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

He ran his thumb over his mouth, swiping at the color that lingered there from the tint on her lips. There was something so masculine and assured about the gesture.

“That’s a foolish thing to tell me,” he admonished.

Heat rose up the back of her neck. How silly of her! She should have left him gracefully and then waited for Baozhen to come to her—but there had been so many times when she’d waited and watched from afar, hoping he’d turn away from his newest beauty just to notice her. Give her one little look.

Here she was once again—overeager and naive before him.

“Farewell, then,” she mumbled.

Hastily, she ducked through the gate without looking back. She couldn’t wait to disappear into her room and bury herself beneath her quilt.

A moment later she heard the sound of footsteps behind her and her heart leapt.

* * *

Lian. Foolish little Lian.

Baozhen followed her through the garden, appreciating the tapering of her waist and the slight sway of her hips beneath the thin robe she wore. He was discovering all those things very quickly. That she had a waist and hips, and a luscious mouth and breasts, and all the parts a woman held in her arsenal to bring a man to his knees. His blood pumped so hard he could barely think.

Lian was the most dangerous sort of woman. She was impetuous and passionate and she lacked any fear of him. She was also too innocent to know how this game was played, and too bold to play it with caution. If Jinhai had come to the park tonight, as Lian had intended, would it be a different wolf now following her irresistibly to her chamber?

Foolish Baozhen.

The courtyard was silent as Lian opened her door. She used the candle from the lantern to light the oil lamp inside, and Baozhen found himself for the first time in Lian’s sleeping quarters. He noticed how her hand trembled as she set the candle down.

He approached her slowly. “What did you think would happen here, Lian?”

Her chin lifted and her eyes met his, though he could see her gaze wavering slightly and the slight blush in her cheeks. She was trying so hard to be worldly.

“I thought we would kiss some more.”

“And did you really think that would be all?”

He was close enough to detect her perfume. She smelled of springtime and innocence, which was seductive in its own way. Her mouth was still flushed from his attentions.

“You know better than to invite a wolf into your home.”

“I’m not a fool,” she insisted. “And I didn’t invite any wolf. I invited you.”

“And if Jinhai had come tonight?” A flash of anger streaked through him, but he countered it with a smile.

“I don’t see Liu Jinhai here.”

“Indeed...”

He reached for the damned hummingbird pin and tossed it into the corner in one motion. Despite her bold words he saw her pulse jump as he lowered his hand to her cheek.

He caressed her with just the tips of his fingers, murmuring close to her ear. “You shouldn’t have asked me in, Lian.”

This wasn’t just another pretty girl. This was Lian—his neighbor, a friend. The little brat who’d grown up into a beautiful and willful woman. He had to be careful and not let things go too far.

Baozhen drew her against him and her lips parted instinctively, as if she’d been waiting for him. The shortness of her breath as he kissed her told him everything. She wanted the danger...this small step into the unknown. This taste of passion that she was pursuing with complete recklessness.

He trailed a caress along her arm and along the underside of her breast. For a moment he hoped she’d shriek in outrage and demand that he leave. Instead she pressed closer, and he knew without a doubt that her once thin and sharp angles had been transformed into soft, pleasing curves. Entranced, he cradled her breast in his palm, stroking his thumb lightly over the rounded nipple. He could feel it tightening to a hard peak beneath the silk robe.

A shudder ran through her and he caught her as her knees weakened. She wound her arms around his neck and did something too seductive to resist.

She spoke his name.

The sound of it on her lips was sultry and decadent. It was a bedroom voice that promised abandon. He stroked her other breast out of greed, just to feel the eager response of her flesh. His own sex thickened within his trousers.

Lian didn’t protest when he backed her onto her bed, nor when he worked the edges of her robe open. The bodice hidden underneath was a tantalizing flash of red, embroidered with a lush orchid pattern. The garment fit snugly over her torso, accentuating the swell of her breasts.

“You shouldn’t be letting me do this,” he taunted lightly as he lay down alongside her.

“Then you shouldn’t be doing it,” she countered, but it came out as a sensuous purr that nearly undid him.

He reminded himself that there would be no release for him tonight, but that didn’t prevent him from easing the edge of her bodice downward. His mouth closed around one pink bud and his tongue circled it hungrily. She writhed against him, making him burn. Her fingers tangled into his hair to hold him to her.

A rush of power and possessiveness filled his chest. He was drunk with the taste of her skin. Lian was his tonight for the taking, if he so desired.

To his surprise, Lian began fumbling at his clothes, trying to disrobe him. He shouldn’t have been so shocked. He had never known her to be shy—at least not with him. Her movements, though eager, were unpracticed, and that was what saved her. This wasn’t some carefree and nameless dancer or song girl beside him. This was Lian, and she wasn’t meant to be used for a night of pleasure.

He took hold of her hands just as she managed to open his tunic. With a wicked grin he guided them over her head. Her wrists were slender enough for him to pin them beneath one hand.

“If you move, I’ll stop,” he warned.

Her eyes were fixed on him and her pupils were wide and black with desire. Her breasts rose and fell rapidly, half-exposed. She had no idea what would happen next, but he could see how much she wanted to find out. His hold on her would have been easy to break, yet she lay back...waiting. Waiting for him to show her.

With his free hand he reached for her skirt, sliding the silk up over her knees. She continued to watch him, her breath coming faster now as she willed him to continue. Her legs were nicely shaped and her skin glowed in the lantern light. Baozhen slipped his hand beneath the robe, but he didn’t touch her yet. If she denied him then there was a small chance he could still be a gentleman about it.

There was no denial.

Lian closed her eyes as his hand settled on her thigh and followed the shape of it upward. She bit her lower lip in anticipation just before he reached her sex. His own heart stopped the moment his fingers touched against warm, willing flesh. His mind clouded with a thick fog. She was already damp. Heaven and earth. Elation surged through him.

In slow circles he deepened the caress, gradually initiating her to a man’s touch. He was rewarded when her knees parted instinctively and her hips arched against his hand. Her head was thrown back and her cheeks suffused with color. The look on her face was indescribable. He moved just the tip of his finger over her most sensitive spot and she whimpered and moaned perfectly for him.

He wanted more of this. So much more. Women were so beautiful, with all their hidden looks and mysteries waiting to be uncovered. And Lian was the most beautiful creature of them all. He quickened his strokes to intensify her enjoyment.

His erection had become painful, and the sight of Lian pinned beneath him only made it worse. He’d become a slave to her responses, to her small cries and the sensual churning of her hips. His singular purpose was to bring her to climax and take pleasure from being the one to bring it to her.