Jeannie Lin - Silk, Swords And Surrender - The Touch of Moonlight / The Taming of Mei Lin / The Lady's Scandalous Night / An Illicit Temptation / Capturing the Silken Thief

“What are you doing offering yourself in an appalling contest like this? You’re a remarkable woman, Mei Lin. Talented and—” He took a breath. “Beautiful.”

She looked down at her feet, blushing furiously. “You say these things, yet you won’t marry me.”

“A woman such as Lady Wu doesn’t need a worthless scoundrel like me.”

“I’m not a lady,” she sulked. “No one will ever want to marry me.”

The teeth marks glared red against the heel of his palm. She was vicious one moment and demure the next. A confusing, enticing combination. He tried to be rational.

“Of course they will. What about that boy—Wang?”

Even before the words left his mouth, a rash of anger spiked through him at the thought of Mei Lin with any other man.

She scowled at him. “Are you throwing me to that imbecile Wang because you won’t have me?”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“They say that honor is everything to Shen Leung,” she challenged.

“They say many things.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes. He would have preferred to not have such a reputation, but no one could control the way stories spread. People expected the impossible from him. Even the imperial court believed he could convince errant warlords to swear loyalty and bring traitors to justice. No man could live up to such expectations.

“If I could correct this, I would,” he said. “But how can I marry you? I have nothing but these empty hands. No property, no money—”

“I don’t care about those things.”

Her voice grew quiet. She was looking at him with dark and vulnerable eyes. It was impossible to try to speak reasonably when his body was demanding that he take what she offered. All that softness, all that warmth.

It wasn’t only his body reacting. He longed for much, much more from Mei Lin than a brief night in the dark, but it was impossible. Heroic poems aside, he was of mixed blood with nothing to offer.

“Mei Lin.” Heaven, even saying her name aroused him. “You need to go.”

Her expression hardened and she shoved the quilt away with her foot. “Fine, I’ll go.” She glanced around until she spied the hilt of her sword buried beneath a wooden plank. “But there is something you should know about our swordfight.”

“What is that?”

She started toward the weapon, but paused to stare at the scattered pile of his belongings. The letter protruded from the knapsack.

The letter with the imperial seal.

“Mei Lin.” He lunged for her at the same moment her fingers closed around the paper. “Give me that.”

His body stretched over hers and she twisted until they were once again face-to-face. The paper crumpled as she tightened her grip. Her eyes narrowed defiantly.

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