Shadow's Stand (22 page)

“Stay just like that.” Getting out of bed, he shucked his moccasins and his pants. He washed quickly. He expected her to turn away with maidenly modesty, but she didn’t. She watched him with an avarice that made mincemeat of his good intentions. The water was cool on his heated cock, frigid on his balls, but the heat of her gaze kept him hard. He took the basin, jerked open the window and threw the water out into the alley below before closing the window and pouring fresh.

Fei held out her arms.

He’d accept that invitation soon enough. “Not yet.”

“Yes. Now.”

He loved the demand and the reasons behind it. “I haven’t finished bathing you yet.”

Her cheeks turned as rosy as her nipples when it dawned on her how intimate they would be. He smiled. “You’re going to like this.”

She held up her arms. Inviting him back into her bed, into her embrace.

“Who’s supposed to be seducing whom here?”

“I think we are seducing each other.”

She was right, they were.

His cock slid across the silk of her pants as he came over her. She gasped as he settled between her thighs, letting his cock drop against her pussy. “Liked that, did you?”

She nodded. Watching her face, he did it again, and again, moaning as the friction delivered the perfect pressure. The smoothness of the silk against his cock, softness of her breasts just inches from his mouth became too much, too damn fast. He wasn’t going to last as long as he wanted.

With a hard tug, he pulled off the rest of her clothes. She lay before him exposed and shy, but very beautiful.

Sliding up her body. He loved her slowly, rubbing his cock against her clit, driving them both crazy with the insubstantial contact. Her breasts swelled and her nipples hardened, straining for the touch of his tongue.

“Shadow.”

He straddled her torso. She was so small compared to him. He touched the tip of his cock to the tip of her left breast, watching her eyes widen, looking for repulsion, finding nothing but interest. He rubbed the head of his cock over the tiny nipple, snuggling it into the crease.

“Oh, yeah.” Lightning shivered up his spine. He did it to the other one, too, marking it as his in a primitive way that his soul needed.

“Mine.”

Fei didn’t argue, just watched him with that quiet anticipation that was hotter than any touch. Taking his cock in his hand, he gave her breasts a little slap before resting the heavy shaft between them. The image of his cock lying between her breasts, looking impossibly thick against her delicate torso, the head just inches from her mouth was almost enough to make him come.

“What do you want?” she asked in a whisper.

Always so giving.

“Just this.” “This” was his cock resting between her breasts, thick and hard, dark against her white skin. “This is beautiful.”

Plumping her breasts, he pressed them in around his cock. Her skin was damp from the washcloth, creating a bit of ease. He pumped slowly, the tension in his balls gathering. He wanted to thrust just a little farther, until his cock prodded her mouth. He held himself back. This was their first time. Demands like that could wait.

Fei had other ideas. Holding his gaze with hers, she lifted her head, stuck out her tongue and lightly touched the tip of his cock. Another bolt of lightning shot through him, jerking him forward. She didn’t pull back, just opened her mouth and took him until the head of his cock rested on the flat of her tongue.

She wiggled it softly.

“Son of a bitch. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I know what I so not want to miss, and that’s you.”

He couldn’t help himself then. Fisting his hand in her hair, he supported her head while he fed her his cock with slow pulses of his hips. And she took it, wrapping her lips tightly around his thick shaft, her mouth working in a blissful suction as he pumped in and out, giving her more and more as she gave him more and more.

Shit. He was going to come. Yanking free, he angled his shaft down, coming hard, bathing those sweet nipples in hot come, rubbing it into her skin afterward, whispering her name as he left his mark on her, imagining that it’d always be there, that she’d always be his.

When he could gather a thought, he asked, “How the hell do you do that to me?”

She smiled at him and licked her lips. “I have no idea.”

He took the invitation, sliding his softening cock back into that moist heat, letting her soothe the rampaging desire with a swipe of her tongue and gentle suction, as he supported her head, her desires. She didn’t seem inclined to let him go.

“You, Fei Ochoa, are one potent woman.”

She smiled around his shaft. He kept it up for as long as he could stand, but then very gently he eased his cock from her mouth, moaning as she gave him one last kiss.

“I liked that.”

God, so did he.

“There’s a lot more you’re going to like tonight, honey.”

She smiled and stretched. “I cannot wait.”

