"Must have,” she agreed. “I see your palace walls haven't crumbled and the Zhang Empire is still in power."

  "Yes, though we did have a bit of a scare.” Jin walked with her toward the bridge that arched above the Enchanted River. Stopping, he leaned against the rail looking down at the gently undulating waters.

  "I won't tell you where it is.” Francesca put her back to the rail and looked in the opposite direction. They didn't touch, but Jin could feel the heat of her body. He had missed holding her. Even now, he wanted to pull her close.

  "I won't ask,” he assured her, “for I already know where it is."

  "You do?” Her round eyes studied him. “How?"

  "We found it hidden in your room on Torgan."

  "We?” She shook her head. “You mean your sister. You didn't come to get me yourself. You sent Mei."

  Jin didn't answer. What did it matter?

  "So what now? Prison? Death? Slavery?” She sighed, as if they discussed the weather. “What kind of torture do you have in store for me?"

  "The worst kind, I assure you."

  Francesca quirked a brow.

  Jin turned to her, placing his hip on the stone rail. Crossing his arm over his chest, he said, “The most horrific punishment I can think of."

  "Torture?"

  "Marriage."

  "Marriage,” she repeated in disbelief, her cool expression disappearing into a look of surprise.

  "To me,” he said.

  "Marriage to you?” Her stunned look was comical, only Jin wasn't laughing. She tried to chuckle, but the sound died halfway out of her mouth.

  "Yes. Marriage to me.” He'd missed looking into her jade eyes.

  "Ugh, but.... “She wrinkled her nose. “Why?"

  "What punishment is worse than making you stay as a princess in the Empire you loathe so much? In an Empire you would see destroyed?” Jin reached for a strand of her hair, pulling it thoughtfully between his fingers. It curled around his thumb in a gentle caress. Looking up, he watched her expression to see how she would react to his closeness. He wasn't surprised when she gave nothing away.

  "So am I to be shackled to your side? Do you really want to live like that? It seems more punishment for you than for me. How else will you assure that I stay put?” She watched his hand. The silky texture of her long hair was their first contact in months, but he felt as if every nerve in his finger jump to life, spreading his desire for her over his entire body. The mass between his thighs rose, hoping for a chance to relive the ecstasy only her arms could bring.

  "I've thought of that,” he admitted. “And I think I have a solution that doesn't involve chains."

  "What's that?"

  "Your word as a student of Wushu.” Jin's hand trembled and he let her go. Shivering, he tried not to let his pain show. “Your word on Master Chen Sun's soul. Swear to him that you will stay here on Líntian, as my wife. Swear that you will be dutiful and will honor your new family and I promise you that you will be given all the luxury of being a princess, and all of the freedom. You will be taken care of and, if you wish it, a house will be built for you in the country where you can live out your days in leisure and solitude. I won't force myself on you, Francesca, just so you know."

  "That part was never a problem,” she said, giving a small grin. Francesca looked over the small palace river. He heard the chains clinking, as if her hands shook too badly to keep them quiet. “You will take the word of a thief?"

  "I will take the word of Master Chen Sun's lover.” Jin took a deep breath. Pain racked his soul. Saying the words hurt much worse than he imagined they would as he practiced them in his head. It felt as if his heart and soul were being ripped out of his chest, leaving a hole where his happiness had once so briefly lived.

  "You know,” she said softly, gripping the stone rail so hard her fingers turned white.

  "Yes. I know you loved him."

  Francesca nodded in agreement. Her lips pressed tightly together and a tear slipped over her face. “Yes, I loved him."

  The death of his soul was complete. Jin knew he'd never be whole again. Nothing mattered now. All was lost.

  * * * *

  Francesca took a deep breath. Seeing Jin again wasn't as she pictured it in her mind. She had tried to convince herself that she wouldn't care, that it wouldn't affect her, that all feeling she had was dead.

