Captive Bride (15 page)

In his room, Alan set the lamp on the nightstand and turned to face Huiann. She looked nervous, but a tiny smile let him know she was happy with her choice.

This was not something he’d compelled her to do.

Alan stepped forward and did the one thing he’d longed to since he’d first seen her. Taking hold of her shoulders, he turned her around and unfastened the braid that bound her hair. Plait by plait he worked it loose then combed the silken mass with his fingers 134

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until it hung straight down her back. He gathered up handfuls of the shiny black strands and pressed his face into her hair, feeling the softness against his cheeks and inhaling her scent.

“I love your beautiful hair.” He turned her to face him again and pulled some of the locks over her shoulders.

She smiled and reached up to touch his hair, saying something in Chinese. Then she fluffed her fingers through it. “Silk. Like dress.” He grinned. “That’s the nicest compliment I’ve ever gotten. Although a man would usually rather be praised for his manly physique.” He looked at the bed, the covers drawn up earlier in the day by her hands.

“Would you like to lie down?” Her eyes were somber and her smile gone, but she nodded. “
Shi.
Yes.”

“We could… We’d be more comfortable without our clothes. Not naked,” he rushed to add. “In our underclothes.” He demonstrated by unbuttoning his shirt.

Huiann swallowed but nodded curtly. As resolute as a soldier going into battle, she began to unfasten her blouse. Alan prayed she wasn’t complying from some sense of obligation. He didn’t want that, but neither could he bear for her to leave him to spend another night alone.

After stripping off his shirt, Alan sat on the edge of the bed and removed his boots and socks then hesitated over his fly. If he kept the trousers on, that would be two layers instead of just one keeping his eager cock battened down. But it would be so much more comfortable wearing only his drawers. He Bonnie Dee

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unfastened the first button and glanced up to see Huiann hesitating over the waistband of her skirt.

She wore only a chemise on her top half, leaving her arms, shoulders and cleavage bare. Her small breasts filled the front of the garment, and her nipples made two dark impressions against the fabric. Alan choked back a groan and left his trousers on.

Huiann pushed her skirt down her hips and let it drop to the floor. Beneath, she wore no petticoat, only bloomers which covered her to mid-calf and the pair of slippers she always wore around the house. She kicked them off, removed her socks and her feet were bare.

Alan pulled back the bedcovers and offered her his hand to help her into the high bed. She sat with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them.

The drawers crept higher to reveal more of her legs.

With her hair down and little clothing covering her body, she looked very young and vulnerable.

Alan lowered the lamp flame until there was only a glimmer of light in the room. His skin burned with fever as he climbed into bed beside Huiann. He felt like a groom on his wedding night except, he reminded himself, there would be no copulation. None. Not tonight.

But there were other things they could do. He slid an arm around Huiann’s back and cupped her chin in his hand as he kissed her. Her lips opened willingly.

The tip of her tongue met his without shyness. He closed his eyes and surrendered to the joy of having her in his arms and in his bed, her tongue tangling with his. He pushed his hand through the slippery strands of her hair and cradled the back of her head.

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Together they sank onto the mattress, lying face-to-face. The bed was too narrow for two, but Alan would’ve been entwined as close as possible with her even if they were lying in his parents’ huge tester bed, the one his Dutch grandfather, a wealthy merchant, had brought over from Amsterdam.

But there were more interesting things to think about right now than a fancy bed. He had one arm around Huiann’s back. With the other he stroked her arm from shoulder to wrist, feeling the texture of her skin. When he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips to the inside of her wrist, she sucked in a breath. He slid his mouth up the inside of her arm, eliciting murmurs of pleasure. Each soft moan made him harder and hungrier. He could devour her rather than just kiss her arm. His need pulled against the harness of his control like an unbroken horse. Lying with her like this was a dangerous game, but he was confident he could stop himself from going too far.