One hard kiss on her mouth and then he was sliding down her body, returning his hands to her breasts, loving them gently, bringing her passion back up as he admired the view. Her pussy was as delicate as the rest of her. Tempting. He could see the soft inner folds peeking out in a kiss of pink. He wanted his mouth on it.

Slow down,
he told himself.
Slow down.

Going back to the basin, he dipped the cloth in water and brought it back to her. Her eyes were big, but not afraid. Thank God, not afraid. He started at her shoulder, letting the cool cloth warm up against her skin, wiping gently at her breasts, working his way down over her stomach to her hips.

“Open for me.”

She did, easing her legs apart. He slipped the cloth between, wiping gently at her labia, spending a little extra time at her clit, smiling when she gasped and spread her legs farther. Perfect.

Lathering more soap on the cloth, he cleaned her gently, washing her pussy, her ass, the crease, trailing his fingers behind the cloth, gliding over the rosebud of her anus. She quivered. A tap and she shivered again. She was very sensitive there. His cock snapped back to the ready. He tossed the washcloth back into the basin. Water splashed, he didn’t care. He was back at her side before she could lose the heat of his touch.

He circled her breasts in gentle kisses, bringing her passion back up as his hand went down, finding her pussy swollen and wet. “So eager.”

“I can’t help it.”

“No one wants you to help it. This is exactly what you’re supposed to be feeling. Burning like I’m burning for you.”

“You are burning?”

“Yes.”

“Do you ache, too?”

“Yes, for the touch of your skin on mine, for the feel of your breasts in my mouth, for the taste of your pussy. Oh, yeah. I ache.”

Taste. He hadn’t meant to say the latter, but he was glad he had because the night wasn’t going to pass without him loving her with his mouth. He kissed his way down her torso, sliding his hands beneath her hips, lifting her to his pleasure.

He didn’t kiss her pussy immediately. He admired it. The thick outer folds with their light dusting of hair opened to reveal the delicate tender flower between. His Fei. So courageous and brave. So intensely feminine. So perfect for him. He had to have her.

At the first pass of his tongue, she stiffened. At the second, she became merely tense. At the third, she relaxed, spreading her legs, arching into every lick, every nibble, moaning when he slipped a finger into her pussy, grabbing his hair when he took her clit between his lips and bit down ever so gently. When he did it again, she yanked. Hard.

“Shadow?”

“What, honey?”

“Do not make me wait anymore.”

Ah, shit.
“I’m trying to slow down here.”

“Why, when I feel that if you touch me just once more I will explode?”

Why, indeed. Sprinkling kisses up her torso, he said, “I want it to be good for you.”

Hooking her right leg over his thigh, she rubbed her pussy against his cock, her nipples against his chest. Her breath caught. A flush covered her breasts. Her lip slipped between her teeth. “It is already so good. So good.”

Yes, it was. “Don’t come.”

“I must.”

Not without him. Not this time. Pulling back, he let his cock slide down until it snuggled into the well of her vagina. This time she’d come on his cock.

“Open your eyes.”

She did, clinging to his gaze as she opened that first little bit. For the first time ever, he felt the clench of her vagina around his cock.

“Fei.”

“Oh, the heavens.” She arched up, taking him deeper.

With a hand on her hip, he held her still. “Easy. Let it be easy.”

Twisting beneath him, she shook her head. “I need you. Now.”

Damn it, he needed her, too. Settling his thumb on her clit, he rubbed in time with her thrusts, pressing harder as he went deeper. He felt the barrier of her virginity. Felt it give… Watched the wonder take over as his cock sank deep.

“Shadow!”

He held still within her, feeling every ripple, every quiver as their bodies blended in a primal bonding.

His. She was his. No one else’s. His balls pulled up tight. A tingling began at the base of his spine.

“All right?” he asked, his voice harsher than he intended.

“Yes, oh, yes.”

“What do you need?”

Nails digging into his shoulders, she sighed. “More. Just more.”

He’d give her whatever she wanted. However she wanted it. And right now she wanted him. With another whisper of her name, he braced himself above her, keeping his thumb on her clit, watching her face for the right pressure, the right rhythm. Needing her to come with him this time. Holding back when he felt her stiffen and those first sweet contractions ripple around his penis. Holding back as long as he could, but when her nails raked down his back and she thrust her hips up on a small scream, taking him all, he couldn’t resist anymore. With a hoarse cry, he yanked out and came on her stomach, cock jerking, breath rasping as he kept his promise.

