The Dragon and the Pearl (7 page)

A dozen armed soldiers would not be a common sight for a town of this size. At the main square, the crowd parted hastily for Li Tao and his retinue, but the celebration continued around them. She was brought to the front to watch as a troupe of musicians performed in the centre of the clearing.

An uncommon happiness swelled within her with the cadence of the music. Such a change from her solitary days bent over calligraphy or embroidery. The lanterns hung from the rooftops just like they had in Luoyang—cages of light folded from waxed paper with candles flickering inside.

Li Tao stood close behind her. She jumped at the first snap of the firecrackers and grabbed on to him. His arm remained wooden beneath her hand, but he permitted the touch.

When she tried to speak to him, he shook his head, unable to hear above the noise. He bent down and she had to lift herself on to her toes to reach his ear.

‘Over there!’

She wanted to be in the thick of the crowd and absorb the celebration before returning to the long silences of his mansion. Li Tao indulged her, guiding her through the gathering with his hand secured at the small of her back. All the while he scanned the crowd. His men fanned around them protectively.

She had done this so many times as a girl in Luoyang. Every year, she had watched the lights and people and listened as the matchmakers roamed the streets bestowing fortunes upon young couples late into the evening. The blessings were all fantasies: longevity, marriage, all that you desire. The night would always end for her at Madame Ling’s, but out in the festival crowd she would hope to catch a young man’s eye. A scholar with a kind face. Someone to walk alongside for the evening.

The childish dream returned to her so vividly amidst the sulphur smoke and the scraps of red paper littered at her feet from spent firecrackers. She looked up to find Li Tao gazing toward the sky. The moon had risen full overhead, large enough to touch. The sturdy lines of his profile stood out distinctly against the heavens.

He looked down at her then. She still held on to him and he tensed beneath her touch.

‘Governor Li,’ she said. There was nothing after that. She had nothing else to say.

‘Lady Ling.’

His voice resonated deep enough to cut through the firecrackers and the music and the applause of the crowd. It penetrated her, leaving her weightless. He was nothing like the boy, the man she had once dreamed about. She had wished for someone thoughtful and doting, who would touch her hand and gently kiss her in the shadow of some corner.

Her chest grew unbearably tight. Li Tao was a cold, severe, unyielding sort of man. But she almost wanted him to kiss her anyway. They were both clothed in secrets, but they didn’t have to pretend around each other.

‘Buy me a lantern,’ she implored.

‘Which one?’ He looked up again, searching through the coloured shapes that swung above the crowd.

Her gaze settled on a sun-yellow orb with an emerald dragon painted across it. ‘That one.’

He gestured to a man in the crowd. Before long, the merchant was reaching above with a wooden pole to unhook the lantern. He brought it before her and she stared at the dance of candlelight. Her dragon flickered to life with glowing eyes and a swish of scales.

‘Yes, that one,’ she said with satisfaction, resisting the urge to grasp it in her hands. Her lantern was merely a wick of flame inside delicate paper, easily destroyed if she wasn’t careful.

Li Tao paid for it and handed the hook over to one of his men as they continued through the streets. At a corner stand, he bought her candy made from a nest of spun sugar wound around and around a stick. The fine threads melted against her tongue, warm and golden.

The town was a small one, but for the moment, it was the world. She was sorry when they reached the edge of it. The drums were still beating and the moon was climbing to its highest point.

They returned to the horses at the outskirts of town. The men untied the reins from the post and started readying the mounts for the return home. She blew out the candle inside the lantern, folded it carefully along the spines and then paused to look at the moon away from the lights of the festival. Li Tao stood beside her until his guards began to pace.

Once again, he touched his hand to her back, fingers curving around her waist. This time there was no excuse for it other than that he wanted to. She could barely breathe.

She wanted to tell him then that he was fighting a losing battle. That death wasn’t the only way. He needed to swallow his damned pride and find a way to compromise with the Emperor. But Suyin had already chosen her course. Her message would reach Emperor Shen before long. She had done what she needed to save herself as long as Ru Shan wasn’t discovered. As long as Emperor Shen felt honour bound to respond to her plea.

‘We need to return,’ he said. ‘The roads will be dark.’

To her regret, Li Tao removed his hand, letting it fall away. He stood like a dark tower over her, barely illuminated by the light of the moon. She passed the tip of her tongue over her lips. The taste of burnt sugar lingered. Ling
Guifei
was never without words, but it was the hundredth time that night she had found it hard to speak.

