I slide from the bed, my hands shaking with fear. So much for staying hidden and fighting bravely until I could return home. I’ve put myself in danger and possibly given myself a death sentence. I start to pace across the floor. Candles illuminate the room around us. I take a few deep breaths and center myself in the way my father taught me as a child when I was worried about monsters under the bed. I can’t fear the future. Nothing is set in stone. I can change it with honor, truth, and justice.
“It’s not something we need to worry about. I know I’m a target now, and I’ll use all my skills to protect myself against any threat.”
“Lia, if he gets hold of you…if he finds out who you really are…”
I hold my head up high. I won’t fear Wang. The moment I allow fear to win is the moment I’ll make myself vulnerable.
“If he does, I’ll deal with it. I’m Lia Zhànshì, and I’ll bring honor to my family in everything I do.” I stand proudly at the side of the bed, and Jaxon watches me as I give my unwavering vow.
“I’ve never met anyone like you. The skill of a thousand warriors, the bravery of gods, and all in one very sexy little package. You know what, I’ve been worrying all day because I’ve been seeing Wang come for Zhàn, but he isn’t—he’s going to get Lia, and it’ll be his downfall.”
Jaxon slides forward, so he’s sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes darkening as he looks me up and down. He pulls me in between his legs and undoes the cord of the dressing gown I’m wearing. It falls open to reveal my nakedness. At his gaze, the ever present heat floods my body and pools between my thighs.
“Do you trust me, Lia?” he asks as he gets up from the bed and stands in front of me with his cock tented in his workout pants.
“Always.” I look at him from under hooded eyes as the room fills with the scent of sexual need.
He steps behind me, and removing my dressing gown from my body, he takes the cord, places my hands at my back, and ties my wrists together. I don’t move, and I don’t flinch when he pushes me onto the bed. My bottom is in the air, and my head is pressed against the mattress by his strong hand. I can’t see what he’s doing, but I feel his heat close to me. His tongue flicks onto my pussy, and I moan, long and loud. He licks the length of it before dipping his tongue inside me.
“A perfect taste, sweet and seductive—my poison and elixir all rolled into one.”
I don’t reply to him as he moves his tongue from my pussy to my puckered hole. I tense, but when he licks the sensitive flesh there, I relax. He moves back to my pussy and then back to my ass pushing his tongue into the hole. I trust him. I’ll accept whatever he’s decides to give me.
Jaxon lets go of my head, undoes my wrists and pulls me up onto all fours on the bed. I feel his heat leave my body, but I’m comforted a few moments later when his pants are thrown onto the floor beside the bed. His presence returns, and I feel his hard cock at the entrance to my core. He pushes himself inside me, and I receive him with a lust filled moan. I wish I could see him, but the anticipation of what he’ll do next tingles wildly over my skin. He pulls back out before slamming hard into me. He grabs my hips and holds them tightly, his fingers digging into the curved flesh. He’ll bruise me with his strength, but I don’t care. I welcome the marks. They show me I’m human and still a woman even though I live and fight as a man. It’s ironic—I thought I wore a mask as a woman, but it’s as a man I’m truly hidden.
“Stay relaxed.” Jaxon leans over me and kisses the back of my shoulder.
I long for him to mark the flesh of my neck, bite me, savor me, but I can’t risk it being seen. I shut my eyes and allow the feeling to take over. Jaxon moves one of his hands from my hips, and I feel him tease at the entrance of my puckered hole. Instinct has me tense, but a few thrusts from Jaxon’s cock inside my pussy focuses my mind only on the pleasure he can give me. I relax my body as an orgasm builds deep within me. Jaxon teases my hole again and pushes his finger in. It’s big and feels uncomfortable but blissful at the same time. I take quick breaths to maintain my composure, especially when Jaxon joins the first finger with a second.
“So full,” I whimper, a fine sheen of sweat breaking out over my skin with the exertion of trying to control my body.
“Wait until you’re ready for my cock there. I’m going to take every hole you have and mark them as mine.”
“They’ve always been yours, Jaxon.”
He’s already had my pussy and mouth. My ass will be next, I’ve no doubt, and I’ll welcome him there too. I want him to claim me everywhere.
Jaxon moves his hips again and starts to thrust hard into me while his fingers in my ass move in and out. I can barely think as my orgasm hits me. My body jerks and shudders of its own accord. Jaxon buries himself deep inside me and fills me with his release. I relish it and what it means—his love for me.
Jaxon leans over me,
“I love you, Lia.”
“I love you too,” I reply, exhaustion finally hitting me from the exertion of the past few days.
Jaxon withdraws his fingers, and I wince. His cock follows next, and I collapse down onto the bed, my eyes fluttering shut. He fetches a wet cloth from the bathroom and tenderly washes between my thighs before disposing of the cloth and pulling me into his arms.
“I’ll set an alarm because I want to get back to the compound before any of the others wake up, but I just want to hold you for a few more hours.”
I nod, my body too tired to speak.
Jaxon kisses the top of my head, and as he settles to sleep, the darkness claims me but not before a thought hits me—a way to defeat the Jīn Long forever. I just hope Gaozu will accept it because it’s going to be risky, and it might just break me.
Everyone files into the main throne room of the compound. It’s not as elaborate as the one I first met Gaozu in, all those years ago. He still owns that house, but he spends very little time there, preferring to stay as close to the action as possible while he’s working to make a better life for our people. It allows him to be at the epicenter of everything, just as he is at the moment in this room. The entire population of the compound has been called for the meeting. I don’t know what it entails, but I can’t shake the bad feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach.
“You have any idea what this is about?” another of the older recruits asks me.
I shrug my shoulders and search out Lia in the crowd of people. I eventually locate her with her section of the recruits. She’s standing ramrod straight, staring forward, just like the others are.
I take my position at the front of the assembled crowd, my arms straight by my side in attention. We all fall silent when Gaozu appears on the platform in front of us. For a lot of the people in this room, it’s the first time they’ve seen him, including Lia, who has only seen him in disguise. He’s wearing a traditional Chinese emperor’s outfit today. He looks like a King. Everyone bows low as he takes his seat on his throne. It’s little more than a soft chair, but it still has the statue of the phoenix next to it to demonstrate his power.
“Thank you.” He motions for us all to straight up again. “Welcome, everyone. I apologize for not greeting you all sooner but know I have been walking among you, and I’ve seen the good work you’ve been doing. I’m proud of each and every one of you.”