It had held when she’d tested it. But a few feet into her journey, the metal brackets securing the top section to the wall had snapped off, and Glory found herself holding on for dear life as the pipe swayed and bent over the courtyard below. As she chanced a glance down, her cap fell off, falling a dizzying distance. She debated resuming her downward climb, but the slightest movement caused the metal to curve further. The pipe gave an ominous groan that suggested it might snap and send her crashing onto the stones below.
She was too far to get back to her own balcony. Nor could she reach the balcony on the other side. In essence, she was trapped, and the only way to go was down. The pipe groaned again, and she knew there was no time to waste. She could cry for help, but by the time anyone reached her, it would be too late.
I’ll have to make a go for the balcony. Swing as hard as I can and try to grab the railing. I’ll use lightness kung fu, and hopefully it will carry me the distance.
“FF II, it’s safer for you to climb down. The pipe will hold you,” she whispered. “You have to go.”
The ferret made a tuk-tuk of refusal and wound himself tighter around her.
“Go, boy. Please, we haven’t much time—”
“Don’t move.” Wei’s urgent command came from the darkness below. “I’ll be right there.”
Relief flowed through her even as the pipe bent further. Turning her head as much as she dared, she saw Wei in the courtyard. He took a running start and jumped onto the side of the house. Her panicked heart thumped even faster at his power and agility. Even though she knew he was using lightness kung fu to find the footholds and position his body for maximum momentum, he seemed to be doing the impossible and running up the side of the wall. Reaching a balcony, he sprinted along the balustrade, his movement so light and quick it was nearly invisible to the eye.
With a mighty spring, he soared from one balcony onto the next. He repeated this, going from balcony to balcony, each jump taking him higher and exposing him to greater risk. As he reached the balcony closest to Glory, the pipe squealed, and she felt the metal slipping beneath her palms as she bent backward into nothingness—
Wei’s arm circled her waist like a steel band, his momentum carrying them through the air and to the nearest balcony. They landed in a tangle, Wei twisting to break her fall. She ended up atop him, breathless.
“Are you all right—” They spoke at the same time.
The absurdity of the situation and her near escape were too much for her overwrought nerves. A relieved giggle escaped her.
Wei narrowed his eyes while FF II chittered around her neck.
“What the bloody hell were you thinking?” Wei said in a low voice.
“It seemed like a good plan. At the time.” She tried to clear her throat, but another anxious chuckle escaped. “Now I realize that I ought to have thought it through better. Thank heavens you were there.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
Instead, he jerked his chin toward the balcony door. “Is the chamber occupied?”
She shook her head. “This is the guest wing.”
Rising, she gave him a hand up and tried the door. It was locked but with the use of hairpins, she swiftly gained entry. She led the way into the shadowy chamber, Wei closing the balcony door behind them.
“My family’s bedchambers are on the opposite side of the house,” she whispered. “We’ll still need to be quiet, however—”
She gasped as Wei grabbed her by the waist, hauling her against a wall.
“Don’t ever do anything that foolish again,” he growled.
She would have replied, but he slammed his mouth onto hers.
Fear and anger and panic morphed into raging lust. Wei was powerless against his surging emotions, powerless to stop his true nature from smashing the chains of his self-discipline. Glory resurrected his most primal self, the shadowy beast that he’d locked away for years. Intuition had told him that she would not stay put at home tonight. Luckily, he’d arrived in time to witness her perilous exit from the house. Seeing her dangling above death’s gaping jaws, feeling her fragility as he’d snatched her onto the balcony had shattered his control.
I cannot lose her too. Yuan fen cannot be that cruel.
The possibility drove him into a frenzy. He clasped her throat between his palms, feeling her fluttering pulse as he consumed her mouth. Reassuring himself with each lick, each taste, each bite that she was alive. She moaned, winding her arms around his neck as if she would never let go. And, bloody hell, he needed that from her…needed her like he’d never needed anything or anyone else.
He tore his mouth from hers.
“You’re mine.” The words he’d buried clawed themselves free. “I want to hear you say it, little tigress.”
Her pulse quickened against his palm, moonlight illuminating the wonder in her gaze.
“I’m yours, Wei.”
