The Grandmaster's Legacy (HOT Historical Suspense, Box Set)

by Taylor Lee

  ~~

  Chapter 35

  Elena hovered on the end of the bed, unable to move. She was too shaken to do anything but sit frozenfighting through a myiad of emotions. She was frightened, but for the first time she understood that at the base of Bai’s anger, his fierce need to control her, was fear. She had seen it in his tormented eyes, the way he looked at her when she came into the barn. It was as though inadvertently he had opened a window to his soul. In an intuitive clairvoyant moment she glimpsed inside.

  She saw his fear. Fear for her safety; fear that if she knew who he really was, then she would leave and, perhaps most of all, fear that he didn’t know how to love her well enough to make her stay.

  She looked up to see him in the doorway. Her unshed tears blurred her vision. His face and body were hard, tight with anger.

  Bai responded to her tremulous gaze with a glare. She sat on the end of the bed, her face pale, her eyes wide and dark. She looked small, fragile, shaken. He didn’t care.

  “Come here.”

  He took hold of her hand and dragged her to the bathroom and sat her down hard on the edge of the tub.He started opening and slamming cabinet doors and drawers. When he found what he wanted he unbuttoned his shirt, took it off and threw it on the floor.

  “What are you going to do?”

  He glared at her. his expression hard, his voice cold.

  “I’m going to fuck your ass.”

  She was startled. Her face paled more.

  “Are you trying to frighten me?”

  “Are you frightened?”

  She tried to keep her voice as steady as she could but it still shook.

  “A little.”

  “Good.”

  “Will it hurt?”

  “Yes, it will.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because I want too.”

  “No, why now?”

  He glared at her, crushing the anguish swirling beneath his anger.

  “I need you to know why you can’t love me.”

  She stared at him, her face pale and serious.

  He threw several towels on the floor. Then tossed down tubes of things he hadn’t shown her before. He pointed to the floor. His eyes were steely, sinister.

  “Drop your pants and get down on your hands and knees.”

  She stood up and stared at him for a long moment. Something inside her snapped. Her fear was gone. She felt hard —as hard as he looked.

  She reached down and took off one boot, then the other, and then her stockings. She stood up and slowly unbuttoned her shirt. She let it fall to the floor, baring a lacy chemise cut low over the swell of her breasts. Holding his gaze, she removed her chemise and lifted her breasts free. She bit her lips then tugged on the tips and closed her eyes when her nipples hardened and peaked. She saw his eyes darken, narrow, as he watched her. His cock jerked against his trousers.

  She stood still, then unbuttoned her pants and stepped out of them. Shimmying out of her drawers, she stood naked, beautifully naked and proud before him. The faint flush on his cheeks deepened. His jaw clenched and he took a menacing step toward her.

  She lifted her chin and sunk to her knees. She got down on all fours and presented her ass to him. She tossed her head back so that her hair fell to the side. Looking over her shoulder, she met his eyes.

  She was breathing hard and her face was pale but she spoke in a quiet, dignified voice.

  “Go ahead. Fuck me.”

  He stared at her. His face paled then flushed hot, angry. He kicked off his boots, stripped off his pants, and tossed them to the floor. His cock jutted out – hard, long and thick. The veins were visibly throbbing. The slit was wet and slick with cum. There was something so primitive, so savage about his body, his face, that Elena was frightened -- and wildly aroused.

  Bai knelt behind her and opened the tube of oily cream. He grunted as he rubbed a handful roughly up and down his pulsing shaft, thoroughly coating it. As his prick hardened and lengthened, he closed his eyes to the disparity between his throbbing cock and the tiny pucker of her virgin ass. He forced himself to feel only his anger, trying to connect with the beast inside.

  Not speaking, he roughly shoved her knees apart and pushed the side of her face to the floor. Pulling her hips up toward him, he spread her cheeks. He squirted the cream in his hands and started to massage it in the entrance to her ass. He was not rough, he found he couldn’t be. Almost gently, he put one finger then another and finally a third inside her hole. He continued to add more of the oily cream rimming, stretching the opening. He tried to ignore the sounds coming from her. First the moans, the pants, then the passionate groans as her body responded to his erotic touch.