He swung up into the saddle and lowered his hand to help her up. Her temple rested against the heated skin of his neck and she could feel his pulse beating as she pressed close.

‘Ride slower this time,’ she admonished.

He was nothing but shadow. A solid shape in the night. She wound her arms about his waist and he tensed before exhaling slowly.

‘I will,’ he said.

Chapter Seven

T
he three days of the celebration came and went, but Suyin tried to hold on to the warmth and the laughter. The dragon lantern remained on her dresser, lifeless without the fire inside.

Time became muddled in the circular routine of the household. Her existence had whittled down to the long wait. There were days she even found herself waiting for the sound of Li Tao’s footsteps in the front hall or the glow of a lamp in his study. She hadn’t seen him since the night of the festival.

Only because his presence disrupted the rhythm, she told herself. When he was there, she had to change herself, act differently, think differently.

She caught the pungent scents floating from the kitchen during her morning stroll through the gardens. When she wandered inside, the scene that greeted her brought back a lost splinter of time from another kitchen: a cramped, dingy corner of her family home by the river. A place that no longer existed.

The stove radiated an oppressive heat. Even with all the windows and the door thrown open, the air in the kitchen boiled to a swelter as the midday meal neared. Cook admonished her the moment she set foot inside.

‘Be careful, everything is hot!’ he said. ‘This is no place for Lady Ling.’

He tried to shoo her away, telling her food would be brought as soon as it was ready. There was more affection in his scolding than all of the compliments bestowed on her in Changan. She convinced him to let her stay by begging him to put her to work.

Cook had several pots boiling over the wood stove. A wispy steam rose from the baskets stacked beside her while she dug into the bundle of flour. This lumpy concoction had no resemblance to steam buns that she could see.

Cook tried to show her the technique with his hands in the air. ‘Roll and knead it.’

In the corner, Jun leaned against the wall to hide his arm away from sight. He managed a smirk, but wasn’t yet bold enough to laugh outright at her. The servants came by to glance in the kitchen and greet her, before ducking away with smiles on their faces. Li Tao’s household appeared to be a harmonious one, though their master seemed removed from it.

‘What are Governor Li’s favourite dishes?’ she asked.

Cook grunted in response. ‘Master has no care for good food. He eats whatever is in the kitchen when he returns. Salted pork, old rice.’

The thought of Li Tao dining alone every night brought on an unexpected twinge of sadness. He was so isolated, constantly building up his defences. She’d sensed that loneliness at the festival while he stood beside her, looking up at the lights. The imperial court believed him a traitor and death threats appeared at his door. Even she conspired to free herself from him.

A shudder ran down her spine despite the heat of the kitchen. She turned back to the dough. ‘Show me again, Cook. This doesn’t feel right.’

The cook took two steps, his bamboo sandals clacking against the tiled floor. ‘Dear girl! Heaven and earth,’ he scolded. ‘Stir the soup pot if you want to help.’

He pried the stringy dough from her, dropped it on to the board and began to work it in circles with the heels of his palms. The bare spot on the top of his head glistened as he bent to his task.

‘Strong hands,’ he mumbled. ‘You need to have strong hands.’

Suyin passed her forearm over her brow, avoiding her flour-caked fingers. The silk gown clung to her skin and her hair fell in loose strands about her face. Jun offered her a kitchen rag for her hands and received a quick swat from Cook for his gallantry.

‘Lazy! Go get me a chicken.’ He started to form rounded buns to place into the steam basket. ‘The lady likes chicken ginseng soup.’

‘Lady Ling!’

Auntie’s frantic cry from outside interrupted the hectic comfort of the kitchen. The old woman came through the open door and grabbed onto Suyin’s sleeve, decorum forgotten in her haste.

‘The death of me!’ she wailed. ‘Come quick.’

Goddess of Mercy
. Suyin’s stomach twisted as she stumbled after Auntie. Emperor Shen’s response had finally come. Or Li Tao had been harmed in some way. She passed through the archway to the second courtyard and saw that the situation was much, much worse.

Li Tao stood black as night, sword drawn, his jaw clenched with rage. Kneeling on the grey stone at his feet was Ru Shan with his arms bound behind him.

‘My fault!’ Auntie ran forwards and collapsed on to her knees before them. ‘All my fault. Master Li, be merciful.’

