Those cool fingers stroked his cheek, leaving Shen Yangge feeling both ticklish and something else he could not describe. His round, almond-shaped eyes widened slightly. Before he could pull back the hand he had swung out, it was tied to the headboard instead.
This is bad, he thought. He raised a leg, intending to give that beast a kick that would make this a night to remember. But before he could kick upward, Chu Xuanzhen lightly tapped his leg with his other hand.
His leg went numb and lay straight on the bed.
Before Shen Yangge could decide whether to try again with his other leg while that beast was distracted, Chu Xuanzhen seemed to read his mind and sealed the pressure points on that leg too.
Now he could move neither his arms nor his legs. Shen Yangge looked so dark that his expression alone could frighten someone. Glaring, he said to Chu Xuanzhen, "Your Highness, why don't we sit down and talk this over? What are you doing?"
Lying flat on the bed, Shen Yangge had to turn his head to the side. Half his neck was exposed, its skin fair and its contours smooth, with strands of hair slipping down toward the hidden hollow of his collarbone.
Something flickered in Chu Xuanzhen's deep eyes. His free hand reached toward Shen Yangge's collarbone, lifted the black strands, and rubbed them between his fingers for a moment.
Then he properly tucked the hair behind Shen Yangge's ear and gently toyed with its elegant shape, lingering especially when he pinched the earlobe between his thumb and finger.
Chu Xuanzhen lowered his voice, speaking hoarsely. "I heard there is a tribe along the border between Great Chu and the Western Regions that prizes the beauty of ears. Shen Zhuanxie..."
Before finishing,