Ruyin's body stopped fighting him first.
It wasn't sudden—no dramatic surrender. It came in small betrayals: her thighs loosening around his hips, the tight ring of her slick heat giving way millimeter by millimeter, her breath no longer caught in her throat like a swallowed cry.
Shen Yan felt it the way you felt ice thinning beneath your boots.
He kept kissing her, slow and patient, as if warmth could be poured into her mouth and carried down to where she needed it most.
"Good," he murmured against her lips. "Stay with me."
Ruyin nodded shakily. Her eyes were wet, lashes clumped together, but she didn't look frightened anymore—only overwhelmed, like a girl who'd stepped into deep water and realized it was holding her up.
He shifted his hips and began to move.
The first thrust was barely a motion, a careful glide that made her gasp and cling tighter. She winced at the lingering sting, then made a small sound that wasn't pain—something softer, surprised, like her body had discovered a second language.
Shen Yan paused, giving her time. He pressed his forehead to hers.
"Still alright?" he asked.
Ruyin's cheeks flushed. "Yes," she whispered. "It… hurts. But…"
"But?" he coaxed gently.
Her voice came out breathless. "But it feels… strange. In a good way."
Shen Yan smiled and kissed her again. "That's the point."
He moved again, a little deeper, a little steadier. Ruyin's nails dug into his shoulders, then eased as she learned he wouldn't rush her. When he drew back, the sensation tugged something inside her, and she made a small, helpless moan.
The sound startled her.
She tried to swallow it, face burning. "I— I didn't mean—"
Shen Yan kissed the corner of her mouth. "Don't apologize for being alive."
He rocked into her slowly, his cock sliding through her warmth, still chilled at the edges by the poison, still feeling that wrong frost clinging to her deepest places. But the more he moved, the more the cold seemed to hesitate, like it wasn't sure it could keep winning.
Ruyin's breath grew louder.
Each time his thick length brushed a particular spot inside her, her hips jerked. A sharp, bright pleasure shot up her belly like lightning.
"Ah—!" she gasped, then bit her lip hard enough to leave a faint mark.
Shen Yan's eyes narrowed with satisfaction. He knew that reaction. He angled slightly, slower, deliberate.
Ruyin's head tipped back. The moan she'd tried to hide slipped free again, longer this time, trembling with shame and sweetness.
"Shen Yan…" she whispered, the first time she'd said his name without title.
It hit him low in the gut, intimate as a palm on skin.
"Yes," he murmured.
Her eyes flicked open, unfocused. "It's… there. When you— when you do that…"
He chuckled softly. "When I do what?"
Ruyin's blush deepened. "When you— push… and it—" She couldn't form the words. Her voice broke into a breathy sound as his cock pressed her sensitive place again, then nudged deeper until the firm resistance of her cervix kissed him.
The contact made her gasp and squeeze around him.
Shen Yan held still for a beat, letting her feel the fullness, letting her body decide it wanted more despite the ache.
Ruyin's hands slid down his back as if she was trying to pull him closer. Her legs opened a fraction wider on their own.
That tiny, unconscious invitation was everything.
Shen Yan began to move with more confidence, his rhythm still controlled but no longer hesitant. He drove into her in slow strokes that built pressure—sweet spot, then deeper, then sweet spot again—until her breath came in broken little sounds she couldn't stop.
She covered her mouth with her hand once, mortified.
Shen Yan caught her wrist and pulled her hand away, pinning it gently to the pillow. "Let me hear you," he said, voice low, almost rough. "I'm not doing this alone."
Ruyin's eyes widened, then softened. Her lips parted.
A moan spilled out, helpless and honest.
She stared at him as if she couldn't believe she'd made that sound. As if she couldn't believe she was allowed to.
Above her, Shen Yan's face was flushed, hair slightly mussed, shoulders and arms taut with the steady work of holding himself back from taking too much too fast. His body, honed by stubborn training even with broken meridians, moved like a man who belonged inside motion.
Ruyin's gaze dropped to his throat, the flex of his jaw, the line of his collarbone. Then to his eyes again.
Handsome.
Not the polished handsome of silk and perfume.
The alive handsome of heat and intent.
Something inside her loosened further.
Her legs spread wider, instinctively searching for the angle that made the pleasure spike. Her hips began to lift to meet him, clumsy at first, then more sure as she felt what she was chasing.
"Wait," she breathed, shy even now. "It… it's so good."
Shen Yan swallowed, watching her take her own pleasure like she was learning to breathe. "Tell me," he said, teasing. "How good?"
Ruyin's blush turned fierce. "I can feel you," she whispered. "Inside… so deep. You're— you're so… big."
Her voice broke on the last word, turning into a moan as he thrust and his cock brushed her sweet spot again. Her eyes fluttered shut.
"I feel like I'm— losing it," she confessed, and the confession sounded like a sin and a prayer at the same time.
Shen Yan's mouth curled. "Good," he said again, and this time it wasn't gentle. "Lose it."
He sped up.
Not wild—never sloppy—but faster, firmer, the rhythm snapping into something that made the bed creak and the quilts bunch under Ruyin's hips. He lifted her legs, spreading her open, holding her in a position that made her helpless to the pleasure and unable to hide from it.
Ruyin gasped, then moaned loudly, the sound almost embarrassed by how loud it was.
"Shen Yan—!"
He drove into her, the friction building, her wetness coating him more and more until his cock slid easier, hotter, and he felt something in his own body shift.
Low.
Deep.
A loosen.
