Chapter 370: Chapter 370: Anchoring the Soul (R18)

Julian Sterling lay obediently in Ethan Caldwell’s embrace, his entire body still carrying a trace of the biting cold left behind by the recent consciousness synchronization. His body temperature was lower than normal, exactly like a small block of ice unconsciously nestling deep into his sole source of warmth.

Ethan was not asleep at all.

He lay there, his deep dark eyes wide open in the darkness, both arms still holding Julian extremely tightly. So tight that it seemed as if he wanted to embed this slender body deep into his own flesh and blood.

One of his large hands rested firmly on Julian’s slender waist, cutting off any path of retreat. The other hand delved deep into the soft, silky hair, his rough fingers weaving through the pitch-black locks.

It was as if just by loosening his grip a little, just an instant of negligence, Julian would immediately evaporate from his arms, dragged away by some invisible, dark force out there.

Within this suffocatingly oppressive space, Ethan’s chest heaved heavily. His brain endlessly replayed the words Julian had said earlier.

"Perhaps... I am also entering its world."

That single sentence, fragile as mist and smoke, was like a razor-sharp blade carving deep into the man’s very soul. This made him incredibly uncomfortable. It twisted his insides, creating a hidden storm surging through his veins.

It was not jealousy at all. He was not jealous of a miserable test subject locked in an iron cage.

Rather... he felt that he was gradually becoming unable to reach a deep part within Julian anymore.

Julian’s consciousness, his frequency was being forced into synchronization with something that Ethan could not see, something he could not use wealth, power, or even violence to smash or shield the young man from.

And at this moment, Julian had not actually fallen completely asleep.

Although his eyelids were heavy due to his spirit being drained after the resonance, he could still clearly feel every minuscule change from Ethan who was holding him.

Ethan’s heartbeat beneath his ear was entirely unstable; it was rapid and powerful, yet carried a panicked rhythm. Furthermore, the firm muscles beneath Ethan’s nightclothes were still tensed up just like a solid boulder, ready to explode at any moment.

He gently lifted his head from the broad chest.

In the dim yellow light casting in from the window frame, Julian quietly looked at the man. Ethan’s angular jawline was taut, his thin lips pressed tightly together in sheer tension. He reached out his still slightly cold fingers, gently touching Ethan’s face, and then broke the silence with a soft voice: "Are you scared?"

Ethan did not deny it at all. The man who was always arrogant, commanding the winds and summoning the rain in the business world, was now revealing his most vulnerable flaw at this very moment. He lowered his head slightly, planting a profound, heavy kiss upon the hair bearing the familiar scent of his lover.

His voice, thick and dry, echoed through the night: "I am afraid you will disappear."

Just a few short words, yet they caused the atmosphere in the room to instantly change.

Julian froze for a brief moment, the hand resting on the man’s face trembling slightly.

Up until now, whether facing a hail of bullets, being forced into a dead end, or being drugged to the point of losing his reasoning, Ethan had always maintained the demeanor of an absolute sovereign holding total control. He very rarely, or more accurately, never, was willing to admit his insecurities and weaknesses in front of others.

But at this moment, the man was frankly laying bare his most primal fear right in front of Julian.

Following the resonance with B-00, deep within his heart, Julian was genuinely experiencing a profound tremor. His consciousness was like a compass affected by magnetic interference, pulled off its original axis of rotation. The sounds of rattling chains, the viscous darkness, and the extreme solitude of B-00 kept intertwining, overlapping with reality, leaving him so bewildered that it became difficult to distinguish exactly who he was, and which one was the real world.

Therefore, right at this moment, he desperately needed something to anchor his soul. He needed this burning body temperature. He needed this authentic touch of skin and flesh.

He needed the heavy breathing rich with masculine musk, and the frantic possessive desire of this man to confirm that he himself was still existing in reality, still lying on this warm bed rather than at the bottom of a freezing, deep dungeon.

Without a shred of hesitation, Julian stretched his body upwards, taking the initiative to seek out Ethan’s lips.

