The Last Concubine

green fabric. Lan shuddered when Hüi slowly inched the sword under the thin covering, slicing it apart to reveal large brown nipples on the flat plane of Lan’s chest. Hüi set down the sword to take each nipple between thumb and fingers, rubbing them to hard little peaks.
    Hüi ran his hands along Lan’s skin, down his smooth, hairless chest and belly, under the waistband of the silk undertrousers where a bulge distended the front. Lan cried out in surprise when Hüi grasped the waist and ripped the trousers in two. When he had laid Lan’xiu completely bare he took in a deep breath and examined the beauty on display for him. Long limbs splayed gracefully, exposing the hard sex nestled in the curly hair between Lan’s legs, and angular shoulders tapered to a slim waist and even slimmer hips. “You are so beautiful.”
    “And yours, my Lord,” Lan whispered. He held out his arms invitingly, a yearning expression in his eyes.
    Hüi kicked his sword aside to divest himself of his own clothing in haste. He fell upon Lan, taking his mouth in a deep kiss, driving his tongue inside the parted lips, exploring, tasting, conquering. He could feel Lan spread his legs to let Hüi’s hips rest within their embrace.
    He rocked his groin urgently against Lan’s, feeling their erections rubbing hard against each other. He could not bear to end the kiss, drinking in the infinite sweetness of Lan’s mouth. The kiss went on and on while Hüi could feel Lan’s arms around him, holding him with a strength and eagerness he had never felt from any of his wives.
    The slim naked body arched up beneath his, straining to meet his every thrust. If he could have stopped himself, Hüi would have preferred to be inside Lan, but it was not possible. It was as if every unfulfilled desire of his soul poured out in one earth-shattering explosion as he reached orgasm too soon. He tore his mouth away and looked down to see Lan’s face transformed with ecstasy as they shared the same moment of exquisite pleasure, liquid heat spilling between them.
    His chest heaving in a quest for air, Hüi eventually was able to lower himself to blanket Lan’s body completely. He became aware of Lan’s hands roaming up and down his back and the murmur of Lan’s voice in his ear.
    “What are you saying?”
    “Only that I am yours and I belong to you, my Lord,” Lan answered. His eyes were shining with happiness when Hüi looked at him. “I can die content now.”
    Hüi chuckled. “I didn’t put enough effort into it to kill you yet. That was just the opening engagement upon the field of battle.”
    “It was very well fought, my Lord,” Lan said demurely. “I surrender.”
    “You haven’t yet, but you will, I can assure you of that,” Hüi promised, his voice silky with seductive threat. He rolled off the boy and traced the line of dried blood on his throat with one finger. “I am sorry about that. You may have a scar.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Lan said.
    Hüi was amused. The boy was more ethereally beautiful than any woman he had ever seen, and—for some reason incomprehensible to him—enjoyed dressing and living as a woman, but that one offhand comment revealed him as the male he truly was. Any woman would have dreaded a scar to mar her beauty. Lan’xiu truly didn’t care, and it made Hüi even more curious. “Tell me what you thought your life would be.”
    “My mother was under no illusions about my half brother,” Lan said with reticent sadness. “She had planned to get me to a monastery before she died, where I might live out my days under another name. I had no other hope than that, but at least it would be freedom of a sort.”
    “But you had nothing else that you dreamed of,” Hüi persisted, drawing his fingertips over Lan’s naked body. He circled one nipple and watched the rise and fall of Lan’s chest quicken in response.
    “I wanted to belong to someone, to be loved,” Lan said. “Someone like you.”
    “You are attracted to men?” Hüi had certainly witnessed men loving men in times of war, but the wise commander turned a blind eye to such behavior. After all, a man had needs, even when women were scarce.
    “Yes,” Lan said tranquilly. “But I never thought this dream would come to pass.”
    Hüi’s hand traveled lower, caressing the defined line along the top of Lan’s thigh, skirting the genitals to stroke his leg. “It hasn’t come to pass yet.”
    “I suppose it was presumptuous of me,