Pleasure with no complications.

What every man wanted, so why did he feel so cheated?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

F
EI
’
S
UNCLES
WEREN
’
T
AT
ALL
what Shadow expected. He’d been expecting dignified men dressed in the coarse apparel he was accustomed to seeing on railroad workers. The three men who came to the boardinghouse door wore robes of heavy silk, gold rings and a quiet arrogance that spoke of a habit of giving orders. They greeted Lin with dignified excitement, hugging her with their eyes rather than their arms. There was one worry down. Lin’s family was glad to have her back. They were a bit more reserved with Fei, but not cold.

When they got to him, Shadow held out his hand. Fei introduced them. Chung was the oldest, a reserved man with gray at his temples. Dao was the middle brother. Han the youngest. “Thank you for coming so promptly.”

Instead of shaking his hand, the uncles folded theirs in front of them and bowed. He bowed, too, looking at Lin for an explanation. She just shrugged. Apparently shaking hands wasn’t something the Chinese did with Indians. Chung took a step forward.

“We thank you for the return of our niece.”

“I didn’t have much to do with it. By the time I got there, Fei and Lin had just about rescued themselves.”

“They have become bold in their ways since being in this country.”

Shadow glanced over to see how Lin and Fei were taking that pronouncement. Fei’s fingers were clenched so tightly that the knuckles showed white. Lin merely stood there, head down, seemingly unconcerned. “Sometimes bold is necessary,” Shadow replied.

That got him a lift of an eyebrow from Dao.

“It is with great disappointment that we learned of her fate at the hand of our brother,” Han said.

“It was a shame how his mind went there at the end,” Shadow offered, “but it could have been much worse.”

Chung said something to Lin. She bowed immediately and headed for the stairs.

“What’s going on?” Shadow asked Fei.

“They wish us to get our belongings.”

“Can’t help but notice you’re not.”

“It is just a quick trip up the stairs to get them.”

With a motion of his hand, Chung repeated the instruction to Fei with no more success than the first time.

“Do you have a problem with these gentlemen, Fei?”

After the briefest of hesitations, she shook her head. “No. Just that it will be difficult to leave without my father.”

“We were saddened to hear of his illness and subsequent death. Jian Tseng was much respected,” Chung said.

Han made a motion with his hand and ordered in a voice no less commanding for it’s softness, “Niece, please get your belongings.”

With a low bow, Fei backed out of the room.

When she disappeared up the stairs, it was Shadow’s turn to say, “Thank you.”

“For what do you thank us?” Dao asked.

“For the bit about Fei’s father.”

“We remember our brother as a strong man with great wisdom.” Chung sighed. “It is a shame that will not be her memory.”

No, Fei’s memory would be smoking timbers and guilt.

“I was sorry he passed on.”

That much was true. Shadow was sorry because he’d like to kick the son of a bitch in the ass. How did someone who’d raised a woman with Fei’s sense of honor and courage fall so low as to sell his own niece?

“With no body to bury, he will not rest with his ancestors,” Han informed him.

Was that an attempt to give Shadow peace? Because he sure as shit liked the idea of the man not getting any rest in the hereafter. He had put Fei and Lin through hell. “The fire burned too hot. There was nothing left to salvage.”

“We understand.”

Fei and Lin came down the stairs, bags in hand, heads bowed.

Ida came into the room carrying a tray loaded with a pitcher and glasses. “I’ve got lemonade for all who want it.”

Shadow took the heavy tray from her. She didn’t give it up right away, looking at him, then pointedly at their guests and shaking her head. Was she worried how it would appear to Fei’s uncles if he carried a tray? Did she think he cared? Ida was sixty years old, long past the time she should be taking things easy. She’d done him more favors than anyone else. In her own way, she was a force to be reckoned with, and if he wanted to take a heavy tray from her, he was taking a heavy tray from her.

“Thank you, Ida.”

Carrying the tray to the table in front of the horsehair sofas, he set it down.

“Gentlemen?” With a wave of his hand he indicated the sofa and beverages.

Chung declined with an eloquent lift of the hand. “No. Thank you. We have had a long journey and another yet to come.”

Shadow sat. “Yeah, you do, but the stage doesn’t leave until tomorrow. We have time to talk if you wish.”