Alan kissed her neck and then her chest above the neckline of the chemise. He kissed her shoulders, collarbones and the curves of her breasts, warm and plump beneath his mouth. He dared to dip lower and roll his tongue over the bump of a nipple under thin cotton. He drew the bud between his lips and sucked.

Huiann gasped louder. She cupped his head and he thought she might push him away, but instead she held him there.

Although the wet fabric clung to her, it was still a barrier to what he wanted. Alan pulled down the neckline of the chemise until her breast popped free. It was petite and round, the dark nipple slightly upturned.

He nuzzled the small globe with his nose, breathing in Bonnie Dee

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her scent before taking her erect nipple into his mouth again. He savored the taste of her sweet flesh and cupped her other breast, softness filling his palm.

Huiann arched into his touch then reached down, grasped the hem of her chemise and pulled it up. She took it off then lay down again. Her hands fluttered like birds, starting to modestly cover her breasts, hovering for a moment then changing course. She brought her hands down to her sides and lay still, allowing him to look at her.

Her naked torso gleamed in the faint lamplight. He feasted on the sight of the delicate collarbones and curve of her shoulders, the mounds of her breasts topped by dusky, distended nipples, her flat stomach and slender waist. More than lust pulsed through him.

Alan felt a physical pain in his chest at the sight of her fragile beauty, and a savage desire to tear apart the man who would have sold her into slavery. He would keep Huiann safe with him forever.

She plucked at his undershirt and he sat up and removed it. Before he could lie back down, she stopped him with a hand on his chest and took her turn examining him. Chinese women were supposedly demure and diffident, but Huiann often displayed such spirit and confidence. These qualities were what had helped her escape Xie Fuhua rather than giving in to her fate.

It was difficult to sit still while she looked at him.

Her scrutiny made his muscles twitch and his skin tingle as if it were her fingers rather than her gaze wandering over him. The admiration in her eyes made his cock grow even stiffer. At last she reached for him with both hands, an imperious empress demanding the 138

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attention of her slave. He surrendered to her will and lay beside her, resuming his attention to her breasts.

He caressed and kissed them and sucked on each nipple. If he wasn’t going below her waist, he’d take full advantage of this area he could explore. But soon his hand glided of its own accord down her stomach toward her pussy.

Huiann murmured a protest and stopped him with a light touch on the back of his hand. “No. Alan. No good night.”

Chastened, he slid his hand back up to her belly and rubbed little circles there. Such smooth, taut skin. He rested his head on her breast and felt her chest rise and fall. His cock dug into the side of her hip and he thrust a little to relieve the tension, but that only made him want more contact.

Huiann rolled onto her side and patted the pillow, indicating he should lie flat. She lay beside him and explored his chest, her fingers fluffing through his hair and tracing circles around each areola. She plucked at one of his nipples and his stomach tightened.

“I’m never going to make it through an entire night with you if you keep that up,” he warned.

But she was relentless. She dragged her tongue over one nipple while her fingers toyed with the other.

Her long hair tickled his skin and sent shivers through him. She splayed her hand wide over his belly and moved it slowly down toward the bulge in his trousers.

His stomach muscles jerked as she drew closer to his painfully swollen erection. Then she touched it and the warmth of her hand, even through two layers of fabric, nearly made him explode.

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He grabbed her wrist. “Jesus, do you know what you’re doing?”

She stopped licking his nipple and looked at him with a worried frown. “No?”

He realized then that she was trying to please him.

She was offering a generous gift, but was it right for him to accept it?

Alan hadn’t the strength to answer that question.

His need was too great and she was too willing. He released her wrist.

Huiann molded her hand around the bulge in his pants and stroked its length. She murmured something in Chinese as Alan’s eyes closed and he groaned.

After a few moments of petting his cock through his trousers, she unfastened the buttons of his fly and untied the drawstring of his drawers, setting his cock free.

