"Can it take both of us?" Gu Cheng asked , his fingertips resting lightly against the cool surface, smooth like jade.

"I assume so. It opens up a hole and pulls you through. Should just be a matter of holding still and letting it do it's thing." Zaria held out the bag of jerky, mostly to distract him. "I'm not an expert in any of this, CEO Gu. I am just doing what I was told I had to in order to get back to my own universe."

"Gu Cheng."

"What?" Her eyebrows furrowed for a second before smoothing once more. "Oh yeah. But when you said to do that, it was in a whole different situation in a whole different universe. Look," she brought her knees up toward her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "I'm not from your universe,you have no obligation what so ever to try and 'save my purity' by marrying me because I kissed you. I get that it is how things are done in your world, but it's not how things are in mine. I should have known something was off with you when your grandpa started being so nice, but even after a month there I still only knew what I did based off of novels that were inspired by your world and tv shows I watched in yours."

"Grandpa does like you, a lot. If I hadn't already told him after you fought with him that first day that I wanted to be with you, he would have been pushing me to date you anyway. You reminded him of my grandmother when you were arguing with him." Gu Cheng set his piece of jerky down on his leg, uneaten. "Joseph Zaria, the idea of making my grandfather unhappy by making him wait longer before holding his great grandchildren would not be enough to make me chase someone across universes. I don't know how I got here, but I already handed Gu Corp over to Gu Qiang and was on my way to look for you when I walked through a door and found myself in the middle of a storm and a forest. I don't believe my arrival had anything to do with that man. I came here because this is where you were. I wouldn't have left you at the manor no matter how much torture I went through. And if I could kill him again, then I would."

Zaria looked at his cool expression and shook her head with a small smile. "I'll get you home, somehow. I don't know how long it will take but I will get you there. And I don't think you have to worry about me attacking you. I am sure that the issue that I developed after drinking in your world was because of the differences in the universes. Alcohol from yours affected me stronger than it does in my own universe. Heck, it could be that there are a lot of other things that would make me sick in your world besides alcohol. It makes me not want to drink ever again if I will be making out with whomever is around." She chuckled and took another drink.

"You didn't do that with anyone else. You were mean and rude with everyone else. It was just me that you kissed. You were rather passionate with your words and actions and only directed them at me. I know that you have feelings for me too. Or that you had them. If things have changed for you, then I just need to change them back." Gu Cheng took a bite of his jerky, a slight smile lifting the corners of his lips at her flabbergasted expression. "I imagine that I should brush my teeth first. It has been days since I ended up in that little room. Did he do anything else but hold your hand and touch your waist?" The smile was gone in an instant, and a chill swept through the tent. He took a deep breath and let it out before taking a sip of water.

"You need...I...what?" Zaria stared at him in confusion. There was no doubt, that was definitely a smile she saw on his face, but then he seemed angry and she was having trouble keeping up with his train of thought.

"I said that I need to brush my teeth, but I don't imagine there are any convenience stores around." He looked out the mesh windows as though one would appear. "These last few months have been so very strange. I am sitting in another world, I have magic, and the woman I want to be with the rest of my life is across from me, and I am lamenting the fact that my mouth is unclean."

Zaria tried to form words as his gaze returned to her. "I have a toothbrush and toothpaste in the bag, but I didn't think to bring two."

Gu Cheng rummaged through the bags, holding the little brush up triumphantly. "This will do fine. Unless you wanted to eat more, we should go to the stream and clean up while we can."

Zaria followed him out of the tent, her brain parsing the things he said moments ago. "He didn't touch me," she blurted out, stopping several feet from the stream, water bottle in hand. When he turned around and seemed to be patiently waiting for her to continue, she did. "He shackled our hands together at night so that I wouldn't pull away in my sleep, but he never did anything else. I don't think he did. Except threaten me to make me agree to have his kids, and hurt me when I said no or fought him. . I was scared, Gu Cheng, and when he caught me and took me down to that cell I...I didn't once think about leaving that cell willingly until he started hurting you and I couldn't let you be hurt because of me. That's why I let him take me out, I thought he would leave you alone because he didn't want me to change my mind. I only said I would do whatever he wanted because I didn't want him to hurt you."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Gu Cheng watched as she panted, all her words coming out in one go, leaving her breathless. She wasn't saying it to make him feel better. She needed to say it for herself. He moved beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist, guiding her to the stream. "I understand," he said. "Let's brush our teeth."

