, but this is my first time undressing a man, I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling slightly as I tugged and pulled at his top. Finally, I managed to completely remove his clothes from his upper body.
I sucked in a breath as my eyes took in the sight before me. Thankfully, Ren still had his eyes closed otherwise he would have seen my shocked reaction. I knew that Ren was tall and much bigger than me, but I didn’t expect that beneath his clothing hid such a well sculptured and muscular body. I’ve never seen a man without a shirt on before, but I knew enough that a standard man did not look as beautiful as this. He must be a very fit and active trader to have such a well-toned body. His muscles were beautiful, taunt and firm.
Unconsciously, I slowly reached out my hand towards the muscle of his chest. His skin felt hot against my fingertips as I ran my fingertips down from his chest, tracing gently downwards towards his magnificently formed abdominal muscles. Ren’s soft moan brought me back to my sense. What did I just do? I need to focus on healing him.
Back to my senses, I quickly grabbed the wet towel. After squeezing it until it was damp and ready, I gently used it to wipe along Ren’s arm, one after the other. Then I wiped his neck, chest and the plain of his stomach. Ren made soft moaning sounds as his body slowly began to relax.
I need to flip him onto his stomach to wipe his back. Ren’s body was still very hot to the touch, his fever has not yet broken. Using all the force that I could muster, I managed to flip Ren onto his stomach. If I thought that the sight of his naked back would be any less amazing than the front of his torso, I was so wrong. Even his back was amazingly sculpted with ripped muscles. Being a trade and a traveler must be harder than I ever imagined if it made them have a body as fit as this.
I placed my palm against the muscle of his broad back before starting to wipe him with the damp towel. Over and over, I wiped him, changing the cool water so that the water could absorb and remove the heat from his feverish body. I wasn’t sure how long I was at it, but it must have been a good long while.
“There…all done finally…” I said as I silently complimented myself for my efforts. I heaved a sigh of relief as I wiped the sweat from my brow.
Ren must be asleep by now. Hopefully his fever would get better by the time that he wakes up. I guess, I should prepare some food for when he wakes up. I’m feeling a little hungry myself.
“Ah!...” I let out a small yelp in shock.
Ren suddenly grabbed my wrist as I was pulling away. His eyes were still closed though…is he still sleeping? His grip on my wrist was quite tight, although it didn’t hurt. I attempted to pull my wrist away, but his grip didn’t budge. I can’t get up from the bed this way…what should I do?
“Don’t…leave…me…” Ren spoke softly and very weakly. Was he sleep talking?
“Ren…” I called his name softly, but he didn’t respond.
Instead of relaxing his grip on my wrist, his powerful arm yanked and pulled me down on top of him.
“Ren!” I cried out in full panic as I felt his hot body against mine. The heat from his body seeping in through my clothes and I could feel the hardness of his body on mine. My heart was beating wildly, and my body felt hot as his scent enveloped me.
Ren still had his eyes closed; however, his arms were very active in capturing me and binding me to him in a very tight embrace. His strong arms encircled my body and hugged me close against his muscular chest. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t move or remove his arm from around my body. Ren snuggled closer to me as he breathed deeply as if in a very comfortable sleep.
Do I have to sleep on top of him like this until he lets go or until he wakes up?
What should I do? I can’t move at all like this. I’ve never been this close to a man except for my father before and back then I was still a child. I couldn’t control my fast-beating heart and my fast breathing. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it’s going to burst from my chest. Can Ren feel my heartbeat? I could feel his strong heartbeat underneath my palm as it rested against his naked chest. I could hear his steady heartbeat with the side of my head lying on his muscular chest.
We’re too close. This is not…good. The sensation of his hard and naked body against mine felt so foreign yet not unpleasant. I felt my face blush even hotter and hotter at the thought. I need to calm down, I thought as I looked up at Ren’s sleeping face. He’s…actually…very handsome, isn’t he?
Lin! What are you thinking at a time like this? He’s your patient and nothing more. You need to focus on healing him so that he can return to his journey. That’s right…soon Ren will leave this place and I probably won’t get to see him ever again. I should never forget that fact. My exhaustion suddenly hit me, and my eyelids suddenly felt very heavy…
--To be continued...
