A Splendid Year in Chang’an

When her fingertips brushed his Adam’s apple,

the warmth in his palm burned like fire.

No matter how cold the dark ice,

it couldn’t compare to the tickle of her breath against his neck.

The instant a rain of arrows tore through the eaves,

he pinned her against the ice wall.

His lips hovered half an inch from hers. “Afraid?”

Her fingertips had already caught the loosened jade belt at his waist.

As the ice blade tore through their clothes,

she tilted her head back and kissed him.

Fine red marks bloomed along his neck.

Melting ice slid down the curve of her waist,

mixed with the sweetness of her hair.

When the chains wound around her ankles,

he licked the blood from the corner of her lips. “Remember this pain.”

Her hand gripped his back even tighter,

her fingertips gently tracing his waist. “Why not remember this moment?”

When the last lamp went out,

his ring pressed into her palm.

Her hair was tangled in his bloodstained robes.

Even the smell of blood

was threaded with the sweetness of her kisses.