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“I wanted to know what it was like between a man and a woman before I died.” Her next pause went on for a lifetime. “And I wanted to know…with you.”
    His eyes sparked. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
    The blanket became an unwanted barrier. River stared at the determined set of his lips. Shamefully, she remembered Chen’s promise to use his mouth on her. He hadn’t yet fulfilled that promise.
    “I did want to trick you,” she continued faintly. “I wanted to seduce you, but I wasn’t any good at it.”
    Chen’s gaze grew deeper, darker. He watched her expression while he shifted his hand higher onto her calf. Her sex flooded. She was so much more aware of her body now, so much more aware of his.
    River peeled back the blanket to reach for him. His hair was disheveled from his labors in the courtyard. She pulled the tie loose so that it fell about his face.
    “This is impossible,” he told her gently.
    But he was here, when he could have gone.
    She threaded her fingers through the dark strands. “I know.”
    Then she kissed him. She was better at it tonight. Chen’s eyes closed, but she kept her eyes open. She wanted to be able to conjure his image long after he was gone. River had done everything to convince him, but Chen remained headstrong and unyielding. She’d tried to convince her brother as well. These men lived by a code she would never understand.
    This was why they called the midnight chamber the woman’s domain. This was all she could claim and all she could have. Private and hidden moments. She cradled his face in her hands, feeling the structure of his cheekbones beneath her fingertips. Chen circled his hands around her waist to bring her closer.
    She removed his outer robe first, then his tunic. Her hands explored him, brushing over sculpted shoulders, and a torso lean with muscle. Chen permitted her touch, eyes closed, breathing deeply. Not the dominating and impassioned lover she’d known last night.
    Her own heart was pounding. She was dizzy from the rush of her pulse, and his reticence confused her.
    “Wei Chen?” She was begging and demanding at the same time.
    A look of pain crossed his face and finally he opened his eyes. Her breath caught. She saw too much in them. Longing and fear and a desperate hunger.
    “There is no one here but us,” she said.
    She wasn’t going to let him fight this. She locked her arms around his shoulders, willing him to take her in his arms. Together, they lowered themselves onto the bed. He pulled her clothes away along with the last of his. Then he feasted.
    Chen parted her legs and tasted her, as he’d promised. His tongue slicked over her once, lingering indulgently. Then again, soft and unerringly gentle. Her body went limp and she cried out her surrender, all shame gone, until he gave her more of what she needed. Soft and then hard, his hands digging into her hips to hold her captive while she panted and writhed and climaxed. He continued to torment her until the last of her tremors eased.
    Later she did the same. First caressing his sex with her lips, discovering smooth, silken skin over the hardness beneath. He exhaled sharply when she finally dared to take him into her mouth. She circled the broad tip with her tongue and his hand tightened in her hair.
    “River.” His voice strained to the breaking point. “Stop. Please stop.”
    Chen pulled away and stretched her flat on her back. He entered her in one swift thrust that stole her breath. River arched her back to accept him into her. Tonight the ache inside was familiar and welcome. There was no other pain or pleasure like it.
    When her eyes opened again, he was watching her. His fingers twined with hers and held on as he withdrew in a slow glide before pushing deep again. Each movement resonated within her. Each shift sent exquisite sensation through every pulse point and meridian in her body, transforming into joy and elation and hope.
    “Stay,” she sobbed.
    Chen stilled