Rematch

by Rachael Slate

  She clawed her fingers into the fabric of his silk shirt, tugging it out of his pants to bare his hot, smooth skin. “The question is, what will you do to keep me?”

  He hissed as she skimmed her fingertips across his ripped abs. His erection strained the front of his pants, long and thick. “Wen,” he groaned her name, warning or begging?

  One way to find out. She traced her fingertips lower, circling through the crisp trail of hairs below his navel. His chest expanded, a different kind of tremor twitching his muscles than the ones she’d observed before.

  He closed his hand over hers. “No one has ever touched me like you, either. I have never permitted it.”

  The pieces clicked into place. “Is this why you only have male servants?”

  He nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing thickly. “When I returned to this body thirty years ago, I couldn’t bear to gaze upon myself, let alone expect any woman to.”

  Yikes. Centuries inside a hideous body no one would touch, decades in this gorgeous one he wouldn’t allow anyone to touch.

  “So basically, you’re saying you haven’t been laid in like, a millennium. That’s rough. Good thing I got sent here, huh?” Time to remedy his dry spell. She popped open the buttons of her blouse, one by one, and he watched her like a hawk about to strike.

  “Not nearly as rough as I’ll be with you, minx, if you tease me any longer.” He gripped her chin in his hand, running his thumb along her lip. Claiming her mouth again, his tongue thrust deep, tangling with hers. She braced her hand on his forearm while he kissed her with the passion of a man long denied every comfort.

  Yes. This was the man she’d been waiting for to claim her. Strong, assured, a pure soul cloaked in a dark past. He wanted to save the world as much as she did. He just needed a partner in crime.

  And in his bed.

  Bonding with Cat had left her body buzzing with energy, strength, and vitality. She’d never felt more alive, and here with Li, her soul was complete.

  After tearing off her blouse, he pinned her body against the wall and unsnapped her bra, tossing it to the ground. His hands were demanding and rough as he unzipped her skirt, tugging it down over her hips. He undressed her with a passionate fever one minute; the next, he stilled and inhaled against her hair, as if he tried to hold on to his rigid control. The combination of his hardness pressed against her and his heavy breathing signaled which would win out.

  Oh yeah. She moaned deep in her throat, lifting her leg to wrap around his waist.

  Her nails scraped down his back while he planted open-mouthed kisses in a heated trail down her throat, between her breasts. His hands caressed the length of her body, squeezing and lifting both breasts while his mouth sank lower. He fell to his knees. “Let me taste you, Wen.”

  She parted her legs and he groaned as he slid his palm between her legs to cup her sex. He pressed a kiss on her thigh, then seized the lace of her thong between his teeth and drew it downward. She arched her back against the wall and wriggled out of her panties. Her toes curled as he traced his finger back up her thigh, parting her legs with his large hands. His warm breath fanned across her sensitive skin, heating her. He teased one finger between her legs, gliding along the slickness coating her. Then he pulled back his finger and dipped it inside his mouth. His gaze never left hers, a silent, erotic command for her to watch him possess her.

  In every way. Li was a collector, and tonight, he sought to claim far more than her body.

  He bent forward and flicked his tongue across her clit, sending those sparking flames shooting through her core. Her legs gave out, but he slipped his hands under her and supported her legs on his shoulders while his tongue plundered her sex.

  The pressure built, the demand for release crashed through her with an almost frightening intensity. He thrust his tongue inside her and she lost herself, the orgasm ripping through her body. She shattered, the tiny convulsions accumulating into one mind-numbing explosion that stole her breaths and weakened her defenses.

  She hadn’t known this man for long, but the chemistry—the connection—they shared felt lifetimes deep. She refused to leave him. She’d been brought here for a greater purpose than hosting Cat. Li needed her, in a way that only the two of them together could find redemption.

  Now that she had been given hers, she refused to leave him without his.

  Wen tasted damn good on his tongue. Li shifted to his feet, shuffling her into his arms to carry her to the chaise longue in the corner. He laid her down and she spread herself across the cushion like a luscious offering to the gods. He planted his hands on either side of the chaise and she teased her feet up his chest. Long, toned legs. Creamy skin, soft curves, sensual wantonness.

