by Lyra Shanti
"This holy opal was one of the offerings left to the temple from a long time ago. My master passed it onto me, and I made it into a ring… for you. It is our promise to each other."
Gan gulped even harder. "A promise?"
"Yes, this ring will be our vow to love each other for eternity, and to always find one another, no matter what happens or who tries to keep us apart. I love you, my yang. I will love you always. This, I promise from my soul."
Sa then leaned in close and gave Gan a passionate, determined kiss. Gan couldn't help but return the passion tenfold.
Overwhelmed and swept up in the depth of Sa's eyes, Gan made love to him more intensely than ever before. Afterward, they both shed tears before falling asleep in each other's arms.
Bliss...
Chapter 20: Roses
"M y bliss," Jon whispered into Sam's left ear. It made her smile and curl her toes.
Still sleepy, she turned to face him. He squeezed her waist, causing her to instinctively wrap her right leg astound his hip.
“Mm… you're so beautiful in the morning,” he said before gently kissing her mouth.
Sam really hoped she didn't have bad breath. “I'm not nearly as beautiful as you are.”
Jon rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” He winked his left eye, then growled, mock biting her neck.
“What are you doing?” she said with a laugh.
“Giving you your punishment.” Jon rolled on top of Sam and easily found his way inside her once again. “This is what you will get every time you're naughty.”
She giggled, grabbing onto his well-defined chest and locking him in with her legs. “Then I'll be as naughty as possible all the damn time!”
As Jon rocked back and forth, filling her up with aching pleasure, Sam’s insecurities wouldn't be still. In the back of her mind, she assumed he'd get bored of her sometime soon. She knew something this good couldn't last; she wasn't that lucky.
And yet…
“Sam, I'm going to die!”
She smirked, digging her nails into his back. “Don't die, my gorgeous warrior,” she whispered, looking into his dark blue eyes. “Live for me! Come for me! Now!”
Jon bit his lip, then cried out with his head tilted back. The sight of him having such an intense orgasm made Sam’s body vibrate and quiver. He was the sexiest thing she'd ever seen, and her own explosion followed in a matter of seconds.
Jon breathed hard and looked down at her with teary eyes. “Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you…”
“Yes!” she said with a teasing grin.
He laughed. “But you don't even know what I was going to ask.”
“Doesn't matter,” she said, stroking his chest. “The answer is yes.”
Jon smiled, then kissed her lips. His kiss was loving and sweet. He then moaned a little and rolled off her body. Slowly, he got up and headed toward the bathroom.
Lying in the bed, Sam felt a little confused. She wondered what he was going to ask. I should have kept quiet, she silently scolded herself.
Looking at Jon through the open bathroom door, Sam watched him as he urinated. Admiring his length and form, she sighed, temporarily forgetting her doubts.
Sam finally made herself get up. She entered the bathroom as Jon was about to flush the toilet. “Wait. My turn.” She gently pushed him aside and sat on the toilet.
Smiling, Jon kneeled in front of her. “Sam… will you do me the honor of—”
“Holy shit, what? No!”
“What?”
“You can't do this!”
“Do what?”
“You can't ask me to marry you while I'm peeing on the toilet!”
Jon raised his brow, then burst out laughing, which made Sam smirk.
“Don't worry, silly girl. I'm not going to ask you to marry me.”
“What? Wait… you're not?”
“No. I was just going to ask if you'd do me the honor of going home with me… to my place. Maybe meet my parents.”
Sam grimaced. “Your parents? Geez… I don't know, Jon. That's almost as bad.”
“Huh? Why?”
Sam got up and flushed the toilet. “I'm just not ready. I mean, we only just met. It was hard enough being cool in front of your grandmother.”
Jon fixed his arms and squinted his eyes. “I thought you loved my grandmother.”
“I loved her cooking, definitely. She was a little cold, though.”
Jon shook his head. “No, that's just how she is. Look, in China, we don't hug everyone we meet. She just has to get to know you, that's all. And you have to get used to the way my family is.”
Sam crossed her arms as well. “Why do I have to do anything?”
Jon opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.
“Look,” Sam continued, reaching for her toothbrush, “I'm just saying we should take things slower. I'm already going way faster with you than I probably should.”
As Sam began to brush her teeth, she looked at Jon through the bathroom mirror’s reflection and saw his dejected expression. She wondered if he really needed her to meet his family that badly. If so, why?
“Okay…” he finally replied. He then quietly entered the shower.
Sam rinsed her mouth and spit. “Jon? Are you okay?” Sliding across the clear shower door, she added, “Are you mad at me?”
Jon washed his hairless chest, giving her a pensive stare.
Sam stepped inside the shower and grabbed a puffed sponge, lathering it with soap. She began washing his back, hoping to make amends.
“I just… I want them to know you.”