  It wasn't. Her heart was very much alive and right now it ached. Hearing Chen Sun's name on his lips, hearing him speak of her love for the dead Wushu master only intensified her guilt. She had told Sun she loved him, had dedicated her life to avenging his death. Did she now betray him by feeling something for the heir of those who sentenced him to death?

  Jin had no idea how right he was when he said marriage to him would be the ultimate punishment. Naturally, she would honor her word, especially if she swore on her dead lover. Only, the punishment was not how he envisioned it. It would be punishment because Jin would be hers, in all senses but the most important. Her connection to the past, her promise to Sun would keep her from being able demonstrate her love for Jin completely and that was if the Zhang prince would even allow her to show him. And after what she did in taking the Jade Phoenix, he would never truly love or trust her in return. She couldn't blame him. She didn't deserve his trust.

  "Mei told you what I said?” Francesca asked, remembering her conversation with the woman. She'd regretted it every moment since.

  "She did.” Jin looked up at the moonless sky and breathed deeply. He looked so calm and collected. How could he be calm when she felt like she was dying on the inside? “She said you spoke of your love for him and that you believed my family had him killed."

  "They did. I saw everything."

  If you have nothing to fear, you have nothing to lose.

  Sun's words repeated themselves in her head. As she looked at Jin, she felt as if she'd already lost so much. Maybe she never really had any of it to begin with. Maybe love wasn't meant for her.

  "I had already suspected as much. Tell me, how is it you were there and yet you live? If it is as you say, then the Zhang guards would not have let one with your skills live."

  Francesca took a deep breath, not wanting to remember. She closed her eyes and the past came rushing in around her.

  We are all motivated by our desires. There are all types of seductions. The seduction of the flesh is the most obvious. The rogue seducing the untried virgin even more so. But there is also the seduction of an object worth having. The seduction of greed, lust, hate. What seduces you, sweet Francesca? What is it you desire most?

  It was the last lesson he'd taught her. His words had been rushed, as if he tried to communicate everything in the brief second he had to speak.

  Those are the questions you must ask yourself at every turn. To know yourself is to know truth. The beginning and the end of all things is inside you. Tonight, something ends so that another may start and someday you will finish it. You must promise me not to let all I've taught you die. You must promise me that you will destroy the ways of those who come to destroy me. Our ways must live. The actions of a few should not kill the ways of many.

  How? She had asked him.

  The Jade Phoenix. Go after the Jade Phoenix. Its power will lead you down the right path.

  Sun had pulled away from her then. She wanted to follow, but couldn't. He'd tied her up while she slept. The man had known death was coming for him and he didn't try and run. For days he'd been plagued by visions of what was to come. He had refused to tell her anything. After his death, she knew he had seen his own end. He'd spoken of ending and beginning. That night his life ended and her life of vengeance began. She'd promised him she would never forget what he taught her. He asked her to take the Jade Phoenix, to destroy the ways of those who came for him. That was what she'd tried to do. Had she failed? Or did her actions somehow fulfill what Sun had told her to do.

  To know yourself is to know truth. The beginning and the end of all things is inside you.

  Francesca frowned. Blessed Stars! Why did he have to speak in his accursed riddles?! Why couldn't his message have been clear? A list of things that must be done?

  One, take Jade Phoenix. Two, sell Jade Phoenix. Three, let the Zhang Dynasty fall.

  No, instead she got, Go after the Jade Phoenix. Its power will lead you down the right path.

  Not for the first time, she wished Sun was in front of her so she could shake him. What exactly did that mean? All she could do was translate it the best she knew how, and that was what she thought she'd done. She'd taken the artifact off the planet. What happened now that they had it back? Was this the path she was to take? To stay here as a princess? In ten years was the opportunity to end it all going to cross her path? How long did she wait? What did she do in the meantime?

  "Francesca?” Jin prompted when she didn't speak.

  To know yourself is to know truth. The beginning and the end of all things is inside you.

  Maybe that meant she was to go with her feelings for Jin. The urge to stay was perhaps Sun's way of telling her to stay. Is that what he meant? Before coming to the planet, she had contemplated his words endlessly until she'd thought she understood. But now she was realizing they were not so simple. Jin's eyes beckoned her to speak. Without conviction as to her true path, she answered him.

