Filling Our Nest

The afternoon sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, spilling freely over the two of them as they embraced. In this little living room, after their confessions and kisses, the love that had once hung suspended like a tightrope walker found its surest footing.

Holding Aemeath in his arms as she still breathed a little heavily, Lu Yan looked around the house he had lived in for some time.

The living room felt rather empty. Apart from a few cardboard boxes they had yet to unpack, there were hardly any signs of life.

He had always taken a careless approach to his living space. As long as he had a bed to sleep in and a computer to draw on, that was enough.

But things were different now.

"Aemeath." Lu Yan gently patted her back, breaking the quiet in the room.

"Hmm~" Aemeath nuzzled against him, her voice still soft from their kiss.

"Let's go buy some furniture."

Aemeath pulled back from the crook of his neck, her eyes still veiled with a thin mist. "Buy furniture?"

"Yeah."

Lu Yan looked around the empty living room, sounding a little embarrassed. "Even though you bought this house, we haven't added much to it since we moved in."

He lowered his head and gazed gently at her. "We can't keep making do. This is our real home now, so shouldn't we get some furniture for it?"

At the words "real home," the haze in Aemeath's eyes vanished, and they lit up at once.

She suddenly sat upright in Lu Yan's arms, an irrepressible light sparkling in her eyes. "Get furniture? Buy things that belong to both of us? Fill every empty space in this house of ours?"

"Right, fill it up." Lu Yan smiled and pinched the tip of her nose. "Let's go furnish our love nest. Want to go?"

"Yes! Let's go right now!"

Aemeath sprang up from the sofa and ran to the bedroom to change, stepping across the floor in her white stockings without even stopping to put on her slippers.

Lu Yan watched her energetic figure retreat, smiling and shaking his head as he rose to fetch the keys and his coat from the entryway.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the largest home furnishings mall in the city center.

The mall was packed with people on the weekend, bustling with activity.

Aemeath had changed into a white blouse and a light-colored pleated skirt, with one of Lu Yan's black trench coats over them.

The boyfriend-style outfit made her look sleek and beautiful, giving her a distinctive charm.

As soon as they entered the crowd, Aemeath didn't merely hold his hand like an ordinary girlfriend. Instead, she practically pressed half her body against him. Her ample breasts brushed against Lu Yan's arm as she walked, sometimes deliberately and sometimes not, making her claim on him unmistakable.

Whenever a young woman passing by couldn't help stealing a few extra glances at Lu Yan's striking looks, Aemeath would immediately raise her head in alarm and glare fiercely back, like someone guarding her food. At the same time, she would cling even tighter to Lu Yan's arm, as if she wanted to become a part of him.

Feeling the softness against his arm and noticing her little displays of jealousy, Lu Yan didn't feel constrained. Instead, an indescribable sense of satisfaction welled up in him.

He turned his head and teased her in a voice only the two of them could hear. "If you hold me any tighter, you're going to squeeze my arm off."

"Hmph~ Good. If it falls off, I'll take good care of you." Aemeath huffed. "Who told them to look at you? You're mine. Every strand of your hair is mine."

Lu Yan chuckled helplessly, turned his hand to take her small, soft hand in his, and drew her closer into his arms, reassuring her through his actions.

The two headed first to the living room furniture section.

Lu Yan took a liking to a large, comfortable L-shaped sofa.

He sat down to test its springiness, then turned to Aemeath. "How about this one? There's plenty of room. You could even sleep on it without feeling cramped."

"No."

Aemeath shook her head decisively and walked over to a noticeably smaller two-seat fabric sofa. She plopped down and patted the spot beside her. "A-Yan, sit here."

Lu Yan walked over, and as soon as he sat down, he realized that the sofa's depth and width had been designed with ulterior motives.

Sitting side by side, their thighs were practically pressed together, and the slightest movement made their shoulders rub.

"Isn't this a little too small?" Lu Yan hesitated. "With both of us sitting here, there's no room to even turn over."

"That's exactly what I want!" Aemeath leaned against Lu Yan's shoulder and wrapped both arms around his waist, a mischievous, triumphant smile curling her lips. "The sofa at home absolutely can't be too big. Otherwise, when you're tired, you'll go lie down by yourself at the other end."

"With a little sofa like this, no matter how you sit, you'll have to stay pressed against me. Whenever I want to hug you, I can just reach out and do it."

Lu Yan paused, then looked into Aemeath's love-filled eyes and suddenly understood the logic behind her choice of furniture.

She didn't want space and comfort. She wanted enforced intimacy. She would use the furniture to fill every gap, so that not even a centimeter would remain between them each day.

"Okay, we'll do it your way and buy this one." Without hesitation, Lu Yan called a sales associate over to write up the order.

The rest of the shopping trip became a complete overhaul of their future living space at Aemeath's hands.

As evening approached, the two arrived at the most important place on their trip: the bedding section.

This was the place Aemeath cared about most.

She stopped in front of a huge double bed, but instead of pouncing on it excitedly as she had before, she frowned slightly, seemingly caught in a dilemma.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yan walked over to her. "Isn't this bed good?"

"The bed's too big."

Aemeath bit her lower lip and offered a serious analysis. "On a bed this big, if you turn your back to me while we're sleeping, there'll be a huge gap between us. I might not even be able to reach you in the middle of the night."

Her train of thought made Lu Yan laugh. "Then I'll promise not to turn my back to you?"

"You can't control how you sleep." Aemeath shook her head with a perfectly serious expression, then pulled Lu Yan over to a standard-sized double bed nearby. "This one's just right."

She took off her shoes and lay down on the bed, then grabbed Lu Yan's hand and pulled him down beside her without giving him a chance to object.

Though the bedding section was relatively quiet, the mall was full of people coming and going, and what she had done was still rather bold.

Lu Yan had just started to push himself up when Aemeath rolled over, draped one leg over his waist out of habit, and wrapped both arms tightly around his neck.

"Don't move. We're just trying it for a minute." She buried her cheek in the crook of Lu Yan's neck, her warm breath brushing his skin.

In that somewhat intimate position, the surroundings seemed to fall away in an instant, leaving only each other's heartbeats in their world.

"A-Yan." Aemeath's voice grew very low, carrying a seductive quality, as though she wanted to blend their very souls together.

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to fill every corner of our home, every drawer, even the air, with my scent."

Her fingers traced lightly over Lu Yan's back as she spoke softly. "No matter which room you go into or what you use, I want you to be able to think of no one but me."

"Will you think I'm too greedy, too scary?" As the words left her lips, she lowered her head slightly and rested her cheek against his shoulder. Her fingers gradually slowed, and even her shoulders tensed slightly without her realizing it, her whole heart waiting for his answer.

Lu Yan lay quietly on the mall's soft mattress, looking at the bright lights overhead and feeling the faint trembling of the woman in his arms.

Greedy? Maybe. Scary? Not at all.

Aemeath's almost pathological possessiveness was like the most potent medicine.

He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being possessed.

With the most domineering manner, she had forcibly torn apart every chain that bound him.

"Not scary at all." Lu Yan tightened his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

He closed his eyes, his voice more indulgent than ever before. "I told you, I'm willing to be your prisoner. Just don't think this prisoner of yours is too boring."

A completely reassured smile appeared on Aemeath's face.

She gently bit Lu Yan's collarbone, leaving a faint set of teeth marks. "Then it's a deal. No returns."