  She lowered her shapely legs and crawled toward him on all fours. Her hand found his shaft inside his pants and constricted around him, pumping up and down in a measured rhythm.

  The urge to impale her down upon him was strong, but the impulse to see where this vixen would lure him proved more formidable. She was no shy woman, and she seemed to know exactly what she desired.

  Wen snapped open his pants and teased down the zipper. His cock sprang out, rigid and thick, and she drew those luscious lips around the tip. Each tiny flick of her tongue sent jolts of pleasure through him. She dragged him deep into her mouth and moaned, lifting her lashes in that sultry fashion of hers. As though ensuring he was watching.

  Hell yeah, he was watching. Wen’s lips wrapped around him was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

  He hadn’t known her long and yet the force driving him to be with her was stronger than he’d ever experienced with any woman.

  Wen is mine.

  His hips jerked as she sucked him in and out of her hot little mouth. She added her hand, pumping up and down his length, and he clenched his jaw against his impending release. Back when he’d allowed pleasure for his body, he’d rarely ejaculated when he’d orgasmed—the expenditure of semen resulted in a loss of jīng—sexual energy—for men. With Wen, the urge was strong, to fill her mouth with his essence. To spill himself inside her. To claim her.

  Her lips tugged tightly around the head of his erection, and he permitted his body to make the decision. Hot jets of cum spurted into her mouth, the energy leaving his body in a sizzling stream of surrender. His head collapsed back and through shuttered eyes he watched her lick the remaining cum off him. Running her tongue along her lips like she craved more.

  Damned if he didn’t give it to her. He flipped her onto her stomach and she arched her back, swaying that lush ass in his view. He’d hardened to the point of desperation and her explicit offering wasn’t one he planned to refuse.

  Prowling around the back of the chaise to face her, Li stepped out of his pants and gripped her hips, spreading her thighs nice and wide. Hell, yes. Her pretty pink pussy glistened. He bent forward and flicked his tongue across her opening one more time, savoring her honeyed taste. His body hungered for her more than any other woman. Was it because he’d denied temptation for so long since his resurrection? Or would he have always suffered this yearning with Wen?

  He’d made her come on his tongue, and now he’d make her come around his shaft. And then again. And again. Until she cried out for mercy…and then he’d make her shatter once more.

  He thrust two fingers inside her, and they slid right inside that tight wet heat. He groaned, so fucking tight. She gasped and rode his hand, demanding more. His cock throbbed in anticipation, so he removed his hand and gripped himself, teasing the tip along her pussy.

  “Yes, please. I need you, Li.” She moaned, her wetness slicking his length. Had any of the women he’d been with actually desired him like this?

  Not simply his body, but his soul as well?

  The combination proved a lethal strike to his control. As he grazed her opening, he rolled back his hips, clutched her waist, and sank forward, burying himself.

  She enclosed him like a damn glove, that snug resistance giving way to his demanding thrust.
A sharp whimper escaped her throat, but he didn’t ease back. She had to take him in, all of him. Like this.

  His instincts demanded it. He hadn’t promised her gentle and she was ready for his roughness. He shoved forward, deeper. “Tell me you want this.”

  “I do,” she panted. “I want you. Like this.” She squeezed her sheath around him.

  Damn.

  He’d give her a minute, no more, to adjust to his size, and then he’d give her everything.

  “You’re so big, and so, mmm, hard.” She gasped out the words.

  “You made me like this. Feel what you’ve done to me.” He eased back and pushed forward again, their bodies crushing together. So connected to her, their bodies, their souls.

  No end of him and no beginning of her.

  He pounded into her, an escalating rhythm of possession. By the time he was done with her, she’d never even conceive of leaving him. He needed her to stay. She was the only thing that had ever quenched the inferno of the pyre of shame he’d lashed himself to.