  "I was tied and bound. Sun told them I was his sex slave and they fought for a long time. Finally, after they killed him, they let me go. At the time, I knew very little Líntianese so I can't tell you what they said to each other. Only later did I upload the language files, but by then the words had faded completely.” Francesca's voice was dead. She remembered the night well. They'd just made love, so sweet and tender. Sun had been her first. How young she'd been, so grateful to him, and how wise he had seemed to her.

  "Do you remember anything about the guards at all?” His tone was soft, inviting her to share.

  Francesca took a deep breath and then another. She hoped she was doing the right thing. “No. But I remember Sun. There was always a sadness to his eyes, as he looked out over the stars. He longed for his home, a home he'd been exiled from."

  "He told you he was exiled?"

  "How would you phrase it? Your guards chased him out of the lands, killed all his friends, his family, his children. His soul was broken when he found me."

  "Do not blame me for the deeds of my ancestors. That was long ago, years before I was born and Chen Sun was older than I am now. Do you even know how old he was? For I am only now beginning to understand how the outside world views age. Others do not live so long as we do."

  "Yes, I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have said you. I meant the guards of your ancestors attacked the Wushu village."

  "And those ancestors are dead. My grandfather was in rule when the order was given and he was influenced by the will of his parents. I never would have ordered the annihilation of the Wushu followers."

  Francesca laughed softly. “Don't call Sun an old man. He looked forty to me."

  "We Líntianese do age well,” Jin agreed, giving her a ghost of a smile. “So that night you vowed to take the Jade Phoenix? To destroy us?"

  "Yes. Sun used to talk about its power and how it fed the Zhang Empire."

  "Then there it is. The whole affair laid out before us.” Jin sighed. “At last, the truth."

  "Yes. There it is."

  "Thank you for telling me the truth, Francesca. I know now all that has happened between us could not be helped. Things have occurred as they were meant to. I know you don't want to be here, but I urge you to take my offer. Give me your word you will stay here, on my planet, as my wife and that you will not try to destroy us again. In return, I promise you I will let you live in peace. We will not have to see each other except when it is necessary. For all that has happened, it is not so bad a punishment, is it?"

  There was no way for him to know how bad a punishment it was. Jin said nothing of love, so neither did she. Perhaps they were beyond that now. How could there be love and trust after all they had done to each other? She stole. He sent bounty hunters after her. Francesca was well aware that it was mostly her fault. In knowing this, she understood that she didn't deserve to ask his forgiveness. And that was if he'd ever loved her at all. It was possible he'd just been using the words to manipulate her, as she had manipulated him on their wedding night. When she told him she loved him, the words might have been true, but she said them for the wrong reason.

  "You have my word, Jin. I will stay on this planet as your princess.” The words were cold, as cold as she felt on the inside.

  "Thank you."

  She nodded once.

  "Ah,” Jin reached into his tunic and pulled out a small metal key. “Here, let me see your hands."

  Francesca held out her hands and he freed her from the shackles, letting them drop to the bridge. Taking her wrists in his warm palms, he rubbed her sore flesh. Her skin tingled where he touched her. The desire she'd been trying to keep at bay as they spoke washed over her in a sudden undeniable wave. His fingers became caressing as his movements turned from administering to stroking.

  "My ankles,” she whispered, shivering at his nearness. She was afraid to say too much, as if doing so would break the magical spell weaving between them. Over two months had been too long a time to be without his touch. Sex had never been a problem between them, in fact it seemed to be the only thing they could get right.

  Jin let go of her hands and kneeled before her. Francesca looked around. They were all alone. She couldn't even detect any guards. Swallowing, she looked at the orange torchlight glowing on Jin's dark hair. She loved to watch the way he moved. He was a man of dignity and grace. The traits were bred into him and yet warred with other emotions in him as well. When she looked at him, she saw shades of a man wanting to get out, a man trapped behind decorum and trained to the point that honor was all he knew. There was nothing wrong with honor, but it saddened her to see a man so controlled by it. Honor and duty made him marry her and that said enough. She had no doubt that if he didn't have to, he never would have taken her as a bride.

