Claiming the Embers

Xie Heng suddenly twisted her wrist behind her back and pinned her against the wall! Her back struck the cold stone, sending a shiver through her, and her dagger clattered to the ground.

“Have you examined it enough?” His bloodied chest heaved as he trapped her between his arms. “That arrowhead pattern was forged in secret by the Directorate of Armaments... Since you recognized it, Madam, why not tell me, ” His burning palm suddenly clamped around her waist and pressed her against his bleeding wound. “Did you come to kill me tonight...” A bloodstain bloomed like a red plum on her pale clothes. “...or to die with me?”

Their noses were barely an inch apart. She smelled blood mingled with cedar on him, while he saw his own reflection in her eyes: bare-chested, with blood winding across his body.

“What if I said I came to destroy the evidence?” She drove her knee toward the space three inches below his abdomen!

He trapped her leg tightly with his own. Fabric tore with a harsh rip as their knees brushed

“What a coincidence,” he murmured, a muffled groan escaping his throat even as his lips grazed her sweat-damp temple. “My coffin... only has room for one.”