  Adding more oil to the end of his burgeoning cockhead, he closed his eyes and pushed it up against the tight pucker of her ass.

  Involuntarily, she clenched and clamped down.

  His voice was raspy, a strangled whisper. “Don’t fight me, bebe. It’ll hurt more. Don’t fight me.”

  When she let go for a second, he pushed his way past the impossibly tight ring of protective muscle surrounding her hole.

  She sobbed in pain. He tried to ignore the sound, but found he could not. With a loud groan he pulled out.

  She whispered, “Touch me, touch me here.”

  Reaching back, she clamped his hand against her clit.

  He groaned and began to rub her the way that he knew made her crazy with desire. Drenching his fingers in the oily cream, he stroked and massaged the throbbing nub of her clit until it was hard and swollen. With his other hand, he cupped her breasts, twisting first one nipple, then the other, until they were hard and distended. She was shaking with desire.

  Her moans turned to frantic pants. She groaned. “Now, yes, now, Bai, now!”

  With a harsh groan he warned her, “I’m going to fuck you…fuck you hard. Do you understand, Elena? I am going to go high up inside you. I’m not going to stop. Do you understand?”

  She groaned, her voice was hoarse, needy. “Yes! Do it!”

  He growled, “Push up against me when I come in. It won’t hurt as much. Now. Push. Now!”

  When she pushed against him, his lust flared. He knew the rigid band of muscle was ripe with screaming nerve endings. He knew she would feel pain, but prayed to God, at least a whisper of pleasure. He drove up the tight channel of her ass inch after ruthless inch. Carefully, cautiously. He heard her pants, her gasps as she struggled to breathe. He plowed so deep inside his balls banged against her slit. When he was all the way in and could go no further, he stopped, frozen in place. He forced himself to be still. His body shook with need -- waiting, wanting -- allowing her tight channel to accommodate to his unspeakably large intrusion.

  She was panting, gasping for breath. A long moment passed and then she moved. With a deep shuddering groan she clenched down. Slowly, then more insistently, she moved against him, her muscles clamping around his cock. He grabbed a deep ragged breath. When he began to respond, to move against her, she cried, “Yes, yes, more like that! More! Fuck me, Bai, fuck me like you said you would!”

  He heard her command and made the mistake of hearing her, truly hearing her. He began to move in and out. Inches at first and then more and more. Harder and harder, back and forth, he moved all the way out then plunged back in. He thrust deep inside of the tightest, most erotic place he had been in his life, while she shrieked over and over again, “Yes! More! Oh, God, like that! Yes!”

  Then it happened. What he intended, but didn’t think he would ever do. He let the beast loose and fucked her the way he wanted to. He became the animal he knew in his soul that he was. His groans were deep animal grunts. He plunged in and out ferociously. The sensations were intense, profoundly erotic. He was dizzy, gasping for air. She was so tight, so goddamned tight. He had never felt anything like it. He thrust in deeper then pulled back, all the way out then rammed back in hard, deep. Over and over he tunneled in and out of her impossibly tight channel. When he co
uld go no further, couldn’t hold back any longer, he exploded, shooting spurt after spurt of hot cum high up in her ass. Only then did he realize that she had not pulled back but was moving with him.

  Impossible but true, her only words were her passionate commands. “Yes, Bai! Oh, God, yes! Yes!”

  Long after he shattered, long after his roars, matched by her passionate screams, filled the room, he slid out of her. Crawling toward the shower, he dragged her limp, trembling body with him. He stood up and turned on the water. Picking her up in his arms, he held her next to him. He leaned his head back against the wall and let the water wash over them both.

