her legs and watched her face as he slid a finger purposefully along her folds. It was the first moment of quiet he had allowed her and it was only to tease her, letting the sensation build and build within her until she gasped out his name.
She reached for his face, tracing the stark ridges of his cheekbones. Her fingertips soothed against the edge of his scar and an odd tenderness seized her. He was beautiful with the awe of lightning storms and tigers.
Flinching, he snatched her hand away from his face. Sentiment wasn’t what he wanted from her. He guided her hands between his thighs. His hips thrust the hard, naked length of him against her palm. He swelled even more against her touch, pulsing and rigid. He parted her legs on the wooden planks of the floor and her muscles tensed.
It was going to happen. She held her breath. He centred himself before sliding down and into her in one steady thrust, pushing to the hilt.
She tore inside. Her body wrenched tight around him and she bit down against her lip to stifle her scream. Li Tao went still above her, the fevered energy of his passion stopped.
Madame had always said there would be a moment of pain, but once again she had lied. The unbearable sensation of being penetrated and stretched continued as her body struggled to adjust to the new invasion of a man’s body inside her. She closed her eyes, hoping to dull the sensation. When she finally opened them, Li Tao glared down at her.
‘How?’
She shook her head. His hands clenched into fists on either side of her shoulders. Her arms were still around him. His hips shifted inadvertently and her breath caught. She could see the indecision in his eyes. Then he squeezed them shut and shook his head helplessly. Jaw clenched, he lifted slowly and then pushed back into her, trying to keep his movements slow, but it didn’t matter. She could feel every inch of him within her, stretching her, the sensation intensified.
Eventually her tight walls grew damp, yielding only slightly. He rocked himself into her, sliding in and out, unable to deny himself. Through the pain, she held on to him, fingers digging into sweat-dampened skin. A current of distant pleasure rose to combine with the pain as his thrusts deepened. His rhythm became erratic. He pulsed once, twice, then his entire body wound tight as his essence spilled into her.
He pounded his fist against the floorboards in frustration and she flinched at the impact. With a curse, he lifted his body away from her.
‘How is this possible?’ he demanded, his voice thick.
She gathered the discarded silk around her shoulders and sat up, hissing at the unexpected ache. Li Tao’s coupling had left her sore and filled with an acute loneliness. She had been naïve to believe there would be a long night of seduction once the great lie had been revealed.
‘Many concubines live their lives untouched in the inner court, forgotten.’ Her attempt to appear dispassionate failed when her voice broke.
Every muscle in him pulled tight. ‘Not you.’
She leaned back against the wall for support as he faced her, his knees braced against the floor, his nakedness forgotten. Her response angered him further, but maybe she wanted it that way.
‘You know the answer,’ she said.
‘I don’t know anything.’
If he thought hard enough, she was certain he would discover what the August Emperor had fought to hide for so many years. But Li Tao didn’t care about the secrets of the imperial court. His eyes burned through her.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
Her lips parted in silence. There was no answer to that. Who would believe that Ling Guifei, the great seductress, had never been possessed by a man? Her eyes burned from sudden tears that she hoped the darkness would hide.
He swiped his robe from the floor in a violent motion, but then threw it aside. His chiselled body rippled with shadows as he stormed from the room, leaving her stranded amidst the tattered silk.
Li Tao threw the chamber door shut behind him. He shoved his hands through his hair, denying the satisfied flush of his body. The scent of jasmine clung to his skin. Visions of sensual eyes, pale skin and her perfect mouth swam before him. He grabbed a pair of trousers from the wardrobe and pulled them on impatiently.
Lies. Everything about Ling Suyin was a pretty, unfathomable lie. The score of her nails down his back and