Suyin rushed to Auntie’s side and tried to lift her sagging body from the ground. ‘Auntie, you’re making it worse,’ she whispered.

Auntie fought against her, too distraught to listen. The old woman grasped for Li Tao’s arm, oblivious to the sword he held.

‘Tao-tao,’ she pleaded. ‘Do not do this.’

He flung Auntie away and reached into his robe, pulling out a pale square of folded paper. The look he gave Suyin froze her blood. Slowly, Auntie dragged herself to her feet and stood to the side, weeping.

Li Tao’s grip tightened on the letter. The glowing festival lanterns had lied to her. There was no warmth there.

Suyin straightened defiantly. ‘This was my doing. Only me.’

Cook, Jun and the rest of the household gathered at the edges of the courtyard. A foreboding row of soldiers stood at attention along the walkway. Their presence sent everyone into a muted state.

‘You knew you were bringing a fox into your home,’ she said, though she trembled like a child inside. She needed Li Tao to direct his anger towards her, not at the honest people implicated in her schemes.

His eyes narrowed and his grip tightened on his sword until his knuckles grew white. ‘I will not suffer treachery.’

Ru Shan lurched to his feet, but before he was upright, Li Tao struck him across the face and sent him sprawling. A stunned murmur snaked through the crowd. Auntie clenched her fist and pressed it against her mouth to force back her sobs. Suyin watched helplessly, numb with fear. She’d brought his wrath on all of them.

She forced herself into the space between Ru Shan and Li Tao, standing as tall as she could to face off against the warlord.

‘I acted on my own!’ Ru Shan sputtered from behind her.

Li Tao towered over them both. The blade gleamed wickedly and she forced her gaze away from it to stare at his face. She couldn’t back down. She couldn’t bear any more bloodshed, another debt to weigh on her soul.

‘Your servants believed everything I told them,’ she taunted. ‘I am quite convincing.’

Li Tao’s mouth twisted grimly. She’d pushed him too far. Her breath caught as Li Tao raised his sword, but he jammed it back into the sheath. He snatched her wrist into an iron grip and dragged her through the interior hallway. Her feet stumbled against the floorboards and she tried to look back on the others, but he yanked her forwards cruelly.

He threw open the doors of the front parlour and shoved her inside. She stumbled before swinging around to face him. Her heart beat uncontrollably. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Her entire body trembled with fear, with anger. She could no longer tell.

‘You’re an animal!’

‘And you’re a sorceress.’

He slammed the doors shut and swung around. Survival instinct took over. She scrambled away from him as he came towards her. Her eyes circled the room for a weapon, anything to defend herself with. Her foot caught the edge of a divan. She fell to the floor, but he hauled her up against him.

‘What did you offer Ru Shan?’ he demanded through clenched teeth.

He brought her face close to his, forcing her to look at him. His hand gripped the back of her neck and she felt the first stinging threat of tears. But even now, shaking in his grasp, she refused to show him that surrender.

‘Did you offer him your body?’

She clawed at his hands, needing to free herself and get as far away from him as possible. He was dangerously strong, unpredictable in his wrath.

‘What man wouldn’t fall to you, honour be damned?’

The heat of his body surrounded her, overwhelming her. Suddenly his hold on her shifted. One arm captured her waist to drag her against his chest before his mouth descended on hers.

Heat and pleasure coursed through her at once, fierce and wild and uncompromising. She fell boneless against him, winding her arms around his neck dizzily, drinking in the salted taste of his mouth. His desire reached through to feed on the kiss, but the anger remained. His arms wrapped around her.

No. Not like this. Her mind fought even though her body surrendered. Not in this thoughtless, desolate hunger.

She sank her teeth into his lower lip and didn’t let go until she tasted blood. He tore away from her with a curse.

‘Fox demon.’

‘I am not a whore,’ she seethed.

She stumbled back on to the padded
chaise
, her legs weak with desire. Blindly, she fumbled for the vase on the end table and succeeded in knocking it over before grabbing on to it and launching it at him. He swatted it away, sending it crashing to the floor.

‘No, not a whore.’ He stalked towards her and all she could do was double up and press back against the seat. ‘A seductress and a liar.’

He braced one knee against the seat. She grabbed one of the embroidered pillows and held it in front of her like a shield.

‘Get away.’

