An Illicit Temptation Read Free Page B

considered trying not to
touch him, but the danger of falling again had her holding on tight. The muscles
in his back tensed as her arms circled his waist and he flinched when she sank
her cheek momentarily against his shoulder.
    What had just happened? What would happen now?
    “Kwan-Li?” she began tentatively.
    “Not now,” came the muttered reply.
    He kicked in his heels to set the horse in motion, guiding the
second one by a rope. Her chest was pressed to his back and she could feel the
rhythm of the ride through him.
    Before today, Kwan-Li had never said anything to her outside of
what was absolutely necessary. He remained just as quiet now, as if willing the
silence to scour away that one unforgettable moment. It had come and gone too
quickly for her to react, but her mind and body reacted now.
    Kwan-Li. Looking at her with unmistakable desire in his eyes.
Kissing her. It was as if heaven and earth had changed places, she had never
considered such a thing.
    “The princess is unharmed,” he reported tersely as they
rejoined the other riders.
    They rode without a word back to the caravan, where he returned
her to the sedan, enclosing her safely away. Even when she was alone, her
heartbeat refused to settle down.
    This was not good. She was adrift in a wild and foreign land.
Another princess was trying to take her place and Kwan-Li was her one tie to the
imperial court as well as to the khagan. She needed his guidance. She didn’t
need…whatever this was that had her skin flushing and her stomach all nervous
and swimming.
    Dao had assumed an alliance bride would be assured a position
of respect. As a household servant, she’d had no chance of marrying well. Her
mother had been seduced and then cast aside by the master of the house. At least
her mother had been allowed to remain in the household and not forced to raise
Dao on the streets. It might have been different if Dao had been a son. Instead
she was born into the same humble servitude, growing up alongside a brother and
a sister she could never recognize as her own. Being married to a chieftain was
a brighter future than she could have ever hoped for.
    Suddenly that bright future had become clouded. She had not
come to this strange land to be cast away as second wife, a concubine. Little
better than a servant. She had come here to become someone new. As a princess,
even a false one, Dao could finally determine her own fate. She had that power
now—or did she?
    Thoughts of another caravan and a rival princess, a real princess, haunted her.
    * * *
    Kwan-Li had said she would be sore the next day. Dao was
already sore within a few hours. She was bone-weary and every part of her ached.
She slept inside the palanquin and continued sleeping as they reached a Khitan
settlement.
    When the palanquin stopped, she lifted a heavy head to peer out
the window, searching first for Kwan-Li, but not finding him.
    The settlement resembled a village. About thirty yurts, large
circular huts wrapped in felt, were arranged around a cistern at the center.
Plumes of smoke vented from the huts and pale-colored sheep flocked in pens
around the camp.
    Dao stared in fascination at the women and children milling
about the dwellings. She wanted to explore, but was ushered discreetly from the
palanquin into one of the yurts. Princesses weren’t meant to be seen.
    The yurt was luxurious compared to the sparse tents they had
slept in during the journey. A sturdy lattice-work frame and a fan of wooden
beams, much like the spines of an umbrella, provided the structure. While the
outside had been wrapped with a plain canvas, the inside was furnished with a
low bed and sitting area. Woven rugs in rainbow colors covered the floor and the
yurt was heated with a central stove. A precious basin of water was brought to
her. Not enough for a bath, but Dao was able to wash away the layer of dust from
her skin.
    Several attendants came in bearing trays laden with bowls and
pots trailing steam. Dao took