  Releasing one of her hips, he twisted her long hair in a rope around his fist and tugged her backward so she had to obey and rise to kneel. He pressed his chest to her back and nipped at her ear, then down the slender arc of her throat. His fingers spread across her belly and downward, to tease her once more. He circled her clit, keeping himself seated inside her. Her muscles clamped down on him, and a few strokes later, she spasmed around his shaft, a sharp cry of pleasure on her lips.

  He didn’t waste an instant, slamming into her as his release overcame him. The heavy pressure in his balls built for him to expel his semen, but he forced the jīng energy inward instead of ejaculating. As he orgasmed, the flash of power blinded him. He collapsed on top of Wen, sinking them both onto the cushion. Remaining rigid inside her, he plucked her into his arms and carried her to the bed, where he rolled onto his side so as not to crush her beneath his weight. She moaned and ground her plush ass into his hips, sinking him deeper inside her.

  In all his years of practicing the conversion of jīng energy, never had he experienced this high. As if his muscles had been drugged, his mind shot full of adrenaline. Awareness swept over him. Of Wen’s racing heartbeat, her panting breaths, her sweet, floral scent. How silken her skin, how soft her body. He traced his fingertips along her arm, from shoulder to hand, and smiled as she shuddered. Her response told him everything.

  Everything he experienced with her, she did with him. Their attraction ran so much deeper than lust. He was an immortal and the time he’d known Wen was like the blink of an eye.

  But oh, the exquisite image he’d observed in that tiny glimpse was enough to tempt him for a thousand immortal lifetimes.

  Perfection. A soul who matched his own. Tenderness and forgiveness. Hope and redemption. Never had he found these things with anyone, and to sense them in Wen was like discovering the greatest of treasures no god or immortal could steal from him.

  Wen is mine.

  The echoing realization that had fallen on him earlier shouted in full force. Somehow, this woman’s soul was bound to his. He wasn’t certain how or why, but in the deepest parts of his soul he knew it to be truth.

  A laugh chimed from her lips and she twisted around, flexing those long legs in ways that made his cock stiffen even more, to straddle him. Sinking down deep on top of him, she bent forward and moved her lips against his.

  “More, Wen? Are you not yet satisfied?” He raised one brow.

  “I want everything.” She straightened and gathered her hair up in her hands, curving her spine as she tilted her hips back and forth. Her lovely breasts on display, his hands palmed their weight, full and heavy, the peaks pebbled and waiting for his kiss. He rose on his elbows and tugged one tip through his teeth, grinning in satisfaction as Wen’s sheath clamped around him.

  “Like that, do you?”

  “Mmm hmm.” She rolled her hips forward, offering her other breast to his mouth. Her hair cascaded around them, silken locks tickling his skin.

  He flicked his tongue out once. She moaned, so he did it again.

  “More, Li.” The whimpering tone of her voice drove his baser urges to the edge. His woman begged him to pleasure her. In the most instinctual of ways. Primal and savage.

  No longer a mere mortal, she could handle anything he demanded. Gentle or rough, slow or hard. He’d pleasure her in all ways, and she’d realize she would never find any mortal as devoted a lover as he.

  Would that convince her to stay?

  What would it take, for Wen to shift her dreams…to him?

  ***

  Wen peered down at the man who’d made love to her with fierce passion, tender care, and devoted worship.

  No mortal man had ever made her feel like this. Accepted. Treasured. Needed.

  More than good enough. More than worthy. Like she was the woman he’d waited an eternity for.

  Hell, being centuries old, he technically had.

  Would she be enough for him? True, she was no longer exactly mortal—her soul was tied to Cat’s immortal spirit. Her whole life she’d fallen short. Gotten tripped up by temptation. Lured in by curiosity.

  Did she and Li have a chance at an immortal future…together?

  Without the magic in his gourd—the restoration of what he’d given up—he’d never be whole enough to love anyone. Not even her. If she hoped for any chance, she’d have to steal far more than Li’s heart.

  She’d have to steal back his purpose.

  She rocked her hips against him while his tongue lapped at her breasts in loving swirls, his lips and teeth nipping at her sensitive flesh with heated lust.

