Burning Tigress

by Jade Lee

  "Joanna Crane's?" Little Pearl's voice was sharp enough to make Charlotte lift her head again.

  "Yes. I don't know how she got them, but they are hers."

  Little Pearl curled her lip in disgust. "You will return them to me."

  "Untie me, and I'll go get them."

  The horrible woman didn't move. "That is how you know about Heaven's antechamber? Because you read it in the scrolls?"

  Charlotte felt tears sting her eyes. "Fine. Yes. Whatever."

  "Where did Joanna Crane get these scrolls?"

  Charlotte actually growled in frustration. It was a mean, animalistic sound, but such was her frustration that she could not contain it. "I don't know!" she bellowed. "Ask Joanna!"

  "The monk and his pet have disappeared. The Tigress and her husband are imprisoned. Mobs and soldiers stomp through my door. And now you come to me asking about the Chamber of Swinging Lanterns. How do you know of this place?"

  Charlotte kicked her feet. It was a useless gesture; the straps bit into her flesh and she screamed at the pain. The leather held fast.

  "How do you know?" Little Pearl repeated, this time in Chinese.

  "I already told you! I went there. I saw my brother. I went there." She was crying now, her words as much chanted as spoken. Then she fell silent. She realized that Little Pearl was looking at her as a person would look at a strange toy or an unfathomable animal. In fact, William had used the same expression the first time he'd seen a picture of an Australian platypus.

  "What do you want?" Charlotte asked again.

  "I do not believe you," Little Pearl answered.

  Charlotte stared up at the dark ceiling. She couldn't see it. She couldn't see much of anything except Little Pearl, and Charlotte had no interest in staring at the woman. "I cannot prove I was there," she finally said. "I'm not sure I believe it myself. Maybe I was dreaming." Except she hadn't been. It was real. Heaven was real. Everything was very, very real.

  "I can prove it," Little Pearl said, her voice dark and heavy.

  Charlotte strained upward. She couldn't possibly have heard correctly. "You can prove it?"

  Little Pearl nodded.

  "So, do it already!"

  Her tormentor sighed. It was a sound that came from deep within, as if her soul were shrinking into the tiniest of little balls. "To do so, I will have to taste you." Her voice was heavy with disgust.

  Charlotte stared. She couldn't possibly mean... She couldn't intend...

  Little Pearl reached into a pocket and pulled out a long, slender knife. "I will remove your pants now."

  "What? Wait! No!" Charlotte was babbling in horror. She was trying to squirm away, to slip out of her bonds, anything. But she was caught fast. And despite the woman's obvious disgust, Little Pearl was quite resolved. The cold tip of her knife pressed against Charlotte's belly.

  The door burst open. It slammed against the wall with an explosion of power as Ken Jen rushed in. Charlotte didn't even have time to cry out as his gaze swept the scene. He didn't pause, simply rushed over, grabbed Little Pearl's wrist, and wrenched it up and away from Charlotte's thighs. Unfortunately, the knife was already inside Charlotte's trousers and slit the fabric.

  Little Pearl grunted as she fought, but Ken Jin was obviously furious. With a quick twist of his wrist, he bent her hand down. Her fingers loosened, but did not release the knife, so he slapped it away with his other hand. The blade clattered against the floor and skittered underneath a tapestry, which abruptly gasped and fluttered with the sound of shuffling feet.

  Charlotte lifted her gaze to the heavy drapes, horror creeping over her as she realized the truth. There were people behind those tapestries. She spun her head around. She was surrounded on all sides by the damn things. Which meant...

  "Get out!" Ken Jin bellowed. And for emphasis, he took two huge fistfuls of tapestry and yanked, tearing the heavy fabric away. Startled women stared back at him. Two. Three. Five. How many had been watching? "Get out!" he bellowed again, and the women rushed for the door.

  Seven? More and more filed out while Ken Jin turned to Charlotte. He quickly released the straps on her right ankle, cursing in dark tones as he worked.

  "Blood," he spat as he shifted to her other ankle. He kept working but he glared at Little Pearl. "Are you insane? Have you lost all sense of reality?"

