Nastasia, who was in a deep sleep and was usually not disturbed when Li Yu Rong snuck into her bed, found herself waking in the middle of the night from discomfort. She was caught up in a tight embrace. Her sleepy warmth had yet to transfer over to his frozen form, letting her know that his being beside her was rather recent.

His body was so cold. The coldness seeped into her bones and was probably half the reason she had been pulled from a pleasant slumber. Had he been sitting outside a long while before deciding to sneak into bed with her?

He hugged her close, curling his body around her, burying his face in her neck. The warmth of his breath washed over her collar, his long hair sliding over her skin, and with it, a tingle traveled down her spine while her own breath hitched unsteadily in her throat. Nastasia tried to swallow down that feeling as she attempted to untangle herself from his clinging arms.

As she struggled to break free, Li Yu Rong tightened his grip; the hold was almost crushing. To further prevent her struggling he tangled his legs with hers, practically dragging her body half beneath his own. There was something strange about him tonight. Sensing this, feeling it transfer over from their points of contact, she stopped her efforts to get away.

There was something broken and vulnerable in the way that he curled around her. It reminded Nastasia of her younger brother. After their father died, all their mother did was grieve the first couple months. Her broken cries were constantly being overheard by them from her tightly shut, bedroom door. Her bother, Ruari, had been too young to completely understand what was going on.

All he knew was that he couldn't see his father and that his mother was so grief-stricken that she hid away in her room, unable to offer his anxious heart any comfort. She and he were separated by two years, so they were closer to each other than the rest of their siblings. When he couldn't go to his mother, he would come to her.

In the middle of the night, when he couldn't sleep, Ruari would come to her for comfort. In his anxiety, he would squeeze her tight, as Li Yu Rong was doing now, and cry out all his grievances until he fell asleep. At the time she, herself, was quite young and, though her understanding was a bit higher, she was also filled with anxiety and grief. Crying along with her brother until she, too, fell asleep.

Thinking about it like this, Nastasia's heart softened. Although she was being tightly squeezed, her arms could still move. Lifting her unconfined limbs, she brought her hand to stroke his dark hair while the other returned his embrace.

There was a slight tremor through his body as his breath stilled and then in the next second, he seemed to melt into her. Her heart was doused with honey and even more, she was made to think of her younger brother. This grown man that normally held himself with a cool confidence, strong in everything he did, had become steeped in melancholy and made weak as he sought her arms for comfort.

It invoked tender feelings to sprout for him in her heart. The hand petting his hair smoothed down the back of his head to rest around his shoulders as she gave him a tight squeeze. "Not know what happened, but everything will be okay." She told him as she lowered her voice to be soothing. "Until you feel better, we can stay like this."

Although she was trying to keep a bit of a distance between them, she couldn't bring herself to push him away while there was such a despairing atmosphere cloaked around him. Thus, Nastasia decided to allow him to use her as a body pillow until whatever trembled him so stabilized enough for him to stand back up.

After she finished speaking, Nastasia felt warm breath puff against her neck as he laughed; it was a short, soft, heartfelt sound. After her words and after his laugh there was only silence between them, however, it didn't feel awkward.

Warm and content, she almost drifted off to sleep once again but was startled wide awake as something ticklish brushed across her collarbone. At first, Nastasia though it was an accident from his shifting around. However, after a few more times of this, something warm and wet trailed up before his mouth came down to suck on her accelerating pulse.

Her body jolted as a strangled noise trapped itself in her throat. It was difficult to swallow down underneath Li Yu Rong's fierce ministrations, but once she managed to find her voice for speaking, shaky words tumbled out. "Wh-What, wh-what, a-ah-are you-!?"

The arms that had held him prior came up to push his body from her. Unwilling, his hands slid up her arms to lace his fingers with hers, pulling them away. Their clasped hands pulled to her shoulders as he left her neck to seal the words in her mouth.

Li Yu Rong was full to overflowing.

