Luxury of Vengeance by Isabella Carter Read Free Book Online Page A

loyalty?"
    Bao did not respond, instead reaching for the bottle of oil kept beside Chien's bed for this very
    purpose. Anger made his movements rough, but he still took his time preparing Chien. Even angry he
    would not hurt him, and Chien wondered what sort of idiot it took not to trust this man. He had already
    committed himself down this path though. Too far to contemplate turning back. So he dug his fingers
    into Bao's shoulders, urging him to hurry, to do something. He could only hope that he might leave a
    bruise, some kind mark that, for a short time, Bao had been his.
    There was a desperation to his movements. This might be the last time and he wanted to take it
    slow at the very same time he wanted to be greedy and take it all as quickly as he could. There were no
    more of the soft butterfly kisses, only the relentless push of Bao's erection inside of him. Only when he was seated fully inside did he lean down to take Chien's lips in a possessive kiss. The shift in position made Chien arch under him, torn between wanting to get further away from the intense pleasure and
    allowing himself to drown in it. Bao did not give him a choice however. His right hand tightened on
    Chien's waist in a way Chien knew would leave marks later.
    It seemed no matter how tightly Chien clung there was no way he would keep Bao with him. It
    would be so much easier if he could explain it, if he could put into words why the Empress could not be
    allowed to live. All of this darkness had begun with pointless death and it seemed that would be the only way it would end.
    He would have been content to have it last forever, to stay on that precipice of intense pleasure.
    But it was not possible. He came not with a shout, but with a choked whimper. He lay there pliantly in
    the aftermath, trying and failing to catch his breath as Bao finished, his mouth worrying the skin just
    above Chien's pulse. He made scarcely a sound when he came and not for the first time, Chien sincerely
    regretted the secrecy their affair required. In the aftermath, he could feel the gentle breeze bringing him cruelly back to reality.
    "I will not tell the Empress." Bao's hoarse voice broke the silence, and though Chien knew he
    ought to be applauding his victory, he felt nothing but guilt. Bao was not built for this sort of deception.
    It would weigh heavily upon him. Bao was built for far more courageous deeds than Chien would ever
    accomplish.
    "What would make you happy, Bao?"
    Bao's mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally found his words. "It is a useless
    exercise to dream." He started to stand, but Chien yanked him back down until he lay beside him.
    "Give me this."
    "I might have liked to return to my home, to teach them the things I have learned here in the
    palace and ensure that they never know hunger or desperation again." His hand hovered over Chien for a moment, and Chien could see in his eyes an emotion so intense it humbled him. But he shook his head
    and pulled his hand away and Chien knew that he was not the only one who desperately needed
    distance.
    Isabella Carter | 20

    And still, Chien's hand rose tentatively to brush against Bao's cheek, but Bao pulled back at the
    last minute. He sat over Chien for a moment, Chien's hand still awkwardly hanging in the air. "This path you're on. It only has one ending, you know."
    "Success. It's the only ending I can allow myself to contemplate."
    Bao did not say anything for a long minute. "I hope it is worth it then."
    Chien thought of what the Empress had taken from him, what he had sacrificed so that he might
    finally pay back what she was owed. Thirteen years of pain could not easily be erased in a single night,
    but it had to begin somewhere didn't it? "It will be." He answered, though by that time his answer echoed in an empty room.
    And this time, he had no one to blame but himself. It was not his aunt who had chased Bao
    away. It would all be worth it, he reminded himself. The goal. The end