always knew he had people hidden close to the heart of the empire.’
Her stomach lurched. It was a knife in his hand. He twirled the weapon carelessly between his fingers.
She backed away from the box one step at a time. ‘You’re mistaken. I had nothing to do with this.’
It was useless to beg. That was his reputation, wasn’t it? When Li Tao came for you, your pleas fell upon deaf ears. The blood drained from her face while her mind fumbled for an escape.
‘Did he also find you in Luoyang?’ he asked.
His question caught her off guard. He rose to his feet and she stumbled back, her shoulders coming up against the alcove of the bed.
‘He would see how your beauty could be used.’
‘Gao?’ Had he somehow guessed her connection to the old warlord?
She flinched when he took hold of her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. ‘The rulers of this empire are so drawn to beauty.’
There was no compliment in his words. The knife remained poised lightly in his free hand. The threat of it brought her to another time and place. The same haze of fear had choked her then. The men who had come for her had looked at her with cold eyes as they’d held out two choices, a knife or poison.
‘Gao doesn’t own me.’ Whatever ploy this was, she knew nothing about it. She’d been snared in it somehow and she had to convince him.
‘No, not Gao.’
Faster than a serpent’s strike, he had her arms pinned against the bed frame. He still held the knife. She gasped as the bone handle dug into her wrist.
‘Did Lao Sou send you?’ he demanded.
‘Who?’
‘Did the old man send you?’
‘I don’t know any old man. No one sent me.’
‘Someone wanted you here. With me.’
His face was a rigid mask above her, jaw taut, his mouth a harsh line. If she called for help, Ru Shan would come storming in, but then Li Tao would kill them both. He held her pinned and there was nothing she could offer, nothing she could bargain with. She had never felt so helpless.
She was only alive at his whim. Nothing could sway him. Not vulnerability or tears or lies. Her desperate plea came out in a flood of words.
‘You think anyone would send me to kill you? That I would walk in and do it while you were watching? You took me from my home. All I want is to go back.’
He had her caged against the bed, overpowered by his size and strength. A glimmer alighted in his eyes, a spark of passion amidst the blind anger. His hold loosened enough for her to slip her arms free.
She thought he would kiss her again. He was so close, the heat of his body enveloping her. Wildly, she realised she wanted him to. It would be no gentle caress this time. Not with the tension that vibrated through him. She needed something to penetrate this terrifying coldness.
‘You know who sent that box.’ Her breath came in shallow pulls. ‘Someone who sends it every year.’
‘I have powerful enemies.’
He was still watching her, a sharp line etched between his brows. She was afraid to move, afraid to invoke the demon caged inside him. His chest rose and fell, the pulse in his throat jumping beneath the tanned skin as the tension transformed to desire. There was an answering call within her. It was always this way between them, though she couldn’t understand why.
‘What does it mean?’ she asked.
Her mention of the dagger broke the thrall over him. He glanced once at the open box.
‘Leave.’
Chapter Five
As soon as Li Tao freed her, she fled from the room and stumbled through the corridor. She could still feel the bruising pressure of his hands pinning her, holding her captive.
Auntie waited at the end of the corridor, her expression twisted with worry.
‘Lady Ling?’
Suyin tore past the old woman and left the servants in the entrance hall.
‘My lady, what happened?’
Auntie insisted on following her into the garden. Struggling for breath, Suyin sank on to one of the flattened boulders lying in the soft grass. She needed to escape from here. Her captor was not only ruthless, he was likely mad.
‘Unfavourable day, indeed,’ Suyin snapped. ‘You knew what would happen, didn’t you?’
The old woman stood several steps away, her hands clasped before her demurely. Suyin clutched at the smooth stone below her, trying to steady the pounding of her heart. It always came to this, a knife at her throat, men coming to silence her. When she’d left the palace, she had vowed that she would no longer be used in the schemes of powerful men. She had been brought here by someone’s design, she was certain of it.
‘Auntie was hoping the lady could convince Master Li.’
‘Convince him of what?’
The old woman shrank back at her anger, but Suyin couldn’t find it within her to feel any remorse. Li Tao had held a blade to her. He had never directly threatened her with it, but that didn’t matter. What frightened her even more was what had happened afterwards. She had fought to keep herself safe from men like him all her life, only to be drawn to Li Tao despite every survival instinct within her. They called it the seduction of power. She hadn’t fully believed in it until now.
‘What could I possibly convince him to do?’ She raised herself to her feet. ‘I am a prisoner, brought here against my will.’
A commotion rose from the depths of the front hall. The sound of Li Tao’s strident voice resonated against the walls followed by the stamp of his footsteps. She was relieved to have some distance between them as he left.
‘Master Li is a good man.’ Auntie ventured forwards to grasp her sleeve. ‘You are the only one he will listen to.’
‘He listens to no one.’
‘That is not true! Master spends more time here now. He enquires about your welfare constantly.’
He had asked Auntie about her? Most likely he was trying to discover her secrets.
Suyin pulled away in agitation. ‘If he didn’t make everyone out to be an enemy, he wouldn’t need to live in constant fear.’
She didn’t realise the truth of it until she spoke the words aloud. Li Tao had been afraid, as she was afraid. It was apparent that Auntie worried for him as well. Auntie trusted her and she needed to find a way to use that to her advantage. It was her best chance for escape.
‘Auntie,