  This time, the burn built slowly, the rhythm of their lovemaking less frenzied, deeper and more meaningful. As though they spoke in actions what words weren’t sufficient enough for yet.

  Not yet, but maybe one day.

  Tonight, she would treasure the man he was.

  Tomorrow, she would reclaim the man he longed to be.

  Wen sighed, falling forward, and brushed her cheek against his as the crest slammed through her. A wave she could do nothing to fight against but hold on and struggle to keep her head above the breaking point.

  He grunted in her ear and his cock thickened inside her, jerking as his release overtook him. She nestled her head in the crook of his neck, her palm flat against his chest above his heart. After a minute, its rapid firing dulled to a steady thudding.

  A smile tugged at her mouth. He feathered his lips across her hair, his hand spanning her back in a warm caress as he held her to his chest as though unwilling to let her go.

  Same here.

  She hummed happily and slid her eyes closed, drifting off.

  ***

  Cozy warmth enveloped her, but it didn’t come from Li. Wen wrenched open her eyes and scanned the empty bed. The cover was drawn over her, comfy and plush, but the pillow snuggled against her was a poor substitute for the man she longed to hold.

  Where is he? She lifted her head and blinked. The heavy drapes were drawn, so she slipped out of bed and tugged one open. Bright sunshine blinded her. She dropped the drape and shrank back into the dark room. Argh.

  She padded into the bathroom, but it was empty too. Cat urged her to go back to sleep. It was daytime for a nocturnal beast, after all.

  A restless nagging pricked at the back of her neck. Where was Li?

  Wen shrugged on her clothes, treaded to the table, and brushed her fingers across Li’s gourd. The spirit paced circles inside her. “What is it, Cat? Have you seen this before? Show me.”

  A spark jolted through her fingers and the room around her faded. She blinked and suddenly, she was standing somewhere else…in a golden cavern filled with treasures. She crept past a pile stacked high with gold coins and jewels toward a noise in the corner.

  Surrounded by a handful of gorgeous women, a richly-robed man sat hunched over with laughter. Tufts of thick facial hair lined his face like bad sideburns, highlighting his primate-esque features
.

  The Monkey King. Cat must have snuck into the Monkey King’s lair before the spirit had been sentenced to the box and Li’s care.

  Wen frowned at the bizarre scene, until the impish, hairy man stopped chuckling and whipped out a blade, waving it in front of the women’s faces.

  They flocked up and down like a nest full of birds, cooing, “Me, please pick me, Master.” He pointed to each of them before settling on one and slashing it across the woman’s arm. She moaned instead of screamed. The man laughed a deep and echoing bellow, dangling a familiar porcelain gourd in front of her as he danced around her, taunting, “You want some, eh lovely? Give me a kiss, then.”

  Blood dripping from her arm, she crawled toward him with a drugged look of desperation. “Please, Master.”

  He gripped her chin in his large palm, but instead of pressing his mouth to hers, he shoved her head into his groin.

  Wen grimaced at the lewd audacity of the man, but the woman did exactly as he commanded, tugging down his pants and sucking on his well-endowed erection. Wen tried to shuffle backward, but her legs wouldn’t let her. She stood frozen in place while the woman finished getting the man off. Finally, when she was done, he tipped her head back and poured a drop of the smoky liquid onto her tongue. The slash on her arm healed instantly and she cried out, “Yes, yes, oh yes,” like he’d given her the orgasm of a lifetime.

  Whoa. Must be some powerful stuff.

  Wen sucked in a breath as blackness overtook her. She squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them again, she was back in Li’s chamber. Her legs wobbly, she blinked at the gourd. Oh crap. She had to find Li and tell him what Cat had shown her.

  Li’s gourd wasn’t empty. It was a fake. The Monkey King had stolen the real one and replaced Li’s with a replica.

  She raced out into the corridor and peered over the balcony railing. There. In the garden below, Li strolled, Tiangou at his side.

  “Li!” At her shout, he whirled around.

  Cloaking Cat, she vaulted off the balustrade and landed at his side. Tiangou gave a warning growl, but Cat hissed and the canine backed off, whimpering behind Li.