  "I'm sorry you married me, Jin,” she whispered. If he heard her he never showed it and she couldn't bring herself to say the words aloud again. But I'm not sorry I married you. I tried to be, but I can't.

  Jin lifted the hem of her gown and reached for her foot. His hands wrapped around her ankle as he worked to free her. The shackles clanked on the ground. Jin stayed where he was, rubbing her ankles as he had her hands. When she didn't protest, he grew bolder, running his fingers higher along her calf. He touched the back of her knee and she gasped in pleasure at the intimate contact.

  Francesca's head fell back on her shoulders. Her heart pounded in excitement and just a trace of fear. Jin always had this effect on her. Their troubles faded until all she could feel were the primitive urges of her body radiating from between her thighs. It was easy to embrace the physical pleasure when everything else between them brought such heartache and pain. She willed him to reach higher beneath her gown. Her hips wiggled slightly and he looked up. His gaze bored forward, piercing her to her soul, beckoning her not to stop him. She looked into his eyes and a silent understanding passed between them.

  Anticipation made her giddy. Her breathing deepened. He grew bolder, running his hands up and down both of her legs. Francesca braced her hand on the railing, leaning her butt against the hard stone for support.

  The cool night air caressed her thighs as he lifted her gown higher. She wore no undergarments beneath the thick silk and his harsh breathing sounded over them as he reached her naked hips. Digging his fingers into her flesh he pressed his face close to her stomach. The shackles clanked as he pushed them out of his way with his knee. Her body ached and she longed to feel his delicious mouth on her sex, pleasuring her.

  I've missed you. I've missed this.

  Jin rubbed his cheek along her thigh, massaging her with the silk. Slowly the material rode further up and his face met her inner thigh. His lips brushed her naked skin, as he kissed a hot, wet trail along the delicate flesh.

  His teeth nipped her. Jolts of pleasure shot along her nerves until every inch of her burned with desire. Her nipples ached for attention, but her legs were too weak for her to let go of the rail. Jin bit her again, soothing the ache with his tongue. The tip swirled a haphazard pattern to the crease where her leg met her hip. With each brush of his lips, the more aroused she became until she was sure her thighs would explode from the pressure. Groaning, he centered himself over her. His hot mouth intimately captured her as his tongue parted her moist folds. The sound of his voice vibrated his pleasure over her. He kissed her gently, focusing his attentions on the hard bud he found waiting for him.

  Francesca moaned softly, rocking into him. The stars surrounded her, blurring her vision as her eyesight dimmed to everything around her. Jin's mouth sucked greedily at her taste and the sound of his private kiss only aroused her more. His fingers dug into her hips, hard and grasping. His tongue went deep, riding up into her body.

  Without thought, she rode his tongue. Teeth grazed her clit and she cried out softy. “Ah, yes. Yes."

  Francesca came, shivering hard as she jerked against his mouth. When he pulled back, her thighs were sticky from their passion.

  Jin stood. His mouth captured hers and the sweet taste of his kiss was on her lips. The pleasure of her climax still warmed her blood, running like a euphoric drug throughout her senses. Weakly, she wrapped her arms about his neck, unable to control the need for more.

  Francesca smelled only him, the natural scent of his body. Pulling him roughly into her kiss, she warred with him for control of the passionate embrace. She thrust her tongue into his mouth. Each time she was with him more of her mind slipped into the mindless fog. She felt safe in his arms and couldn't force her mind to listen for danger beyond them. With Jin, she felt no danger from the outside world. Nothing out there could hurt her as much as the man in her arms.

  Jin pressed his tight erection against her stomach. She remembered all too well the feel of him inside her, the way he could move his hips in a perfect rhythm. The Líntianese palace disappeared until there was nothing else—only Jin and what he was doing to her.

 

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