Alan looked down as Huiann took him gingerly into her hand. Her light grasp and the slide of her palm over his sensitized flesh made him shudder and his hips lifted toward her gentle caress. But he needed her to grip him harder. Alan wrapped his hand around hers and showed her what to do.

She massaged him with the perfect grip, the hot friction of her hand on his cock driving him closer to the edge of climax. It had been so long since he’d had a woman touch him that any woman’s hand could have quickly brought him to orgasm. But the fact that it was Huiann made the experience so much more than indulgence in a primitive need. This woman became more precious to him every day. Without her smiles, his days would be bleak. She was smart, strong and 140

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full of life. To have her here in his bed at last was a beautiful dream that eradicated all his nightmares.

Alan pushed into her fist and she pumped faster.

His balls drew tight and his cock pulsed as he released with a groan. Pleasure swelled through him coupled with sweet emotion. This woman, this night, this moment, drove away all bad memories, giving substance to his life again so he no longer felt like a hollow man.

When the last peak died away, Alan opened his eyes. Huiann was watching his face. He was embarrassed until he saw the glitter of tears in her eyes.

He touched her cheek. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” His sticky spunk was all over her hand and his belly and he felt like a fool. He reached to grab the undershirt he’d tossed aside and wiped both of them clean. “I’m sorry.”

“No. No, Alan.” She touched her fingers to his mouth. “
Gou.
It is good. You face is beau-ti-ful.” She pronounced each syllable with exquisite care.

He kissed the fingers pressed to his lips. “No,
you’re
beautiful. A damn miracle.” She smiled and laid her head on his chest, curled against his side, snug and warm. Knowing she’d be there when he woke made it possible for Alan to drift toward sleep. He didn’t fear any nightmares. How could they possibly disturb him tonight?

Chapter Eleven

Huiann listened to her lover breathing and felt his hot skin branding her. His taste still lingered in her mouth and his smell filled her senses.

Grandma Mei had been right. It was too easy for a woman to lose herself in a man as the dragon swallowed the phoenix. Huiann had not even had Alan inside her yet and already she felt overcome with feelings for him. His kisses had turned her into a primitive creature operating on instinct. She’d wanted to do everything men and women did together and felt no fear or shame about the unknown act. They belonged together. She would’ve opened herself to him, but her body ensured she take a few more days to consider since she was in the midst of her monthly cycle.

Simply having him kiss and suckle her breasts had been heavenly. And she loved the feeling of his hard muscles and warm skin beneath her hands and hearing him gasp when she held his penis in her hand. It was satiny yet hard as stone and so warm and alive. It was amazing to have the power in her hand to bring him to climax. His blissful expression afterward had moved her. And he had slept through the night at peace because of her.

Now the early-morning sunlight through the window gilded his hair and his tranquil features.

Huiann pressed closer to his hot body and clung to him for a few more moments before sliding out of bed.

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She dressed quickly, suddenly shy and not wanting him to wake and find her half-clothed. But he still slept as she hurried down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

The meal was nearly ready when his heavy tread on the stairs set her heart racing. She poured a cup of coffee for him and carried it to the table, and then she had no more excuse to avoid his eyes. Huiann looked up and smiled.

Alan’s smile was warm and maybe little shy too.

“Good morning.”

She bowed and returned the greeting. “Good morning.”

And then they had nothing to more to say. It was strange to do such intimate things together while nearly naked and then face each other fully clothed yet far less comfortable the next day.

Alan sipped the coffee, burned his mouth and cursed. Huiann returned to the stove and dished up their regular breakfast of oatmeal. They sat to eat, each focused on the bowl before them.

After a while, Alan cleared his throat. “I want to thank you for last night.”

“Thank you,” she replied automatically, her cheeks burning.

“I… It was…” He fell silent and resumed eating.

Huiann was glad when the silent meal was finished and she could clear the table. She hadn’t known that coming closer together might drive them farther apart.

Things got better later in the day when Alan returned from the store for lunch. In front of Dora, they acted as they normally would, and the strained Bonnie Dee