education in Luoyang. Things that her heart told her to do. Li Tao shuddered above her as she ran her hands over each chiselled curve and plane. She had never been given such freedom, such power. His was a warrior’s body, hardened through combat, nothing wasted.
Her hand slid down between his thighs to tease over his manhood, pressing her advantage on purpose. His eyes shut and his head arched back as she stroked. She watched his face, his expression tight, almost pained. His breath drained from him when her grip tightened ever so slightly. She wanted to know it all.
She was already wet before he slid his fingers over the pearl of her sex. Already straining for release when he rolled his tongue gently over her. His breath fanned hot against her flesh.
He dipped his finger into her and she grabbed on to the wooden frame of the chaise and bit back a scream. Li Tao liked to watch her lose herself, writhing and sobbing under his mouth. She glanced down to catch his gaze lift from the cradle of her thighs. With his eyes fixed on to hers, he urged her on with his mouth and the hard slide of his fingers until she climaxed, pulsing endlessly around him.
It was only then that he lifted her in his arms to carry her into the bedchamber. He laid her on to the bed and joined her. Her hips lifted towards him. There was a slight soreness that wasn’t there before as he entered her. Her body was not yet accustomed to his impassioned love-making.
The nights. This is where they belonged. He thrust and thrust deeper. Slowly to prolong the pleasure. The muscles of his back tightened beneath her fingertips. His skin became slick with sweat. In the quiet pockets of the day, they didn’t make any sense. The night could be what they made of it. If this was all he wanted, it was enough. It was everything.
She was climaxing again. She wrapped her legs around his hips and closed her eyes to let the lightning wash over her. He strained upwards, lifting himself higher on to his arms until he went rigid. His hips rocked into her of their own accord, thrusting deep one final time.
When she opened her eyes he was staring. That taunting curve of his lower lip had returned, smug this time. She lifted just her neck to press her mouth to his. It was a brief kiss in the aftermath of spent passion. She did it to capture that bare trace of a smile.
His muscles loosened and she released him, falling back languidly to watch him as he rose. One month. Long days, and nights that were too short.
‘Will you stay?’ she asked as he stood.
He was naked strength beside the bed. So magnificent. ‘Do you wish me to?’
The wave of loneliness came back, but she answered with a languid smile, turning on to her side to see him better. That was all the answer Li Tao needed. As he turned to put out the lanterns, she saw the bare expanse of his back for the first time.
A bold design had been inked on to his skin just over his left shoulder blade. She detected the curved body of a dragon. Sleek bands of muscle glided beneath it as he moved. A mark of thieves and assassins. She had seen such marks in the dens of Luoyang and had been warned about the men who bore them.
He faced her. The look between them acknowledged what she had seen. What he had wanted her to see. He paused over the orb lantern, waiting. When she said nothing, he extinguished the flame inside.
Chapter Twelve
Shibao, Tibet—AD 745
14 years earlier
Li Tao plunged his sword into the Tibetan soldier’s chest and pulled it out with the next motion. Even surrounded by death, his hands did not shake. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the moment the August Emperor was thrown from his horse.
His focus narrowed in on the dragon insignia of the Emperor’s breastplate. This was his time. Grand General Shen and his sons had taken to separate quarters of the battlefield.
The Emperor fought on foot with the confusion of the battle around him. With sword in hand, he struck at an enemy soldier, then scanned the field around him. Li Tao’s task was clear: the Emperor had to die, struck down in battle by all appearances, a casualty of the war he waged.
Li Tao gripped his