Chapter 223: Before the Day Begins

*Runze’s POV*

Something moves.

I wake slowly, my mind still buried somewhere between sleep and consciousness. For a few seconds, I don’t open my eyes.

The room is quiet. The curtains are drawn, leaving only a thin line of morning light across the floor. Warmth surrounds me from behind, familiar and steady, while an arm remains securely wrapped around my waist.

Then another movement stirs beneath my palm.

I rest my hand over the curve of my stomach, waiting. A small, distinct shift ripples beneath my skin. It isn’t painful, nor is it particularly strong, but it is more than enough to bring an automatic, sleepy smile to my lips.

It is a quiet, reassuring reminder that I am no longer waking up alone in my own body, that our child is alive, growing, and stirring in the warm comfort of the morning.

My mind drifts briefly to yesterday afternoon, to the stacked delivery boxes Shen Rui had helped carry upstairs, the soft pastel wallpaper we had finally chosen together, and the tiny wooden crib sitting assembled in the nursery just down the hall.

Everything is slowly falling into place, piece by quiet piece.

I take a slow breath and try to move my leg to stretch.

I regret it instantly.

A deep soreness pulls across my hips and lower body, making me freeze instantly beneath the duvet. My eyes snap open.

*Oh. Right. Last night.*

My cheeks burn red in an instant. I fix my eyes on the nightstand across the room, refusing to turn my head even an inch.

Bael had been particularly insufferable lately. Ever since my health had stabilized and the doctor explicitly cleared us for physical intimacy again, his patience seemed to have disappeared entirely.

It was as if a dam had burst inside him.

Every single night, he found some pretext to keep me close just a little longer, to kiss me until I was entirely breathless, or to make up for all those long, agonized weeks when my body had been far too fragile for anything beyond the most cautious affection.

He touched me now with a needy, possessive focus that was almost overwhelming. Even during the day, I’d catch him watching me from across the room, his eyes dark, and tracking my every move like he still thought I might vanish if he looked away.

I couldn’t exactly complain. If anything... I liked it. Maybe far more than I should admit.

There was something strangely comforting about the way Bael seemed determined to make up for every single night we’d been forced to exercise restraint, as though he had decided he could somehow reclaim all those holding-back days one by one.

I shift carefully, trying to find a more comfortable position.

The arm around my waist tightens immediately. I stop. Bael doesn’t move, his breathing remaining slow and even against the back of my neck.

I carefully lift my hand, wanting to ease his heavy forearm off my waist so I can stretch my sore legs without waking him. I move as delicately as I can, trying to slide my body just an inch forward.

Then, I feel it.

Hard, big, and unmistakably hot, a rigid pressure rests right against the upper curve of my thigh, pressed firmly against my butt.

I freeze. My breath catches right in my throat, and my face burns even hotter than before.

*Again? So early?*

I bite my lower lip, mortified by how fast my own body reacts to him being so close. Hoping to slide away before he fully wakes up and realizes what his body is doing, I inch forward half an inch, trying to slide my leg out from beneath the duvet.

Before my knee even clears the sheet, warm, firm lips press right into the curve where my neck meets my shoulder.

My breath hitches. Bael does not just rest there. His tongue glides out, tracing a slow, wet line over my skin, lapping right over my scent gland with a possessive, deliberate focus that sends a sharp shiver straight down my spine.

"Bael..." I rasp out, my voice thick and raspy from sleep. "You’re... you’re awake?"

I try to turn my head to look back at him, but the moment my chin moves, his hand catches me.

Strong fingers slide up the side of my neck, cupping my jaw, and his mouth covers mine in a sudden, deep kiss that steals the rest of my air. It is not the soft, gentle good-morning kiss he usually gives me. It is demanding and heavy, filled with a wild, dark intensity. His tongue pushes past my lips easily, taking over my mouth before I can even understand what is happening.

"Mmph—"

I try to pull back. I want to tell him about the baby moving, I want to ask him why he is like this so early. But Bael gives me zero space.

His other hand slides under the pillow, threading through my dark hair and holding the back of my head, locking me firmly in place. He keeps the kiss continuous and relentless, silencing every protest before I can make a sound.

At the same time, the hard pressure between us shifts, pressing firmly against the sensitive seam of my lower body, testing the entrance with clear intent.

I let out a muffled gasp right into his mouth. Bael’s free hand moves down from my waist, tracing the line of my hip, dragging up my thigh, and sweeping up across my ribs until his fingers find my chest. He catches my hardened nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling and twisting it with a sharp, agonizing pressure.

Pleasure shoots straight through me like live lightning. My back arches instinctively, pressing me deeper into his chest. The soreness from last night vanishes instantly, replaced by a thick, pooling heat between my legs.

Bael still does not break the kiss. His breath is hot and ragged against my skin. His fingers keep twisting my chest while his lower hand slides down, passing my stomach and slipping between my thighs to cup my cock.

It is already slick, leaking clear fluid at the tip just from his touch.

His palm closes around my wet length, stroking up and down in long, slow, merciless motions. Every time his hand moves up, a tiny sound squeezes out of my throat, only to be swallowed whole by his mouth.

My whole body starts to shake. The feeling is too much, too fast, hitting my groggy mind like a wave. My lungs burn for air, and hot tears gather at the corners of my eyes, spilling over my cheeks and running down toward my temple.

The second the wet tears touch the back of his hand holding my head, Bael freezes.

The fast pace of the kiss stumbles, slowing into a few deliberate presses before he pulls his lips away just an inch.

I open my mouth immediately, gasping for air, taking in short, desperate breaths as my chest heaves. My hair is messy against the pillow, my lips are swollen, and my eyes are unfocused and wet with tears.

I look up, trying to see him through the blur.

Bael is hovering right over me, propped up on his elbow. His dark hair hangs forward, casting a deep shadow over his face, but his eyes...

My heart stammers.

His eyes are glowing with a dark, wild hunger. It is a look I have not seen since the absolute peak of his last rut... a dangerous, completely unhinged focus that seems totally separate from his usual calm self.

*What is wrong with him?* I think wildly, my breath catching in my chest. *He wasn’t like this last night... He was so gentle...*

Before I can even open my mouth to ask, Bael’s large hand hooks under my top knee, lifting my leg high and spreading me wide open without a single second of hesitation.

In one smooth, powerful drive, he pushes his thick length all the way inside me.

"Ah—!"

My breath stops completely. My eyes widen in total shock as my body stretches around the sudden, deep intrusion. The air locks right in my lungs, and my throat makes only a choked, breathless gasp as the intense feeling fills my entire body.

For several long seconds, I cannot make a single sound. I just lie there, my hands gripping the bedsheets tightly, my chest frozen mid-breath while he sits fully inside me.

Then, the air comes rushing back in a ragged, chaotic breath. I pant heavily, my heart beating violently against my ribs like a trapped bird.

Bael does not pull back. He stays buried deep, leaning down until his face is only inches from mine. The extreme intensity in his dark eyes makes me feel like a small, helpless prey caught right under the jaws of a predator... completely trapped, completely exposed, and about to be eaten alive.

He slowly brings his face closer, lowering his mouth right back down toward my trembling lips.

My heart skips three full beats, then slams against my chest with a terrifying force.