Zaria let herself be led to the water, trying not to fight the feeling of an arm around her waist. He was not the same person who did it before, and he didn't want to hurt her, but it was hard not to pull away. The brush was dampened, and toothpaste applied, and she took it first at his insistence. She brushed her teeth. then rinsed it off well when she was done. Gu Cheng took it from her and held it while she put more toothpaste on it, never letting go of her waist. Zaria looked everywhere but at him until he slid the items in the pockets of his sweats and turned her to face him.

"So he never tried to kiss you?" His eyes were dark and intense, and his other arm slipped around her back as well. She shook her head mutely, wondering if he was going to kiss her, and if she wanted him to. The duke had not tried to do anything like that because he just saw her as a curse remover and later as a uterus. Gu Cheng, as much as she wanted to argue against it, did feel something or at least thought he did. It was such a bad idea, though...

But then he moved closer, pausing in inch away and lowering his face to hers. "I am going to kiss you, unless you push me away..." And even though she knew it would make parting with him later so much harder, she didn't move away.

His lips landed softly on hers, a kiss so gentle yet she found the air thicken and it became hard to breathe.

"No!" Her heart was beating so hard that she was sure it was going to come out of her chest. She pushed him with as much strength as she could, stumbling backwards with wide eyes. "I can't, please don't! I need...I need..."

His hand slid against hers, entwining their fingers and pressing the two palms together. "I am sorry, I was being selfish, I shouldn't have don't that after everything you have been through."

"I'm sorry," she felt tears burn in her eyes and willed them not to come out. "It's not you-"

"It definitely was me, I should have known better and you deserve better from me. I'm just so unsteady, finally having you with me again but everything is different. And yet I am so lucky to have you right here, more lucky than I could have imagined."

Zaria let him pull her back toward the tent, confused by everything that had happened since...she wasn't sure how far back she should go in her considerations. "I think you are confusing bad luck for good luck. You are in the middle of nowhere, relying on a girl only a year out of secondary school to get you home to your family in another universe after being tortured for days. We will likely end up hunted by soldiers of the King once word gets to the capital, although I have no idea how long that will take. And these woods have wolves."

"Hmm... the wolves are the more immediate concern, but we can handle it. We need to come up with a plan for how we will get by until it is time to leave." He let go of her hand to let her crawl back inside and checked on the clothing to see how it was drying. The sky was clear, and the sun looked to have a few hours left before it passed to where the trees would block its rays. He ducked down and entered the tent, laying out on the ground to one side as he watched her fidgeting with the hem of her top. Gu Cheng stretched out his left arm and patted his shoulder with this right hand. "Come lay down, rest for a little more."

When Zaria hesitantly laid her head down on his shoulder, he curled his arm around to hold her in place and bent his other arm up and behind his head to use it as a pillow. "You are my family, too, Joseph Zaria. " He kissed the top of her head and continued, "It's warm in the sun. I think everything but your shoes will be dry by the time it gets dark, and your shoes might be fine in the morning. But will you feel comfortable waiting to leave until then? Should we be trying to get as far away as we can as quickly as we can, just in case?"

Zaria was unable to concentrate on his attempt at conversation. For someone who rarely said more words than were necessary, he was fitting a lot of words into a single breath. She tried not to wiggle, not entirely comfortable with the current situation, but wishing she was able to be. The man she thought about almost every night since leaving City C, and for a good chunk of the night while there, was holding her tenderly and all she could think about was how she wished he was back home in his own bed, even if it meant that she never got to see him again.