His expression sobered. “Did you mean what you said, Ji Yue? Did you mean it?”
She frowned.“What?”
“That you...” He had to clear his throat. “That you love me?”
She laughed. “Of course, I did, silly. I do not let just anyone carry me across the Forbidden City. Come closer.” Then she reached up and pulled him down onto the pallet with her, as she maneuvered back into his arms. “I like it here.” She closed her eyes to appreciate his scent while his thumb stroked lightly across her cheek.
“We have some time before the doctor arrives. Do youwant to sleep?”
“I want to watch the dawn with you,” she said, her eyes still closed.
He didn’t respond for a long time. He was quiet while she listened to the rapid beat of his heart.
“What would you give up, Ji Yue? What would you give to be with me like this always?”
“Everything,” she said as she burrowed her fingers under and around his shirt. She wanted to touch his naked chest.
“Would you leave the Forbidden City? Would you give up being Empress?”
“We could live in a house near Canton. Our sons would play in the garden while we watched the ships come and go.” She smiled at the lovely dream. “I would bear you many strong sons.”
He lifted her chin and took her mouth in a fierce kiss. It was bold and powerful. The way his tongue swept through her sent tingles down her spine. And when he lifted his head, she smiled again.
“You would kiss me just like that every day.”
“Every day and every night,” he swore. His eyes looked fierce, his expression possessive. She liked the way he looked at her.
“Touch me, Sun Bo Tao. Touch me everywhere.”
He hesitated, his hand stilling against her cheek. “You are not yourself, Ji Yue. They gave you opium.”
She wanted to grab his face, she wanted to kiss him deeply. Instead, she brought his hand to her mouth. She held it to her lips and stroked her tongue across his palm.
“Ji Yue–”
Then she sucked one of his fingers deep into her mouth and heard him groan. And when he pulled his hand back, she pressed it down to stroke across her body. She forced himtotouch her breast, her belly and her hip. And then she spread her legs as much as possible in her tight skirt and set his hand to her inner thigh. “I know my heart, Bo Tao.” How she loved saying his name. “I love you. I want to be yours.”
“And what of the Emperor? You could be Empress.”
She could. She might. But that sounded like a life surrounded by a thousand angry scorpions. Even the Emperor’s mother—the Imperial Consort—had to make bargains with the head eunuch to do evil things. The concept was hard to grasp in her foggy mind, but she knew the truth clearly.
“I don’t want to be Empress anymore. I want you.”
He kissed her then. There was a ferocity in his embrace, a hunger that delighted her. She let her head fall back from his shoulder into the cradle of his arm. She let him thrust into her mouth while her breath quickened, and her body trembled. And when his lips went from her mouth to her cheek then down her neck, she knew where he was going. She knew what he would do, and she smiled.
“Yes, oh yes.”
He unbuttoned her blouse and pushed the sides away. He feasted on her breasts while lights danced behind her eyes and filtered into her blood. His teeth scraped lightly against her skin, and the delight trembled beneath her skin. He sucked on her nipple and her whole body shimmered.
She ran her hands through his hair, but it was held tight by his queue. She rose up onto her knees so that she faced him, her knees spread wide. Then she reached around to unbind his hair. She wanted it undone, and yet she loved the silky feel of the long braid in her hand.
He turned his head, then tugged off the cord that bound his braid. “I will cut this from my head for you.”
She laughed in delight at the ridiculous thought. The long braid was every man’s sign of devotion to the Manchu Emperor.It was mandated by law. Only the monks were allowed to shave their head, and even they were held in suspicion because of it. She burrowed her fingers into his hair, spreading it wide as she went.
“I like your hair.”
He touched hers equally reverently. “I like yours, too.”
