Chapter 66 - Claim On You: 18+

When the Empress disappeared, Yuan Bojing strode toward her. 

He looked worried, and the sight made Long Xia breathless. She didn't understand him. 

How can he make her his enemy but look as if he cared, like he was willing to do anything for her? 

"How did it go?" he asked. 

"Well," Long Xia began. "She's exactly as what I expected." 

He smiled, cupping her face, sweeping his thumb across her cheek, absent-mindedly gazing at her with low-lidded eyes.

Realizing what he was doing, Yuan Bojing dropped his hand suddenly, his expression changing. 

"Do you have an idea as to why the Empress was attacked?" Long Xia asked, changing the subject. 

Yuan Bojing shook his head. "Most likely a bad trade that went wrong with some Russian mafia." 

Her eyes widened. She did not expect members of foreign mafias to be here, but she shouldn't be surprised. They were all over the world, doing trades, in different countries. 

She was glad that the Empress survived, but part of her knew she would have lived even without Yuan Bojing's help. 

"How is your hand?" Long Xia questioned, glancing at his bloodied hands. 

He swiped his hand over his knuckles. "Not bad," he answered. "Could have been worse." 

Long Xia smiled. "Thank you…" she began. "For what you did." 

He looked at her, his gaze sweeping her up and down. "It was nothing." 

Long Xia swallowed. "It meant a lot to me. I couldn't get her to speak to me for months, but you managed to do it in a single night." 

Yuan Bojing looked away and said nothing. 

She continued. "It seems like you care about the Empress…"

"She's our ruler," he answered coldly. 

"But you were so quick to protect her. Like you couldn't stand to watch." 

He looked at her, his eyes hard and dark. "What are you suggesting?" he asked. 

She sucked in a breath. "If she's your lover, then I want to tell you I understand. She seems like the only woman that can match you, soulless with soulless—"

Long Xia could not finish her sentence because Yuan Bojing had stolen her breath. His mouth was on her, kissing her, inhaling her, as if he needed it as if he wanted it and nothing else. 

Long Xia didn't understand what was going through his mind. He broke the kiss, biting down her lower lip. "She's not my lover." 

Her eyes widened. "But…"

His mouth went to her neck, and her head went back. "I have no interest in her in that way," he breathed against her skin. "And not with anyone else but you." 

Heat had made her skin go taut. "I don't get you," she said. 

Yuan Bojing was kissing her jaw, the side of her face. "I don't get me either," he said and then he lifted her. 

Long Xia would be lying if she said she didn't want this. 

They avoided each other for days, but even she could not forget the intimacy they shared. Ten years ago, she had her first taste, and it left her open and raw, but she was able to forget—or pretend to. After the weekend they shared, it wasn't as simple. 

This is just sex. She had to remind herself. She knew she shouldn't be doing this, she wasn't allowed to, but with the limited time they had left, she needed to make it count. 

Long Xia knew he felt it too. Yuan Bojing must not have expected to see her tonight, and the memory of those nights had not faded within him, but rather, it amplified it—his unwanted desire for her. 

Yuan Bojing took steps with her legs wrapped around his waist. 

He sat her down on the hood of the car. "I need you," he said. 

She needed him too. Everything was becoming uneasy, uncertain, and she wanted him desperately. "Then have me," she answered. 

He tugged down her pants, her underwear but didn't fully take it off. He kissed her as he unfastened his belt. He looked into her eyes. He looked at her as if she was someone he didn't want to hurt, like a jewel he did not want to shatter. 

His lips moved against hers, and then he held her legs, pushing into her, slow and easy. "Fuck," he said. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. About this." 

Long Xia gasped, and Yuan Bojing caught it in his mouth. 

She grabbed onto his shoulders as he slowly slid and out of her, staring at her, taking in the sight. He was moving slower and gentle than he's ever been before. It was so…intimate—much more than they've shared before, despite doing it at an empty outdoor parking lot.

The setting was far from romantic, but his movements, his gestures…it was different. 

He slowly made love to her with her legs hanging over his shoulders. He rolled his pelvis against her, hitting the spot where she needed him. He gazed into her eyes as she ran her nails down his back, moaning. His tongue swept into her mouth again, sucking her tongue. He moved slow, then fast and hard until she completely shattered beneath him with her legs shaking and her toes curling.

Long Xia clenched around him so tight she knew he was on the edge of release. But this was the second time without a condom. "You need to pull out, or we're screwed this time," she said. 

Reluctantly, as if he didn't want to leave her body, he pumped inside her three, four more strokes until he pulled out, coming over her mound. 

Breathless, Yuan Bojing remained standing but toppled over her, taking in her scent, her heartbeat. "There's no way we can stop this," he said. 

"I'm engaged," she reminded him, and yet she felt dirty—stained for taking another man. 

Yuan Bojing looked at her. "Fuck your fiancé, Xia. You're mine." 

Long Xia smiled darkly. "I don't remember you having a claim over me, Bojing." 

"No," he answered. "I don't have a claim over you, but you sure as hell have claimed me."