‘I am not going to force you.’ His lip was swollen and a trickle of blood welled from it. He swiped it off with the back of his hand. ‘I have never forced a woman.’

They stayed at opposite ends of the
chaise
. She pushed herself as far away as she could, her shoulder blades coming up against the armrest. Desire still pulsed through her, hot and swimming in her blood, mixing with the fear. Her thighs grew weak, her sex damp with wanting. She would never understand how her body, how every inch of her skin, yearned for this man. It went against everything she ever knew.

‘Did you give yourself to Ru Shan?’ His voice ground against her shattered nerves. The sharpest edge of his anger had dulled, but the threat remained.

Only now did she fully understand what fueled his rage. It was jealousy. Raw, primal jealousy.

‘I gave him nothing.’

‘Nothing? A loyal man shuns his duty for the mere privilege of serving you?’

It was difficult to have him this close when she was still flushed from the onslaught of his mouth. She hated this weakness.

‘I’ll do anything in my power to escape.’

‘You have them all in your hands, bewitched and bent to your will.’ He cast a sideways glance at her. ‘I underestimated you.’

Moving ever so slowly, he took hold of her ankle above the edge of her slipper. Not forcefully, but with a firm, sensual touch against her bare skin. Heat radiated from him to course throughout her body.

She froze, but couldn’t pull away. Not even when he rose and angled himself over her until he had a hand braced on either side of her. Her back pushed against the seat while he looked down at her as if he would devour her. Her chest rose and fell erratically, her entire body straining to get closer to him as he held himself above her, solid and masculine and powerful.

With a long, drawn breath he seemed to come to a decision. ‘Ling Suyin, you can tempt any man.’

‘I am tired of compliments,’ she retorted.

He lowered himself on to her and his mouth captured her lips. Heat, so much heat. She flushed beneath the anchor of his body. There was no reason to it.

His eyes found hers. The pupils were opaque and unreadable. His breathing was forced. She clasped the pillow between them reflexively, but he tore it from her hands and tossed it aside. Immediately he returned to deepen the kiss, sliding roughened fingers along her bodice and dipping below the embroidered edge. Her breasts swelled at the caress, pushing into his hands as he stroked her nipple.

She was lost in the cascade of pleasure. Li Tao was roughly skilled. Unrelenting. Her arms circled around his neck to pull him closer. The sumptuous weight of his body pinned her to the cushions. He ground the hard ridge of his sex between her thighs.

A moaned escaped her lips. She might have moaned his name.

‘Give me one night so we can be done with this,’ he demanded. It was at once a command and a plea.

His mention of this bargain cut through the haze of pleasure he had woven around her. He wanted boundaries. Terms. Control.

‘You’ll hardly find one night to be enough,’ she snapped.

His black eyes narrowed at the challenge. Deftly, with unerring confidence, his hand slid over the drape of silk that covered her leg before slipping beneath.

She cried out as he found her sex. All the defiance in the world couldn’t keep her back from arching or her eyes from squeezing shut in tortured delight. He slipped a hard, calloused finger just inside her, claiming her.

‘What will it take, Lady Ling?’ His fingertip circled the tiny pearl of her flesh, sending shocks of light and fire through her.

His seduction was as unforgiving as the rest of him. The pressure of his hand on her was too much to bear. Her vision blurred as he explored.

‘Or maybe it won’t take much at all,’ he ground out cruelly.

His fingers were slick with her dew. Her breath came in shallow pants. Li Tao would never let himself fall prey to anyone. One night was all he wanted. One night, but he offered the universe for it. His fingers stroked and stroked sensation into her until her body throbbed with need.

She was ready to give him anything he wanted, ready to beg for it. But Li Tao kept up the pretence that this was a negotiation. Maybe she needed it to be that way as well.

‘My freedom,’ she gasped. His fingers flicked over her sex and she bit down hard against her lip, digging her nails into his arm. ‘One night and—’

Her voice cut off as he bent his head to her throat, kissing softly before scraping his teeth against her delicate skin. She cried out sharply, every sense heightening.

Gentle, then rough. Generous, then cruel. It was always like that with Li Tao. Soon she wouldn’t be able to ask for anything but him, all of him. With all of her will, she took hold of his hand and dragged him away from her body, twining her fingers tight into his to trap them. Finally, she saw what touching her was doing to him. His eyes were clouded, every muscle in his face drawn tight.