  He was conscious of what she was doing, but not believing it. She slid out of his arms and stood before him, clinging to him. Then she kissed his neck, his chest, his nipples. She ran her tongue over his stomach, then buried her tongue in his navel. She sunk to her knees and stroked his calves, his thighs. Nestling her face against his cock, she reached up and cupped his balls. She worked her way back up the length of his body then stood up and kissed his lips. Pulling his face down to hers, she kissed the tears on his cheeks.

  He knew then that his worst fears and his most fervent prayers were answered.

  She wanted him, all of him. The beast didn’t scare her. She answered it with the beast inside of her, the one he awakened; only for her it wasn’t bad, it was thrilling, she loved it and she loved him.

  She washed his body with soap and he washed hers. They stepped out of the shower and he dried her hair and then her arms, legs, her back, and stomach. She did the same for him, drying his hair, his face, his arms, legs, and back. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed and laid her down. He lay along side of her, pulling the quilt over them both. They lay together without speaking, holding each other for many long minutes.

  Much later, she asked, “Are you going to send me back to Cheyenne?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Are you?”

  “No.”

  “Good, because I won’t go.”

  He leaned down and shook his head, a reluctant grin tugging at his lips. He kissed her slowly, thoroughly, then held her in his arms, burying his face in her beautiful fiery hair.

  He whispered, “Cherie. I have to go. I must leave now.”

  “Will you tell me where you are going?”

  “When I return.”

  “Is it dangerous?”

  “Yes.”

  She watched him dress. With each weapon -- three different knives, two pistols, a garrote -- and finally the butterfly blade, she understood. As he dressed, his appearance evolved. His face hardened, his eyes gleamed. When he turned to hide the blade in a secret place inside his belt, she saw the Frenchman.

  After he finished cloaking himself in his warrior guise, he went to her and pulled her up tight against him. He held her face in his hands and looked deep in her eyes.

  “I love you, Elena. More than anything in the world, cherie. I love you.”

  His words struck fear in her heart, but she nodded and reached up to stroke his cheek.

  “I love you, Bai. I will be here, right here, waiting for you. Come back to me, Bai. Promise me?”

  He nodded. “I promise, cherie.”

  When he turned to leave, she called after him, “Remember Bai, I am your woman.”

  He smiled. “Yes, cherie, you are my woman.”

  ~~~

  She ran to the balcony to watch him leave. His men were waiting in the courtyard. To her surprise, she saw her father and her grandfather go into the barn with Bai. In minutes they came out, mounted on their horses. Fear gripped her in a way it never had. Shoving aside her fear, she forced a smile to her lips. When he turned to tip his hat to her, she smiled and waved. He smiled and nodded in return. Flanked by Nianzu, Wyatt and Wan, he headed out, his men following behind.

  ~~

  Chapter 36

  Wyatt, Wan and the back up team rode for close to an hour. They found their places in the wooded area where they could get close to Bai’s meeting place, but not be seen. According to their informants, Feng was playing it like they were. Feng had back up men approximately as far away from him as Wan and Wyatt were from Bai. Like Bai, Feng had four personal guards who would meet with Bai and his guards.

  Bai, Nianzu, Wampo, Quitin, and Nui rode forward. Bai looked back just once. He nodded to Wyatt, then bowed to his father.

  One hundred yards ahead, he saw Feng and his four guards shadowed by the copse of trees behind them. Bai led his men down the hill to within twenty five feet of the Rongue Ri contingent. Feng was in front, flanked by two of his guards. The other two, the Sing Leon informants, were mounted behind.

  Bai nodded to his men. “Stay here.”

  He dismounted and went to meet Feng. Feng strode forward, a crafty smile creasing his face. His voice was loud, hearty. “Welcome, Frenchman. I have waited a lifetime for this moment.”

  In that split second, Bai’s protective instinct clicked in. He knew it was a trap. He gave the signal, but too late, a shot rang out. He fell to the ground, a blinding pain shattering his shoulder.

  At the sound of the shot, the horses reared and the two men behind Feng, Bai’s informants, toppled from their horses. Their hands were tied behind their back, ropes surrounded their broken necks, their long dead eyes were open, glazed.

  Forty heavily armed men rose from the brush, mere feet away from Bai. They trained their guns on the man crumpled in a heap on the ground.

  Feng shouted out in a loud clear voice.

  “He isn’t dead. If anyone moves, I will shoot him in the head. Nianzu, go back and tell Wan Chang, waiting five hundred yards away, to meet me at ten o’clock tomorrow night. When he turns the reins of the Sing Leon over to me, I will give him the Frenchman -- who may or may not be alive at that time. I will send you the location tomorrow at eight o’clock.

  Feng’s face lit with an ugly grin, his crazed eyes flashed dangerously. He pointed disparagingly to the dead informants behind him. “As for Chou Ling and Mansu Lee, they were brave men. Well, almost, until the end. The Frenchman chose his informants well. Unfortunately, my accomplished whores were their weakness. Those women can get information from a fence post. An irony, isn’t it? It’s always the cunts who do in even good men. Your informants died reasonably well. As well as could be expected, as they watched while I beheaded their wives and, between the two of them, their five children.” His thin lips twisted with scorn. “ Messy. But the Frenchman understands what a mess it makes when you cut off a man’s head. That is true, even of a child’s head.”

  He ambled over next to Bai, his two guns pointed at Bai’s head. He smirked at Nianzu, his voice heavy with scorn. “You have ten seconds to be gone, or he is dead.”

