EMPEROR AND I

LADY WEI LI LIAN

PRINCESS LE-ANNE

"Since young master has nothing to see why don"t we cover his eyes?" she toyed with her cloth. Although he was masked by his hat she was sure that he could see everything below him with the aid of his height. He appeared to be bothered by her addressing him as "young" than the prospect of him getting blindfolded. To her, he looked to be around his mid-twenties.

He reluctantly lowered his head for her to blindfold him. Clearly this was a trust game, so quickly she removed her cloth and folded it into a thin line prior to tip toeing so that she could tie it around him.

She expected to be in control since he now could not see but from the moment she covered his eyes, he was all over her. His huge hands reached for her head and she closed her eyes in antic.i.p.ation. Was her heart really beating?

Slowly and careful with her, his fingers descended down her face, feeling every inch of her. It was like he was studying a fascinating art piece.

"Double lidded eyes, bridged nose with pale skin like the rest of that small body..." She caught her breath as his thumbs stroked her lips. "Soft lips..." She hoped whatever imagination he had of her in his mind matched with how she really looked. For the first time in her life she felt a little bit of self-conscious.

His hands suddenly fell to her waist, holding her so tightly like he was scared she would disappear. Something about his touch made her feel womanly and warm inside.

He slowly lowered his head which ended up on her forehead, the material of his cloak hat separating them.

His scent was intoxicating that breathing became labour some. It was a mixture of different herbs and flowers that she could not exactly pinpoint each plant from the other; he just smelt fabulous. His breath was recklessly feigning her lips, steady and calm it was, while she was loudly gasping for air like a girl who still had not come of age. In life, she had been trained to gain control and skills over many different kinds of things but this was not one of them.

In a split second he angled his head to the right to kiss her. Her heart started thudding and she licked her lips in antic.i.p.ation.

"What am I doing? This is not right."

It pained her to do it, but she went on to place her two middle fingers on his lips. "How can we be so brazen in this place where anyone can walk in on us?"

He sighed like she was torturing him. "I own a private manor not far from here," he suggested.

She was thankful for the little distance that stood between them; this way she could soberly make decisions. Reasons why going along with him would be all wrong and absolutely dangerous made her put an invisible barrier between them.

Her hand took his right hand and she stepped forward to run her other hand on his chest. It was supposed to feel wrong, shameless, but it felt natural. There was no awkwardness between them. She was surprised to see the so strong General breathe in and melt in her hands then connivingly, she took precedence from that moment of weakness to reclaim what belonged to her from his sleeves.

He caught on the trick but didn"t foresee the possibility of her mercilessly kicking the in-between of his legs with her knee cap. He writhed in pain but not as much as she had wanted. She had a feeling that he was faking his reaction and letting her have her way but she had no time to think and doubt about anything.

She jumped onto the nearby tree and started pacing up its trunk then spun into the air before landing on the back of her horse. Not looking back, she took the reins and nudged the horse to start moving. The trees started running and the cold breeze cooled her body. She breathed in and out to regain composure but no matter what she did, she could not get rid of the sinking feeling that was nagging her. Something just seemed not right.

Her escape had been easy and without a doubt she knew he was more skilled than her, if he wished, he could have prevented her from leaving. She had not kept her part of the deal like she had promised so why did he let her leave?

Princess Le-anne made a throaty sound and pulled the reins which had the horse slowing down. Looking around, she spotted two medium-sized stones. Knowing her exquisite stone well, this was the only way she could put her doubts to rest.

Haggardly, she pranced off the horse then walked towards them; if the pendant was really hers it would not easily break. She placed it on the larger stone and with all her strength, using both hands, she hit the pendant with the other. To her surprise it did not bounce off due to the pressure but rather crushed into endless pieces.

Fool. She was a fool and he had fooled her.

The pendant was a fake! He had come with a fake one. Anger stormed within her body. It was flooding every part of her and she couldn"t bear it.

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d! General you are a b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" she punched the ground.

S.V