Chapter 17

Prince Yi Feng carried Liang Lia Jiao to his horse and deftly jumped on it, keeping her in his arms. She stared up at him with empty eyes. He smiled, gently rubbing his hand against her cheek. She turned from him and tried to move away from him. He held her tighter, forcing her to rest against his chest. He held her with one hand and led the horse with the other. The smell of her blood filled the air as they rode back to camp.

Liang Lia Jiao woke up in a panic. Her heart was beating rapidly, and her eyes were filled with tears. She kept seeing them over and over again. The people she had killed. She didn't know how to deal with the pain of it. Her entire body was shaking.

"Bad dream?" A gentle voice said.

She jumped back at the sound of it. Prince Yi Feng was walking towards her carrying a cup of tea in his hands. He offered it to her and gently rubbed the top of her head. He sat down in front of her and watched her drink the tea with a strange glint in his eyes.

Liang Lia Jiao felt extremely uncomfortable with his expression. She quickly gulped down the tea. It was hot and burnt the back of her throat, but she forced it down, it felt better than the panic from the dream.

"Where is this?" She asked after a moment.

"You're in my tent," he said casually.

"What?" She asked in shock. She might not know a lot about the relationships between a man and a woman, but she could at least remember that it wasn't proper to be alone with one. Xiang gege was different though, he had always been different. He was a light to her darkness. She pulled herself off the bed and stood up. "I need to go out. I can't stay here."

"Didn't you say that you were here to serve me?" Prince Yi Feng asked cooly. His eyes were dangerous, and they made her take a step back, falling back onto the bed.

"Well, then what do you need?" She croaked out.

He smirked and pointed to his shoulders. "I had to hold you all the way back because you passed out. My shoulders are sore. Rub them."

She nodded her head, forgetting to be afraid. She also didn't seem to realize that she was only wearing her inner garments. For anyone else, they would be in a panic, but she had lived free for too long and felt that as long as she was covered, it was appropriate.

Prince Yi Feng took everything in stride. It always disgusted how quickly women let go of their morals at the thought of rising to the top. He smirked as she walked behind him and placed her hand on his shoulders. Her breast pressed against him, stirring the normal urges of a man, but making him feel hostile towards her all the while. She hadn't even bothered to act like she was bothered about not having her outer robe on.

Liang Lia Jiao was not someone who was familiar with the art of massage. She was slightly impressed by his broad shoulders and wondered how strong he was. He hadn't fought at all during the battle earlier, but she could tell that there was some muscle here. She wanted to see how much he could handle. She stared with mild ministrations and slowly began to increase in strength.

Prince Yi Feng felt as though she was trying to rip his shoulders from his body. He was a little entertained. What kind of play was this?

Liang Lia Jiao decided to use a little of her inner strength and pressed even squeezed even harder against his shoulders. She was actually pretty impressed by his strength. She knew that she wasn't the strongest person out there, but she wasn't weak, either. Especially when she used inner strength.

She paused and looked down at his shoulders than at her hands.

"Am I actually really weak?" She asked herself.

Prince Yi Feng turned and looked at her with astonishment. 'What the hell kind of play is this? Does she want me to compliment her strength? What kind of woman is she?' He felt his body recoil from her and stood up, walking toward the bed.

She stared at him with wide eyes. "I really am weak? Or maybe that's not it. Maybe you are just a lot stronger then I thought."

He turned back and glared at her. If this was just to prove how strong he was, she was going about it the wrong way. He laid down and waved his hands towards her, "come over here and lay down."

She knit her brows at him. "Well, the thing is you see…" she bit the bottom of her lip in uneasiness, "I'm actually very uncomfortable, my back and legs are hurting, and I'm exhausted…." She trailed off, hoping that he would get the hint and be merciful to her.

He smirked at her. The normal coyness of a woman. She was standing in front of him, wearing nothing but her underclothes acting like she wasn't trying to entice him.

One of his female servants walked into the room and saw the half-dressed woman standing a few feet from the Prince, who was lying down. Who wouldn't know what was going on here?

"I brought your dinner," she said quietly. "Should I bring another set?" She said, glancing towards Liang Lia Jiao.

"Set it there and leave," he said briskly. The servant was used to his attitude and quietly left the room, walking backward with her head bowed.

Liang Lia Jiao stared at the food on the tray, her eyes growing and her mouth-watering.

"Eat if you want," he said non committed. "Feed me while you're at it." He smirked, waiting for her reaction.

Unfortunately for him, she was oblivious to his suggestiveness and eagerly nodded her head. She divided the food into two even portions and dragged the table closer to him so that he could reach his share. She sat on her side and began to eat with a light in her eyes. It had been a while since she was able to take the time to enjoy food. While she ate she thought about her wolf pack and her hawks. She also wondered how Prince Yi Feng's horse was doing. It had a long journey today. Was it tired?

Prince Yi Feng really hadn't expected her to act so uninterested in him, he didn't use to a woman acting like this. It made him uncomfortable. He reached his hand out to move a strand of hair from her face.

She brushed his hand away with a mouthful of food, "Eat before it gets cold." She said, pointing to his food.

'Is she even a woman? I've seen pigs eat cleaner than this.'

"I don't want it," he said, pushing the trays closer to her.