  ~~~

  Elena refused to move from the balcony. She sat on the porch floor, her head resting against the railing. She was determined to be the first to see Bai return. Hearing the sounds of horses in the distance, she ran down the stairs to the courtyard. Her heart was pounding. Snatches of silent prayers buzzed in her head. To her horror, she saw her father, Wan, Nianzu -- and Noire – without a rider. She screamed, clutching her face in her hands. Struggling against the wave of dizziness flooding her, she sunk to the ground. She felt her father’s arms, heard his voice. As he carried her into the house, she roused for a moment and whispered, “Is he dead?”

  Wyatt’s response hit her like a shot between the eyes. “Not yet”

  Wyatt carried Elena to her chambers. He ordered Francine to go to the infirmaryand get Dr. Wong. Laying Elena’s inert body on the bed, he tried to reach her through her faint.

  “Darlin’, I’m going to check on Wan. I’ll be back. Try to rest, Elena. You’re going to need your strength.”

  He turned to Francine and nodded to her to come to the doorway.

  Francine stumbled back when she saw Elena. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. “Oh, my God, Mr. Wyatt. Is… is… she dead?”

  Wyatt shook his head. “No, Fr
ancine. She fainted. I need you to stay with her until the doctor comes. I will be in Mr. Chang’s office. Come and get me immediately if there is a problem. Once the healer is finished, send him to Mr. Chang’s office. Make sure he gives her something strong, something that will help her sleep. Do you understand?”

  Francine trembled and clung to Angel, who had stumbled in the room. The two young maids clung to each other, then went to stand by Elena. Wyatt heard their sobs as he stormed through the garden to Wan’s office.

  ~~~

  Wan was behind his desk. Nianzu was in the chair in front of him, with his head cradled in his hands. Wyatt sunk in the other chair and gratefully accepted both the cigar and glass of bourbon Nianzu pushed across the desk.

  Wyatt and Wan exchanged a grief stricken gaze. They had been through many grievous challenges together, but without question, leaving Bai behind as they were forced to do, was one of the most difficult things either of them had done. Wyatt knew that Wan was going to need time to gather his strength and his customary strategic acumen. He was grateful that Wan had told him Bai was his son. Knowing that gave Wyatt the insight he needed to help Wan. He would take charge until Wan found his strength.

  “Nianzu, I need you and Bai needs you.” Wyatt nodded to Wan, who was staring blindly at the desk, adding, “And Wan needs you. I am depending on your courage and expertise.”

  Nianzu nodded his understanding. Wyatt’s pointed glance confirmed something was wrong with Wan and that Wyatt was telling him that he had to find his courage.