  "I did what was necessary," answered Little Pearl, her voice devoid of all emotion.

  "Do you hate me so much?"

  "Ha!" Little Pearl's laugh chilled the air. "You can ask me that? You, who have perverted our teaching to your own lascivious ends. You, who have debauched and debased all of us with your behavior. Yes, I hate you! I hate everything you do!"

  He released her other ankle, and Charlotte quickly drew her legs together. Ken Jin shoved Little Pearl out of the way as he stalked to her wrist bindings. "My perversions? I'm not the one taking a knife to a helpless woman."

  "She's a barbarian animal! Your pet!"

  He stilled. Charlotte couldn't see him because he stood behind her head, but she felt his hand against hers as he released the straps. Except, he wasn't releasing anything. He was frozen in place, and when he spoke, his voice was low and filled with deep sadness. "I forget that I once thought like you, that people still believe such stupidity." He shifted and freed Charlotte's right arm. She moved it immediately, gritting her teeth against the needles of pain that burned through her fingertips.

  Little Pearl curled her lip. "I do not consort with animals. The barbarians are stupid beasts and deserve what they get!"

  Ken Jin was working on the last binding. His fingers worked quickly, but Charlotte could still feel the anger boiling inside him. His voice was hard. "They are not animals, Little Pearl. And even if they were, would you tie up your dog like this? Would you bring your students to watch while you did it?"

  "I have to know!" Little Pearl cried. "I have to understand!"

  "I told her about Heaven," Charlotte interrupted.

  Ken Jin turned to Charlotte, his expression unreadable in the dark. Then he looked back at Little Pearl. "She went to the Chamber of a Thousand Swinging Lanterns," he confirmed. "I was there. I saw."

  With a scream of fury, Little Pearl launched herself at Ken Jin. Her fingers were curled like claws, and her face contorted with such rage that she did not even look human. Ken Jin barely flinched. He caught her easily, gripping her forearms and holding her still until her scream ended on a gasp. She fought him. She kicked and screeched and even tried to bite him, but he spun her around, pinning her against the wall with his body. And when she had to stop screeching to breathe, when she finally grew silent as she dragged air into her lungs, only then did Ken Jin speak.

  "Shi Po is gone, Little Pearl. I have begged and bribed and railed, but General Kang will not give her up. That means you lead the temple now."

  Little Pearl's breath released in an angry hiss.

  "Think hard," he continued. "Think hard what your actions do to the temple, to all of us." He pushed away from her, disgust in every word. "You shame us all."

  She crumpled without his support. There were no tears, just a complete loss of strength. She fell to her knees on top of the ruined tapestry, her shoulders quivering with some great emotion. Staring at her, Charlotte could hardly believe this was the same woman who had tormented her so cruelly.

  "Can you walk?" Ken Jin asked.

  Charlotte blinked. He was beside her, gently easing her shift over her head. She looked at him, her mind still reeling from all that had happened.

  "The fire will ease soon," he continued. "How much of her tea did you drink?"

  Fire? All too soon she remembered the burning on her skin, the churning heat just below the surface. It was still there, flaring to life as she pulled on her clothing, weakening her legs as she tugged on her tunic. "I don't know," she finally managed. "But it's getting better," she lied.

  He looked hard at her face, his gaze dropping to her taut nipples. She could tell he didn't believe her
, so she tucked her arms close and pretended she was cold. "We will go to my rooms nearby," he said. "I have some herbs that will help."

  She nodded and allowed him to help her off the bed. He didn't even look at Little Pearl as they moved toward the door. But Charlotte did. "What happens now?" she asked.

  The woman hadn't moved; she just sat in the middle of the torn tapestry and stared at the floor.

  "We all choose our own paths according to our natures. Hers is a cruel nature filled with much anger. It makes her way very difficult." As he spoke, he led them out the door, only to pull up short as a large white man with dark reddish hair came running across the compound.