He kissed Ethan, a very slow kiss. Julian’s soft, slightly cold lips touched Ethan’s scorching ones, softly brushing against them before taking the lower lip and sucking on it gently.

Their breaths merged together, inextricably intertwined.

The heat wafting over from Ethan’s mouth caused Julian’s pale skin to gradually flush with a faint rosy hue. Julian’s hand threaded deep into Ethan’s stiff, short hair, while Ethan instinctively and immediately tightened his grip around his beloved’s slender waist, applying a force so tremendous it was as though he wished to embed Julian deep into his own flesh.

Initially, Ethan was still trying to restrain the wild beast roaring within his heart. The man feared that because Julian had just gone through a mental shock and his body had not yet recovered, acting too roughly would end up hurting him.

But today, Julian was so proactive that it caused Ethan’s rationality to be completely shattered.

He slowly slithered upwards, spreading his legs to sit fully upon Ethan’s solid chest.

In the hazy darkness, Julian’s long, slender fingers trembled yet resolutely undid every single button of his own silk nightshirt, revealing a chest that heaved with every panting breath. Then he bent down, burying his face into the hollow of the man’s neck, leaving wet kisses and tender suckling bites upon the man’s violently bobbing Adam’s apple.

"I want to feel you." Julian murmured softly by the man’s ear.

The man’s eyes turned red; he let out a low growl in his throat before wrapping his arms tightly around Julian’s hips, forcefully turning the tables and decisively rolling over to pin Julian down beneath the soft mattress. Even though the movement carried an extremely high level of possessiveness, the force used when pressing Julian against the bed maintained a careful protectiveness, utterly devoid of any roughness that might cause him harm.

The temperature in the bedroom suddenly skyrocketed.

Everything that occurred afterward was a sequence of scorching touches, breathtakingly intimate, overflowing with an unreasonable possessiveness yet bearing the ultimate purpose of emotional soothing.

Ethan did not immediately penetrate, instead, he leaned down, continuously raining deep kisses onto Julian’s body. He kissed the sweat-beaded forehead, kissed the tightly shut, trembling eyelids, and then gradually slid down to the slender neck and the thin shoulders.

Each wet, searing kiss bit and sucked upon the flesh, leaving behind glaringly dark red marks. It was as if he desperately wanted to brand every inch of Julian’s skin and flesh, using his own unique marks to confirm, to swear a vicious oath to the heavens and the earth that Julian belonged solely to this world, belonged solely to him alone.

While the gradually surging pleasure ambushed his rationality, he still did not forget to set aside his own screaming, demanding desires in order to constantly pay attention to Julian’s reactions. Drops of sweat fell from his forehead down to Julian’s collarbone; his voice, deep and hoarse, asked softly and intermittently: "Are you uncomfortable?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Jules, open your eyes... Look at me."

Julian obediently parted his eyelids, revealing eyes that were already veiled by a hazy, glistening layer of mist.

He was like a fragile climbing vine completely devoid of its anchor, wrapping both arms desperately around Ethan’s neck, stubbornly refusing to loosen his grip for even a fleeting second. His long, slender legs coiled tightly around the older man’s firm waist, matching the relentless, driving rhythm of Ethan’s movements. He continuously arched his body upward, taking the absolute initiative to seek out Ethan’s lips. He kissed, gently bit, and suckled, desperately exchanging breaths as a visceral testament to his own continuing existence in this reality.

As their profound intimacy was pushed to its absolute zenith, the collision of their bodies producing undeniably wet and deeply suggestive sounds in the quiet room, Julian threw his head back, sinking all ten of his fingers into the expanse of Ethan’s broad back.

"Please... slow down a little... husband..."

That soft, pleading murmur sounded exactly as it had all those years ago, back during the very first days when Julian had just stepped foot into Ethan’s home. It was merely that the naive innocence from that distant past had now been completely discarded by Julian. In its place was a profound, gradual assimilation of the soul.

The Julian of this very moment was steadily becoming indistinguishable from the person he used to be in his previous world.