“But why?” she asked, genuinely curious about what he felt.
“I don't know… I just do.”
Sam began to worry. What if he was using her to seem “normal” to his family? Ugh, she thought, that's the last thing I need.
“Jon?” she said, turning him around to face her. “I really like you…”
“Like? I thought you loved me.”
“I do! I love you. It's just…”
“You don't love me enough to meet my parents?”
Sam couldn't believe him. Annoyed at his passive aggressive behavior, she flicked water at his face. “Listen, I'm just worried you're needing me to meet them for the wrong reasons.”
“And what reasons do you mean?” he said, pursing his lips and squeezing his sponge.
She really didn't want to start a fight, but she also couldn't keep her fears at bay. “I don't want you to use me just to seem straight!”
Jon cringed. “What?!”
“Ugh! It's just… I mean, you mentioned you had a boyfriend before me, and you couldn't tell your parents, so…”
Without warning, Jon got out of the shower and began drying off with a towel.
Watching him exit the bathroom, Sam didn't know what to do. Had she really pissed him off? “Jon? Hello? What are you doing?”
She assumed he couldn't hear her. Great. Just great. I meet the most amazing lover of my life, and he's an over-sensitive, passive aggressive, defensive dick.
She finished her shower and heard the front door slam. What the? Did he really just run out on me?
After drying off, she peeked out of the bathroom. He wasn't there. Fucking jerk!
She felt like crying but didn't want to do it. Annoyed, hurt, and confused, Sam sat on the bed, naked and immobile.
A few minutes later, Jon came bursting into the room. He held a bouquet of roses.
“Samantha Hannover Mills,” he said while getting on one knee. “I'm not using you to seem anything. I love you, and I want you to be mine. I don't have a ring yet, but… will you marry me?”
Sam stared at the gorgeous, unpredictable man holding roses, unable to think. She gulped and took a breath.
“Um… what?”
Chapter 21: Confession
H ow can I explain? Gan asked himself. He'll never understand.
“It's so beautiful. Please, tell me where you got it,
my lord.” Ji Wei stared at the pristine opal ring on Gan's right hand, seemingly waiting for an answer to the question he'd already asked twice.
Gan gave a hint of a smile, then said, “I found it… in the woods near the temple of the white dragon. I took it as a gift from the gods.”
“What, really?” Ji Wei exclaimed gleefully. “I have no doubt the heavenly gods would grant you such a gift, but… are you sure it doesn't belong to the priest or someone else?”
Gan gulped, quickly concocting another lie. “No, I asked him, and Master Ling Sa told me it is not his, nor anyone else's in the area. So, I claimed it as my own. Is that a problem?”
Ji Wei shook his head. “Of course not, my lord. No doubt, the gods feel regret for not protecting our village, and they have gifted you such a beautiful gem as an apology. Perhaps it will bring you luck.”
Gan nodded, grateful his lie was sufficient.
Ji Wei gave a mischievous grin. “Do you think it has magical properties?”
“No,” said Gan as he continued to sharpen his sword. He'd found the enemy’s weapon by the remains of his village and was intent on using it to enact his revenge. Once he discovered who had betrayed him, their life would be forfeit to his blade.
"But, my lord, it may indeed have magic," said Ji Wei. "Look how it almost glows in the moonlight." Reaching out to Gan's hand, he seemed as though he wanted to touch the ring for himself.
Gan immediately pulled back and scowled at his friend. "It is not magic," he stated coldly.
Ji Wei stepped away and bowed his head. "Please forgive me for being too forward. I was merely curious, my lord."
Gan sighed, then continued to sharpen his sword. He didn't know why his friend continued to call him lord or master. He was no longer either of those titles. He had no clan, only leftover survivors. Gan didn't feel like the lord of anything or anyone.
"It’s alright. I can't blame a man for curiosity. But I told you not to address me by my previous title. Just call me by my name. Nothing more."
Ji Wei gave a disappointed sigh, then nodded. "As you wish, my… Li Gan."
A few moments passed of awkward silence before Ji Wei asked, "Would you like me to play the qin?"
"You still have your stringed instrument, even after the raid?" Gan asked, surprised.
"I made a new one!"
Gan stopped sharpening his sword and smiled. "You're extremely clever; you know that, my friend?"
A genuine smile spread across Ji Wei's face. He then went to the corner of their new clan house. Picking up his handmade qin, he sat by the stove and began to pluck the strings.
Gan was drawn to the music. It was calming, harmonic, and sweet, and it pulled him to sit by the fire across from his talented friend. He's much more than a scout, thought Gan as he watched Ji Wei's fingers.
He hadn't noticed before, but in the fire light, Gan could see Ji Wei possessed a strange color to his eyes. They looked orange, almost red. Gan also noticed Ji Wei's hair was lighter than most; it was reddish brown, like the trunk of a tree.