Another look passed between the uncles as they took seats on the opposite sofa. They said something in Chinese to Fei and Lin. With a bow, both women backed out of the room. Shadow picked up a glass and rested his arm along the back of the couch. A breeze blew through the windows, rustling the sheer curtains. There was only one reason men sent women out of the room.

“You wanted to discuss something with me?”

They glanced at Ida. “It is a private matter.”

“This is my house,” she said firmly. “If anyone is going to leave, it will be y’all.”

“I guess that means she’s staying,” Shadow said.

Reaching into the sleeve of his robe, Chung brought out a small leather pouch. It clinked when he set it on the table.

“We wish to pay you for your trouble. Lin is very important to us.”

No mention of Fei.

Picking up the pouch, Shadow hefted it. From the feel of the coins and the weight of the sack, about a hundred dollars. A hefty bounty. If he were still in the business.

He pushed it back.

“There’s no need to pay me.”

No one took the gold.

“What will happen to Lin and Fei?” he asked.

“Lin has been betrothed since birth. It is a fine family that waits to welcome her into it.”

“She is all right with that?”

Chung nodded. “It is tradition. There have been many meetings, many consultations. It is a good match.”

“And he’ll still hold to that agreement, even though she was kidnapped?”

“She has said she was not harmed. There will be no loss of face if this is true.”

In other words, they weren’t going to tell her prospective in-laws about this incident. Shadow agreed with that. No sense borrowing trouble when there was nothing to be gained from it.

“And Fei?”

“We are happy to take Fei into our household,” Dao said.

Interesting phrasing. “She will have a place in your home?”

All three men nodded. “Fei went to great lengths to protect her cousin. Our family will honor that. It will diminish her shame.”

“Of being married to me.”

It was Han who answered. “The shame of being rejected by you.”

The shot hit home. “I’m not rejecting her.”

“Whatever your reasons, the result is the same,” Han replied calmly. “You have repudiated her.”

“I’m saving her life.”

It was Chung who ended the argument. “Whatever the reason, we agree with the decision.”

“And we will deal with the consequences,” Dao finished.

Shadow took a breath, steadying the rage within. This was Fei’s family. They had her best interests at heart. It didn’t matter if they thought him a bastard. “You’ll take care of her?”

Chung inclined his head in a semblance of a bow. “Yes. She will have a home. Food. All that she needs.”

Shadow didn’t ask about husbands. He didn’t want to know. This was a good, wealthy family. Lin’s life would go on as if it’d never been interrupted and Fei would have a place in their home in their home. Eventually a husband. Maybe children. “Good.”

“Well, that much good news calls for a drink.” Ida poured four glasses and took one for herself. Shadow picked up his glass and waited for the men to do the same. They raised the glasses, took a sip before standing. Chung set his on the table. The other brothers followed suit.

“We thank you for your hospitality, but we must go. There is much to prepare before our journey.”

Shadow stood, too, towering over them. He saw in their manners the culture to which Fei was born. In their clothes and status, the life to which she would return. He told himself it was good. Picking up the pouch of gold, he handed it back to Chung. “Don’t forget your gold.”

That earned him a measured gaze and a bow deeper than the others. “As you wish.”

The men went to the foyer. Fei and Lin were waiting, sitting in the chairs, feet tucked slightly to the side, palms folded, eyes lowered. When the uncles entered the room, they stood.

“It is time to go.”

Lin picked up her bag. Chung said something to her and she smiled behind her hand. They turned and headed for the door.

Fei didn’t immediately follow. From across the room, her gaze met his. Shadow searched it for some sign of happiness. Relief. There was nothing there. Just that serene calm. Han motioned to the bag and headed for the door. Fei picked it up and fell into step behind him. Shadow remembered when she’d done that with him, how it had irritated him. It still irritated him. She wasn’t a goddamn slave.

“You just going to let her leave without a word?” Ida asked him.

“We said our goodbyes already.”

Which didn’t explain why he was waiting for Fei to turn around, to look at him, to show him…something.

“In all the years I’ve known you, Michael, you’ve done some questionable things, but you’ve never been a fool.”

Shadow waited. Just before she went out the door, Fei looked back. There was something in that look. Something important, but before he could decipher it she walked out. The door shut quietly behind her.

He wanted to pitch the lemonade across the room. “What do you want from me, Ida?”