  Ken Jin paused, a frown on his face. "Captain Jonas? I am pleased to see you. I had heard things about a mob and soldiers." He leaned forward. "Are you well?"

  The man paused, a hand pressed to his side as he gasped for breath. Truly, he did not look so good, but he nodded. "Well enough," he grunted. Then his eyes slid past them to the dark room. "Little Pearl?"

  Charlotte could feel Ken Jin stiffen. "She has a poisoned heart. I will not speak with her..." His voice trailed away as the captain pushed past them, obviously not listening as he rushed inside. Charlotte gasped as the man brushed her arm, sending sparks of reaction through her body.

  "You should go," the man called from the interior. "It is not safe here."

  "This way," Ken Jin said as he gently guided her away. She wanted to ask about the large captain. She noticed other things, too: White sailors slipped past upper-story windows, a little girl watched from behind an ornamental bush. Clearly something very strange was happening at the Tigress school. But Charlotte had no chance to ask as Ken Jin took an unexpected turn and rushed her out a side gate to where his horse waited.

  He mounted first, then drew her up into his lap. She clenched her teeth as he adjusted her. It took all her strength to tolerate the brush of fabric across her skin, the press of his body, the rhythm of the horse as they moved through the streets. All those sensations contributed to a frightening hunger that ate at her control. She wanted to be naked. She wanted to be stroked. She wanted to move and scream and convulse all at once.

  Ken Jin's arm wrapped around her belly, pulling her tight against him. It felt wonderful—the hard press of bone, the heated musk that filled her nostrils and fogged her mind—and yet it was too little and too much. She wanted to scream with frustration at her own body grown alien.

  "Try to hold still," he said against her neck, and she arched back just to press harder against him.

  "I can't control it," she confessed.

  "I know," he answered. "Only a few streets more. Hold on until then."

  "Then what?" she gasped. She had not thought these feelings could get worse. She had not thought the sensation of a hard pommel against her flesh could make her insane. She could not think, she could only grit her teeth and endure. And want. And ache.

  "Then I will be able to help you."

  * * *

  June 21, 1893

  Honored Sir, Wen Ken Jin:

  We are pleased to entertain your suit for Wen Jan Wan. Indeed, upon hearing of your suit, she gifted me with one of her most rare smiles.

  Alas, the mood did not last. So great is the purity of her heart and so tender her spirit that she weeps at the pitiful state of her family. How can she wear finery when her cousins wear rags? How can she dine on pork and thousand-year-old eggs, when her parents share one bowl of rice?

  If such a state continues, I fear the goodness within her will force her to refuse your suit. Such a burden it is to raise a virtuous daughter.

  In grave fear,

  Wen Feng Jin

  ~

  June 30, 1893

  To the Wen patriarch, honored Wen Feng Jin:

  Please accept this small token of my esteem. I have such happiness in my heart from my betrothal that I cannot resist sharing my bounty with others.

  With much joy,

  Wen Ken Jin

  (Attached, three sacks of rice, three of flour, three bolts of silk, and three lacquered chests, each containing three ingots of gold.)

  Heavenly Pond (PI):

  Location: One thumb-width outside the nipple

  Benefits: Holding this point nurtures the spirit in the heart, increases sexual intimacy and cultivates the expression of love.

  Acupressure for Lovers

  Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D.

  Chapter 11

  The first thing she would do was strip naked. The heat was unbearable. Her shift chafed, and her drawers were wet with... They were wet. Charlotte clamped her jaw shut rather than release a moan of frustration.

  "Why did you go there?" Ken Jin's voice started a shiver in her belly—not strong enough to be satisfying, and yet delicious nonetheless. She closed her eyes to better appreciate the sensation.

  "Charlotte," he repeated, louder this time. "Why did you go to the school?"

  The low tremor continued, but she could tell Ken Jin would insist on an answer. She sighed. "I wanted to understand."

  "What?"

  She'd known he would ask that, but she was plying for time. She needed to understand herself before she tried to explain it to him. "Why does Little Pearl hate you so much?"

