An Illicit Temptation by Jeannie Lin Read Free Book Online Page B

loyalty.
    “You risked your life to protect me. I thought you should know
the truth.”
    It was a poor explanation, but how could she explain how she
truly felt?
    “I chose to come here,” she told him fiercely. “No one forced
me into this arranged marriage. The Emperor needed an alliance bride and this
was the only way that I could help my family. Me. The lowly servant.”
    A lowly servant instead of a daughter. In a family that never
accepted her as one of their own until this sacrifice. Dao looked down at her
hands.
    “Men seem to think they’re the only ones who know about
responsibility and honor,” she said, her ire spent.
    The chill in the air seeped into her skin and the ache over her
heart refused to go away. She had known everything would be different after
their night together, but not like this. She’d become more attuned to his smell,
his touch, his very presence. Even the sound of his voice made her stomach dance
in circles.
    For the first time since she’d begun this journey, she doubted
her decision. She could lose everything. All because a man had taken her to bed
and she had liked it. She had loved it—she might even love him, but it changed
nothing. She was not a silly, romantic girl to be blinded so easily.
    “I will marry the khagan,” she said, keeping her voice steady.
“And you’ll go your own way, just as you said.”
    “Princess.” Kwan-Li stopped on the title, no longer knowing
what to call her. “You had decided this before you came to me last night.”
    “Yes. I even considered that there could be a child.”
    Out here in Khitan, Dao finally had control over her own life.
At first it had felt like freedom. Now she was exhausted, drained of every
emotion. He tried to reach for her, but she wouldn’t let him.
    “What if there is a child?” he asked softly.
    She met his gaze without flinching. “So close to the wedding,
no one would ever know.”
    “No man would ever allow that.”
    She was reminded of her father, who wasn’t a bad man. Merely a
typical one.
    “You’re wrong,” she said, forcing her heart to harden. “Plenty
of men do.”

Chapter Six
    Kwan-Li had only traveled once to the encampment where
the khagan held court. He was little more than a boy at the time, riding
alongside his father as they went to pay their yearly tribute to the ruling
clan. He used the distant mountains and the sun as a guide as he’d been taught.
It wasn’t long before the land spoke to him once again.
    As they reached the northern region, the land became green and
lush. The journey brought them to a cliff overlooking a wide valley down below.
Tall grass rippled in waves with a tipping of yellow that signaled the beginning
of the autumn season. The glitter of water could be seen in the distance.
    The first time he’d seen An-Ming, his princess who wasn’t a
princess, was two months ago at the start of the journey. She had been wrapped
in silk and jewels as she stepped down from her palanquin. An-Ming dismounted
now and ventured to the edge to peer into the valley. Her chest rose and fell
with the sway of the breeze.
    “Your land is really quite beautiful,” she said with an air of
wonder.
    “It is.” He had forgotten it at times himself, but he was
rediscovering his homeland now with An-Ming beside him.
    “How much longer?” she asked.
    He knew what she was asking. “Two days.”
    “So soon…”
    Her voice trailed off. They hadn’t so much as brushed by each
other for the last few days. Not since that morning. He sensed that she didn’t
want to be wooed or coaxed back into his arms, so he had waited for her to come
to him. He stood behind her, just at her shoulder, with less than a hand’s span
between them. Not touching, but close enough for the hint of it.
    “The alliance with your Emperor is important to us, but it is
not written in blood.” He wanted to try to explain to her. The different ruling
tribes formed a complicated union.
    She looked away from him, her chin