“Really? I think you’re as young and as pretty as before…if not more pretty…” Ren said reassuringly before he bent down to kiss my cheek tenderly.Although I knew that he was probably just saying it to please me, I couldn’t help but feel my heart flutter at his words. The truth was that I have aged, and I definitely don’t look as fresh or young as I did all those years ago. Even I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that I haven’t aged. “Thank you, Ren…but that’s not really the point…” I replied with a small laugh. “Can’t we try for one more? Please…just one more…” Ren pleaded sweetly. “But we already have three children…” I pointed out. “But we don’t have a daughter yet…” Ren said with a sigh as he looked depressed and deflated. I wanted to roll my eyes at fate. Most women had problem pleasing their husband and his family because they couldn’t produce a son. In my case, I had no problem producing sons, but my husband was adamant in wanting a daughter so that he could spoil her like
My political influence changed again when I became pregnant with my second child and soon gave birth to another very healthy son. Having two sons for the emperor gave the entire empire confidence that the line of succession is secure. Despite Prince Kin’s women giving birth to a few sons as well at that point, it was clear that the line of succession will continue in Ren’s branch of the family, much to the dowager empress’s joy. Strangely, I have developed an amicable relationship with the dowager empress over the years as she had taken much interest in her great grandchildren. Naturally, I was favored without needing to do anything much. Unfortunately, the dowager empress passed away from old age before she got to see the face of our third child. To my utmost surprise and to many others’ jealousy, she had chosen to leave all her treasures to me so that I could distribute it to my children’s wives when they got married. I cried so much at her funeral that Ren had to step in and lead
Lately Ren has found his work as the emperor boring and repetitive. As a result, he has been spending more time with me and our children. That was a great thing for me and our family, but I wasn’t sure if it was best for the empire. “Shin can take care of most things. He’s unmarried, has no kids, and loves the empire. He’s perfect for the job,” Ren said before laughing loudly. That was his response when I asked him about skipping out on some of his royal duties. It’s been around 7 years now since Ren and I got married but Shin was still as single and free as a bird. Despite our efforts to get him to settle down, Shin had some how successfully evaded the topic of marriage all together. Even an arrangement by the previous emperor couldn’t tie him down. Shin now considers my children as his own and acts as their loving godfather. …When we arrived back at the main palace, I was greeted by my second son, Rem. Rem is more of a carefree spirit compared to Rou. He doesn’t seem super devot
“It sounds very complicated. In my town, weddings are something that you celebrate with your close friends and family in a simple way…” I mumbled. “I’m sure that doesn’t apply if you marry a prince or if you’re becoming the next empress,” Ren said with a laugh. “I guess you’re right…” I said with a nod of my head. “Don’t worry too much. We’ll both have it easy until the day itself. If you’re not too picky, you can leave the preparation to the officials and the staff. They’ll get everything done and if you have any special requests, just let them know and they’ll figure it out,” Ren said before he patted my head. I guess planning my own wedding was out of the question. I was sure that whatever the officials in charge had in mind would be very different to what I wanted. Recalling the minimal version of the wedding dress that Ren once made me wear to appear in court, I shuddered at the thought of the real wedding dress itself and the ceremony involved. “I’ll leave it to them then.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?” Ren asked the moment the door to my bedroom closed behind us. “I…I was just waiting for the right moment to tell you,” I said honestly. “When did you find out?” Ren asked. “About a month ago while we were still in the middle of war,” I confessed softly. “You should have told me,” Ren insisted. “But you were so busy, and you were out there fighting every day. I didn’t want to add to your burdens,” I explained. “Regardless, you still should have told me,” Ren repeated his same opinion. “I’m sorry, Ren. It wasn’t like I was trying to keep it from you,” I apologized sadly. “I would have taken care of you better…” Ren muttered. Is that why he was so mad? “You’re so sweet, Ren,” I said before giggling. It was probably the first time that I think I saw Ren blush. I couldn’t stop myself from giggling at the sight. “Thank you, Rin. I can’t wait to raise our baby together,” Ren said as he hugged me close to him. “Me too…” I replied before sm
“But if you go, they might kill you…” Shin said. “Isn’t there someone who can help me?” I asked as a thought struck me. “You can’t be seriously thinking about…” Shin muttered as he probably caught on to what I was thinking. “Please, Shin…please help Ren…please help me…” I begged. “Shit…this is crazy…” Shin said in pure disbelief. I watched as Shin sprinted off. After he was gone, my legs lost all its strength and I eased down onto a nearby chair and concentrated on keeping my breathing calm. I placed a hand on my tummy as I prayed that all three of us would be safe. …**Back to the present**Everyone looked towards the entrance of the hall, where a frail old woman walked in slowly with her most trusted eunuch supporting her arms on both sides. Despite her age and her weakened body, the Dowager Empress walked with a straight back full of pride. In unison as if they had practiced it beforehand, everyone stood up from their seat and bowed. Ren and I did the same. “Mother…” the em