His heart that had been tattered in his youth had been poked again by reminiscence of the past. One thing after another surfaced in his mind, leaving him suffocated. Booted feet brought him to Asya's room. As he saw her comfortably laid out, sleeping in her bed, all he could think about was holding her while banishing his past struggles and disappointments.

That was all he had intended to do.

Yet, when Asya returned his embrace, when she spoke those words meant to comfort him, everything he felt filled his chest to overflow. He tried to staunch it back, but before he knew it, his mouth started working along her collarbone. It started off small before growing into the raging fire present at this moment.

His tongue surged against hers, sucking, biting, as he pressed her down and indulged in his passions. The taste of her, the feel of her, her mewling gasps, the rising heat from her body beneath him heightened his desires and set his own body aflame.

He brought the hands laced with his above her head moving to seal them together with a single hand. The fingers, now freed, burned a trail down her cheek, down her neck, down her robed body, to sneak their way into the folds of her robe.

Finally feeling the softness of her skin, he dragged his fingers upward to clutch at her bare breast, kneading at the plump flesh as he kissed her deeper. The new feelings it invoked in her, the warmth pooling in her groin, was something no man had ever made her feel.

It was frightening.

Frightening because she didn't find it unpleasant, frightening because she actually wanted him to continue, frightening because she had a home and a life that she needed to get back to. In light of the last point, it would be irresponsible and cruel to give herself to him when she likely couldn't stay. Even if there weren't people waiting for her to return, she had fallen into this world suddenly and so it wasn't unreasonable to think that she could suddenly be tossed back.

To build emotions on something that might not be possible, it terrified her to give into it.

That sudden fear caused her heart to squeeze painfully. Rousing from the haze Li Yu Rong's passion invoked in her, Nastasia began to struggle to free herself. Pulling her mouth away from his, panting heavily, she gasped out.

"Please... don't do this... please..."

The fear in her voice, the trembling of her body beneath him, it caused the heat boiling the blood in his veins to die. Slowly untangling himself from her, he straightened her robe before releasing her completely. Upon being free, she put as much distance between them as she could manage.

Her fear, her abrupt distance, it would be a lie to say that these things didn't sting. As Li Yu Rong watched her try to collect herself and steady her breathing, as he witnessed her beautiful and soft-featured face twist with her unease; his chest became choked with emotion.

His heart was still raw and suffering under the effects of having his bandages pulled back, revealing the hidden scars beneath. Her clear-cut rejection of him, though he understood it was merely because she had yet to accept the idea of living her life in his world, pealed at his scabs and ripped at his scars.

A hand reached out for her, but because it began to tremble, he let it fall back. Instead, he tried to smile gently for her. Hoping to assuage the fright he must've given her. Ah, but he really couldn't do it. Though he had toughened up over the years, though nothing should have been able to penetrate the iron defense he had erected over time, he had fallen to vulnerability as he sought comfort from her.

Her, whom his heart began to delight in.

Li Yu Rong held out his arms, taking a risk that was likely to chip away at him. Regardless, he said. "I promise, I won't do anything you won't like I... just want to... can I hug you?"

Nastasia wanted to reject him. She wanted to keep the distance between them. She feared it shrinking any more than it already has, but she couldn't open her mouth to say the words. The look on his face was something she had never seen displayed on any person she had ever known. It was a look she never wanted to see again.

A broken smile.

Eyes that trembled, unguarded, exposing so many emotions it was difficult to understand them all.

Even though she wanted to back away, she found herself crawling toward him. Nastasia could see clearly, if she rejected him at this moment, something inside of him would break.

Li Yu Rong trembled as Asya came toward him, trusting him though she was afraid. He kept to his word. He merely held her. After what transpired between them sleep was far from their minds. Though sleep slipped away, neither made a move speak, just taking comfort and offering comfort.

When the sun started lightening the sky, Nastasia finally could no longer bear remaining awake. She fell into slumber with her uneasy thoughts.