He's so different, he thought, listening to the lulling music. Why does he follow me so diligently? After everything, I wouldn't. I'd have left me long ago.
Breaking Gan's thoughts, Ji Wei began to sing. His voice was warm and gentle, and filled Gan's melancholy heart with momentary hope.
He's actually rather beautiful, Gan silently admitted. Why had he never realized it before?
Once the song finished, Ji Wei looked over and assumed his lord had fallen asleep while leaning against a cushion. Taking the chance, he quietly put down his instrument and scooted close to Gan's body.
"I love you and always will, my lord," he whispered into Gan's ear.
After his confession, he leaned back and prepared for sleep, unaware that his lord had heard his words and was now unable to sleep.
All this time, Gan was sure his friend would chastise him for his secret relationship with Sa. But if Ji Wei's love was more than friendship, then Gan had more to worry about.
I'm sorry, Ji Wei, thought Gan. As tempting as you are, I already have my yin. I cannot take another lover, especially not another man. Hiding one is difficult enough.
Chapter 22: The Fox
"F ox… come to me," called the voice in the night. "Huli jing, do as I say. Come!"
Awakened with a start, Ji Wei sat up and twitched his ears. That voice… Oh, no! It's him!
Overwhelmed by the need to escape, Ji Wei ran outside, hoping the dark of the forest would mask his presence.
I am not here. I am not here. I am not here, he repeated in his mind, trying to will the words into reality.
“It is no use,” said the ominous voice. “Your fox magic won't work on the likes of me.”
Panicked, Ji Wei looked around but could not see the man he feared. The sorcerer had contacted him in his mind ever since the night their village burned, and he was beginning to think he was going mad.
“What do you want with me?!” he shouted into the cool night air.
The wind blew harder, sweeping Ji Wei's brown hair to the side. He thought he heard footsteps but wasn't sure.
"I have a task for you," whispered the low voice once again. "I want you to take your master's new ring and deliver it to me."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you are the only one who can get close enough to Li Gan to do this."
"Why do you want his ring?" Ji Wei nervously asked the spirit in the wind.
"Why I want it is not important," snapped the voice. "Acquire the ring, and bring it to the forest river."
"And if I don't?"
After a moment of nothing heard, save the trees in the wind, the voice finally replied, "I will kill your beloved master."
~~
"No!"
Andrew gasped with a start from his bed. Wiping his brow, he struggled to remember the strange dream. All he could gather was something about an evil sorcerer in the shadows, and he was going to kill someone Andrew dearly loved.
“Weird…” he said with a yawn and a stretch. “God, I so need chocolate!”
Tumbling out of bed in nothing but blue boxer briefs, he grabbed a piece of Toblerone from the fridge, then headed for his patio. He needed to feel free and the ocean air on his skin. It was already mid-day, and the sun unsettled his still sleepy eyes. Luckily, it was overcast, as was usually the case in Seattle.
Living directly on the water in West Seattle, Andrew loved his life… most of the time. At home, he could shed his "pretty boy" Hollywood status and just be his true self: a sci-fi and fantasy geek. He loved nothing better than waking up late and sitting by the beach, reading a good fantasy epic.
Today, though, he felt too wound up to read. He just wanted to relax, so he walked to the shore and sat down, watching the waves slowly kiss his toes, then retreat backwards. The waves reminded him of Jon.
Andrew had tried, but he couldn't forget the love of his life who had broken things out of nowhere, and then ran off to China. Tears formed in the corners of his gray-blue eyes, while the wind blew against his wavy, blond hair. If only I had done something to make him stay, he thought.
They had just finished wrapping "Silver Wings" when he and Jon had gotten into a huge fight. Andrew still regretted everything he'd said. Instead of pushing him to be out and proud with his family, I should have understood he wasn't ready. "Ugh," he said aloud to the ocean. "I so messed up.
He grabbed a handful of wet sand and squished it hard. Tears ran down his cheeks as he molded the sand into a ball. It felt hard and cold, like he feared his heart was becoming.
Without Jon, he felt empty inside. They'd been merely friends first, and then lovers. But it felt to Andrew like they'd known each other forever. No one could make him laugh the way Jon could. No one could make love to him as passionately. In Andrew's mind, no one could ever take his place.
Unfortunately, he had no idea how to win Jon back. In the heat of anger and fear, Andrew had called Jon a coward. That wasn't somethin
g he could easily take back. Plus, he had no idea where Jon was.
Well, he had an idea: somewhere in Beijing, possibly with family. Andrew had entertained the idea of calling Jon's agent and asking for details. He was certain Jon would have to keep his agent informed. But he didn't want to seem like a disgruntled bitch who planned on stalking his ex.