An Illicit Temptation by Jeannie Lin Read Free Book Online

softened
him.
    He indulged her for only a little while longer before planting
a kiss against her shoulder and rising. She was left cold at his sudden
departure. The evening was upon them and the tent was dark, casting him in
shadow and hiding his face from her. The shuffle of cloth punctuated the
silence.
    He was getting dressed.
    Dao gathered her robe against her breasts and sat up, inhaling
sharply at the soreness between her legs. Was it only moments ago she was
clinging to Kwan-Li, crying out with his body hard inside her? Her face grew hot
at the memory. Now his movements were brusque.
    Kwan-Li came back to her. His fingers brushed through her hair.
“I need to keep watch outside, Princess.”
    The ambush. Not to mention the threat of wolves. All of that
had seemed far away while she was in his arms. She felt embarrassed for thinking
the worst of Kwan-Li when he had been nothing but loyal. Her doubts were not
about him, but about herself.
    She was the one who had chosen this. Chosen him. She wasn’t
beguiled or seduced.
    He held his hand at her nape as he kissed her, his touch
possessive, his mouth demanding. “Get some rest, but do get dressed. We may need
to leave quickly.”
    By the time he left, she was warm and dizzy with all that had
just happened. Her forbidden lover was leaving her bed in the darkness of the
night. Her toes curled with the decadence of it.
    She remained undressed, pulling the blanket over her to keep
the heat of their joining close for just a little longer. Outside, Kwan-Li was
watching over her, protecting her against whatever danger lurked out there on
the steppe, but soon he would be gone. And soon she would be married, exactly as
she had planned.
    Despite her best efforts, the air grew cold around her. She sat
up and struggled back into her clothing, fumbling with the clasps in the
darkness. Quickly she lay back down and cocooned herself in the blanket, trying
hard to recapture the warmth. This was her stolen moment. She needed to hold on
to every detail.
    In the years to come, she would come back to this small tent in
the middle of the wild grassland. She would remember the smell of Kwan-Li’s skin
and his weight above her. Even if the memory had faded, it would still belong to
her.
    * * *
    Dao was aware of a stream of sunlight and then a
presence moving beside her.
    “Princess.” Kwan-Li’s voice tingled against her spine.
    She opened one eye to the sight of him leaning over her. “Don’t
call me that,” she murmured.
    “What should I call you then?” His gaze was warm as he tucked
back a strand of her hair. “Beautiful? Beloved?”
    His fingertips following the curve of her ear in a caress that
made heat pool in her belly and her limbs go weak. She felt an alarming twinge
deep in her chest. It was easy to see why people did tragic and foolish things
for this. Nothing felt as warm and safe and perfect.
    “Aren’t we still in danger?” she asked as he began undoing the
clasps along her side.
    He smiled at her. “Only you, Princess.”
    His knuckles brushed the underside of breast as he opened the
front of the deel . He parted the garment down the
length of her, his eyes following the path of exposed skin. She swallowed as the
cool morning air washed over her legs. She was already breathing hard, her pulse
frantic, when he positioned himself between her knees. His mouth parted and his
eyes met hers a moment before his warm breath bathed her sex. She had to close
her eyes.
    Her embarrassment lasted only half a heartbeat before ecstasy
consumed her. His lips were on her. Then his tongue, licking a slow, intimate
path. He parted her with long, deft fingers. His mouth was unerring, teasing
lightly, finding secret places on her she never knew existed. He was making her
sob, making her scream. Making her love him.
    He entered her in the aftermath, with her body shaken and too
sensitive to take all of him without a whimper. He was mindful of her as he took
his own pleasure, moving