His lower meridian—always knotted, always refusing—trembled like a rope finally slackening. A warmth gathered there, not the heat of arousal alone, but something that felt… structural. Like a blocked channel recognizing water again.
Shen Yan's breath hitched.
Ruyin's pussy clenched around him, warm and tight, still carrying the poison's chill at the deepest point but now mixed with an emerging heat—her body finally remembering what it was supposed to do.
Her moans turned breathless, almost frantic. "It's… it's too good," she whispered, voice shaking. "I— I can't—"
"You can," Shen Yan murmured, leaning down to kiss her hard, swallowing the rest of her words. His tongue claimed hers, his mouth hot and demanding, as his hips kept the steady, relentless rhythm.
Ruyin kissed back, desperate, both hands grabbing at him now like she needed proof he was real. Her breasts bounced faintly with each thrust, nipples hard, her skin flushed even under the room's lingering cold.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, sect teachings screamed that this was shameful.
Her body laughed at that scream and chased pleasure anyway.
Shen Yan pulled back from the kiss, eyes dark. "Look at me," he ordered softly.
Ruyin forced her eyes open.
He watched her come apart—watched the way her lips trembled, watched the way her brows pinched when pleasure got too sharp, watched the way she spread her legs wider without being told because she wanted it.
"You're beautiful," he said, rougher than before. "And brave."
Ruyin's breath stuttered. "Don't— don't say that," she whispered, half-pleading, because praise hit her harder than thrusts.
Shen Yan laughed under his breath. "Too late."
He shifted suddenly, arms sliding under her back, and lifted her.
Ruyin yelped, startled, her thighs clenching around him instinctively—only to moan when the movement drove his cock even deeper.
Shen Yan sat back against the headboard, settling into a stable seat with her still impaled on him, her body on his lap. He held her like she belonged there, one hand supporting her back, the other gripping her hip.
Ruyin's breasts pressed against his chest, nipples brushing his skin with each shaky breath. The contact alone made her whimper.
They kissed again—slower now, wetter, tongues meeting with the kind of intimacy that made her cheeks burn and her belly melt.
Ruyin's hips moved reflexively.
A small roll. A timid grind.
She gasped, realizing what she'd done.
Then she did it again, bolder, because it felt too good to stop.
Shen Yan's eyes narrowed, amused and hungry. "Oh?" he murmured. "Sister Lu is learning fast."
Ruyin's blush flared, but her body didn't obey shame. She rocked on his lap, chasing the angle that made his cock press her sweet spot while still nudging that deep, aching point inside.
"Ah—!" Her voice cracked into a moan. "I can feel it… it's… there…"
Shen Yan matched her rhythm, thrusting up just enough to meet her, making each roll of her hips more intense, more helpless. He held her waist, guiding her, letting her believe she was in control while ensuring she never lost the peak.
Ruyin's movements got messier—little frantic circles, then sharper rocking as pleasure built into something that felt too big for her body.
She clung to his shoulders, panting, eyes glassy.
"I— I'm going to—" she whispered, trembling.
Shen Yan's breath was hot against her ear. "Tell me when."
"Now," she gasped, and the word broke into a sob.
Her body clenched hard around him. Her thighs shook. A loud, helpless moan spilled out of her as orgasm tore through her, making her arch against him, making her whole body pulse.
Shen Yan didn't slow.
He timed it.
He thrust upward, deep, burying himself until he pressed her cervix firmly, then held there, driving his cum into her womb with a groan that sounded like relief and hunger tangled together.
Ruyin cried out again, orgasm peaking higher as she felt the hot fullness spilling inside her, filling her in a way that made her dizzy.
She clutched his face and kissed him—deep, messy, grateful—tongue tasting him as if she could drink his warmth.
Shen Yan kissed her back, stilling only when his body finished pulsing, when the last heat was delivered where it needed to go most.
Ruyin sagged against him, trembling, breath coming in soft little pants.
For the first time, her skin didn't feel like winter.
It felt… warm.
She lifted her face, eyes shining. "Thank you," she whispered, voice raw.
Shen Yan brushed his thumb across her cheek, catching a tear she hadn't noticed. "For what?" he murmured.
"For… not making me afraid," Ruyin said, and the words came out like a confession. "For… being warm."
Shen Yan's throat tightened. He didn't trust himself with cleverness, so he simply held her tighter.
He shifted carefully, easing them down onto the bed. He stayed inside her for a moment longer, letting her body accept the fullness without panic, letting the warmth settle where the poison had been trying to claim territory.
Then he withdrew gently, and Ruyin winced faintly—more from sensitivity than pain.
Shen Yan pulled the quilt over them, tucking it up around her shoulders.
Ruyin curled against his side immediately, head resting on his arm as if she'd been searching for that place all her life. Her lashes fluttered.
"I'm… sleepy," she murmured, voice soft.
"Sleep," Shen Yan said, brushing her hair back from her forehead. "I'll be here."
Ruyin sighed, the sound small and content, and drifted off like a candle dimming—slowly, peacefully.
Shen Yan lay still, listening to her breathing.
It was warmer now.
Not fully—there was still a faint chill in the room, still a shadow of cold in her skin—but it was different. Thinner. Weaker.
He looked down at her sleeping face, then closed his eyes and turned his attention inward.
Low in his belly, near his cock, the old knot had loosened.
Not gone.
But loosened.
A faint, unfamiliar flow stirred there, gathering like water finding a crack in a dam.
Shen Yan smiled into the dark.
So it was true.
Warmth could find a path—even through broken lines.
And if it could do that…
Then maybe his meridians wouldn't "fix" the way everyone expected.
Maybe they'd become something else entirely.