I shouldn’t have said a word.”
“You’d better tell me now.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Tell me!”
“Alright, alright, calm down,” Huo laughed. “It’s just that I saw a girl leaving the fort a few hours ago.”
“Which girl?”
“Didn’t I mention her name? It was Weilin.”
“Where was she going?”
“Well since you ask so nicely, she was with a maid and they were going into Longpan to pick up some medical supplies.”
“And why are you telling me this?”
“Because I think I can see her now, coming this way.”
Kuang looked up and saw that Huo was telling the truth. Two figures had appeared on the road to the fort. When they drew a little closer, he could see they were both carrying bags.
“Perhaps we should help them,” he said. “Their bags look heavy.”
“We’d be deserting our post,” Huo said. “You go. I’ll cover for you.”
“Fine,” Kuang said, and loped down the track to help the women with their burdens. When he reached them, he saw Weilin’s cheeks were red from the effort of walking and the harsh mountain wind. Stray strands of her hair had escaped from her bonnet and fluttered in the air. She had never looked lovelier. He smiled and held out his hand to take her bag.
“There is no need, thank you,” she said curtly.
“Forgive me Ma’am, but I was ordered to help you by the duty officer,” he answered. She frowned. Kuang ignored her and held out his hand for the maid’s bag, which the maid handed over gratefully. Then he reached for Weilin’s bag, and this time she relented and gave it to him.
The women followed him up the track in silence. When they reached the fort, Huo bowed smartly to the ladies and saluted Kuang. Weilin knew enough about military life to know one trooper did not salute another and glared at him, but Huo looked straight ahead and avoided her eyes.
“If you tell me where the bags need to go, I will deliver them for you,” Kuang offered.
“My bag has medicines for the hospital,” Weilin said. “The other has supplies for the house.”
“Then please don’t concern yourself. I’ll deliver this one to the hospital for you.”
“There’s no one there,” she replied. “The doctor and all the orderlies are out with the cavalry. Someone will need to show you where the medicines go. They have to be stored correctly.”
“Then one of you can come with me,” he smiled.
“I suppose I had better go,” Weilin said to the maid, “since I know where things are kept. You go back to the house. I’ll be there soon.”
As soon as the maid was out of earshot, Weilin turned on Kuang angrily. “What are you up to, Kuang?”
“What are you up to Weilin? You don’t come out in the evenings now.”
“That’s no concern of yours.”
“Yes it is. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I told you before. It’s not safe. Someone will see us. Fu Sheng will find out and kill you. He would probably kill me too, if it weren’t for my father.”
“Then come away with me. We can leave this place and go to Hubei.”
“Oh, Kuang,” she sighed.
“Let’s do it,” he said seriously, opening the door to the hospital.
“You’re insane,” she said, shaking her head in frustration as she followed him inside.
The deserted hospital was cool and dark. It consisted of little more than a cramped entrance hall, which served as a waiting area, an operating theatre with three tables, a ward of a dozen or so beds, and a storeroom where the medicines were kept. At the back of the hospital was the doctor’s private room where he stored the most powerful drugs, which he prepared himself, and which he kept permanently under lock and key.
Kuang carried the bag through to the storeroom and began to hand over its contents to Weilin, who started stacking the medicines and provisions on the appropriate shelves. Once the last of the supplies had been stored, she rearranged the new jars carefully until everything was neat and tidy for the doctor’s return.
When she had finished and left the storeroom, Kuang was waiting for her in the main ward. He stood before her, barring her way. She did not step aside. Slowly, wordlessly, he took her in his arms and drew her in. She allowed him to hold her despite herself, and when he pressed his lips to hers, she did not resist. Instead, she let him kiss and caress her—hating herself for her weakness—and loving him for his foolishness and his bravery and for being so handsome and for wanting her so badly that he would risk everything to be with her.
Kuang began to undress her. She closed her eyes and raised her arms so he could remove her clothing more easily. He folded her robe carefully and placed it on a nearby bench. Then he gathered her in his arms like a child and laid her gently on one of the hospital beds. In the dim light her pale skin looked perfect and unblemished against the rough mattress. Her eyes never left his—whether seeking trust or simply because she did not want to see his nakedness, he could not be sure. He undressed slowly, not wishing to appear too eager, not wanting to frighten her—not now. He placed his clothes neatly beside hers on the bench and stood beside the narrow bed.
There was no room to lie beside her, so he leaned over and placed his knee between hers, grazing her lips softly with his own as he did. He felt her warm breath on his cheek and felt the tension in her thighs melt away. Pushing them apart gently, he knelt between them, his mouth never leaving hers, and she enveloped him in her arms. He felt his head swim, intoxicated by the delicious softness of her body against his, a feeling made all the more exquisite by the contrast with their surroundings. The sensation of her warmed him to his core, bringing back memories of home and comfort and laughter around the hearth, a feeling he had not felt since he was a child.
He nuzzled her breasts and circled her hard nipple with his tongue, then took it in his mouth and pressed it firmly against the roof of his mouth. She sighed, stirring beneath him. He moved to her other breast and a low moan escaped her lips. All thoughts of home left him. He needed her now, urgently, and pressed himself into her. He felt her hand between his legs, feeling for him, guiding him inside her, and watched as she bit her lip to suppress a cry as he entered her.
He moved slowly at first, his eyes on hers, waiting until he saw the subtle change from fear to desire. As his movement quickened, her lips parted and her brow knotted in concentration. Her breathing grew louder with his, and her lips urged him silently onward. He felt her tiny finger dig deep into the skin of his back and clasp the hair on the back of his head. When he felt her nails sink into the flesh of his buttocks and heard her cry out, he could wait no longer and within moments he had spent himself inside her.
They lay still for a short time and she caressed
