Re-birth: The Beginning after the End-Chapter 226: DON’T STOP [R-18]

**WARNING - Mature Content**

Li Hua opened her eyes to find Mo Xing still sleeping, his chest rising and falling in the steady rhythm that had remained unchanged for three days. Worry creased her brow as she stood to refresh the cool cloth on his forehead. As she leaned over the basin to soak the cloth in spiritual water, a hand shot out with preternatural speed, catching her wrist and pulling her off balance.

With a startled gasp, she found herself suddenly in Mo Xing's lap, her hands braced against his chest from the momentum of her fall. Bewildered, she looked up into eyes of molten gold that now watched her with an intensity that stole her breath—eyes that held knowledge far beyond what she had seen in them before.

He was awake.

"Mo—" His name died on her lips as he captured them with his own. The kiss was nothing like the restrained, gentle first kiss they shared before. This was primal, desperate—a claiming that transcended physical connection as if he were trying to reach her soul through the contact.

What's happened to him? The thought flickered briefly through her mind before dissolving in the tide of sensation. Three days unconscious, and he awakens like this—transformed in some fundamental way she couldn't yet comprehend. The man who had always maintained such careful control was now unleashed, raw, authentic in a way that resonated with something deeply buried within her own soul.

His arms encircled her with a possessive strength that should have frightened her but instead ignited something familiar in her core. The hunger in his embrace carried echoes of reunions across countless lifetimes, of separation and finding and loss repeated through epochs she couldn't remember but somehow recognized.

Instead of pulling away, Li Hua melted into him, responding with an instinctive certainty that surprised even herself. She felt his tongue seeking entrance, tracing the seam of her lips with deliberate pressure. Without hesitation, she yielded to him, parting her lips in silent invitation. Their passionate exploration ignited an inferno within her core, his tongue dancing with hers in a rhythm that transcended time.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers threading through his hair and pulling him closer as she met his fervor with equal passion—a hunger she hadn't known she possessed rising to match his own.

When he caught her lower lip between his teeth—a gentle bite that balanced on the edge between pleasure and pain—she gasped softly, the sound escaping before she could contain it. The vulnerability in that small admission earned a deep, possessive growl from him that vibrated through her, causing heat to pool between her thighs.

Li Hua felt the air in her lungs depleting as the kiss extended beyond physical endurance. Just as darkness began to edge her vision, Mo Xing pulled back—but not away. Instead, his tongue traced a heated path to the curve of her neck, where he alternated between gentle kisses and sucking. She tilted her head instinctively to grant him better access.

When his lips reached her ear, his breath sent shivers cascading through her as he whispered five words that seemed to transcend time itself: "I found you, my love."

The phrase struck her with the force of thunder, freezing her in place as a fractured memory crystallized from the depths of her consciousness. Sudden recognition bloomed—not from this life but perhaps from somewhere beyond its boundaries—of soft lips against her ear, whispering with desperate devotion and terrible finality, "I'll find you, my love." The memory carried with it emotions too vast to comprehend.

She felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, a strange ache blossoming in her chest that was neither pain nor pleasure—a recognition so profound it bypassed her consciousness and resonated directly with her soul.

Mo Xing must have felt the dampness on her cheeks, for he pulled back immediately, golden eyes scanning her face with sudden concern. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, his voice gentler than she had ever heard it. His fingers caressed her cheek with exquisite tenderness, thumb brushing away a tear while his other hand hovered protectively near her neck where evidence of his passion had begun to bloom.

"No," Li Hua answered, her voice trembling with emotions she couldn't fully contain. The single syllable carried centuries of longing she hadn't known she possessed until this moment.

"What's wrong, my love?" The endearment fell from his lips naturally, as if he had been calling her this all along.

Li Hua smiled through her tears, which now flowed freely down her cheeks. The woman who had faced death and rebirth, without flinching now found herself undone. Her heart felt simultaneously too full and achingly empty—filled with recognition yet starved for memories she couldn't quite grasp.

Make me remember, she wanted to plead, the words forming in her heart but dying before reaching her lips. She knew instinctively it wouldn't be as simple as asking—that memories from beyond lifetimes couldn't be transferred through mere words or whatever she was allowing to happen between them. Or could it?

Instead, she leaned forward until their lips nearly touched, her breath mingling with his in the narrow space between them. Her hand rose to trace the sharp line of his jaw with trembling fingertips, eyes conveying what words could not. "Don't stop, Mo Xing," she whispered against his mouth, the command both surrender and claim.

She didn't think it was possible, but Mo Xing's golden eyes darkened further at her words, pupils dilating with a hunger that sent tremors through her body. Not from fear, but from the sheer intensity of anticipation coursing through her veins. The need for this man transcended physical desire—it was a soul-deep craving that resonated through every fiber of her being.

Without hesitation, he pulled her back against him, his kiss now carrying a new intent—not just reunion but reclamation.

One hand cradled the back of her neck with possessive tenderness, fingers threading through her hair to guide her exactly where he wanted her. His other hand moved with deliberate purpose to the closure of her outer robe, the whisper of linen against skin a counterpoint to their increasingly ragged breathing as the garment loosened beneath his practiced touch.

Li Hua felt a sudden rush of cool air against her heated skin as her robes parted. The contrast between the coolness of the room and the burning trail left by Mo Xing's fingertips created an exquisite counterpoint of sensation.

Her body responded with instinctive ardor, meridians flaring with spiritual energy that intertwined with his wherever they touched. His hands explored the newly revealed terrain with reverent deliberation, thumb tracing the gentle curve of her collarbone before venturing lower with clear intent.

Mo Xing slowly pulled back, creating just enough distance to let his gaze drink in her exposed upper body, the ambient moonlight casting her skin in an ethereal glow. His golden eyes traced the contours of her body with such deliberate intensity that the air between them seemed to shimmer with unspoken power.

Goosebumps rippled across her skin in concentric waves that followed his gaze, her body recognizing and responding to his silent claim with an immediacy that transcended conscious thought.