  They arrived at a stable that served Ken Jin's nearby apartments. He dismounted and quickly tossed the reins and a coin to a stable boy. Then he turned and grabbed her waist to lift her down. She went willingly, anxious to get inside, happy to experience his large hands around her waist and the slide of his body against hers as she leaned into him.

  "Keep your head down," he said.

  She knew without being told. It was broad daylight, and she had no wish to be seen alone with him in such a manner. The gossip could be easily turned aside, of course; he was her family's First Boy and well known as her companion on a variety of shopping trips. Plus, they were in that rare area of Shanghai that housed both Chinese and white. But this was no marketplace, so the fewer people who saw her, the better.

  He clearly understood the danger, because he grabbed a cloak off a nearby peg and surrounded her with it. The fabric was coarse and smelled of horse, but it covered her from head to toe. She held the hood close to her face for all that it made her sneeze and her skin itch, and soon they were walking quickly down the back alley and to a blocklike building.

  "Third floor," he said as he pushed her inside.

  She went quickly, her teeth clenched against the tingles that sparked all over her body as she moved. No one was about as they climbed the stairs, so she threw off her hood and began unfastening the cloak. He had the door open and pushed her inside before she had it completely off. Then she was finally able to strip off the heaviest of her clothing. Her hands were shaking, but no less efficient as she dropped cloak and tunic with desperate speed. Ken Jin shut and locked the door, then crossed to a nearby table. Tepid water splashed into two teacups as she released her sweaty hair from its pins and shook it out.

  "Drink," he ordered.

  Charlotte swallowed it without tasting, then waited impatiently as he passed her the second cup. When had she gotten so thirsty? And why was it still so hot?

  He opened a window—the only one in the flat—and a soft breeze stirred the air. But it wasn't enough, so she set down her empty teacup and stripped off her shift. He had already seen everything; modesty now would be ridiculous.

  She sighed in delight as a cool breeze caressed her skin. Her nipples puckered, and she barely restrained herself from stepping up to the window to feel its full effect. Instead, she distracted herself by looking about his apartment. It was smaller than she expected, given his position. Most First Boys had lavish homes separate from their employers. They lived like kings in huge mansions. Ken Jin lived in a tiny third-floor apartment.

  It was extremely clean, sparse. The sitting room sported large cushions on the floor beside a washstand, and another table with a lamp. A very large and strange piece of art occupied the rest of the room. It looked like two
rounded mountains, one much shorter than the other. The piece was only about a foot deep, and the top had a flat surface completely covered by a long silk cushion. Tilting her head, she decided the mountain image did not fit. It was more like a large letter B lying flat on its back, though the top mound was half the size of the bottom. She stared a moment longer, still puzzling, when she heard Ken Jin in the other room. It was his bedroom, she knew, his private place, but she could not resist following him into it to see.

  It was as bare as the sitting room, with a bed and a wash area next to an open trunk. Inside the chest lay clothing, books, and letters. Personal letters, it looked like. Was that an imperial seal? She stepped closer, but Ken Jin was before her, kicking the lid closed with a quick snap of his foot.

  Beyond those items and a few pairs of shoes, a large, low flat bed dominated the room. Clearly, this was where Ken Jin had spent his money. Stunning silk pillows were settled atop a silk-embroidered blanket. The fabric was green, the stitching quite detailed. It showed a mountain scene with waterfalls and mists and trees. Throughout the landscape, people wandered or reclined. She narrowed her eyes. No, they weren't reclining. They were...

  Her eyes widened. They were coupling. In a great variety of ways. And the groups were not limited to couples. Charlotte leaned down. She even went to her knees to look closer. This was as educational as the sacred scrolls. Perhaps even more so.

  She heard Ken Jin behind her. He was stripping off his own shirt and washing his upper body. She heard the splash of water and the muted violence in his movements. He was still very angry, and she was still very warm just thinking of his rescue. What would have happened if he hadn't come looking for her?

  She closed her eyes and straightened from the bed. She didn't want to look at other couples right then. It was making her belly jump, and she felt agitated enough. Searching for some way to distract herself from her erotic thoughts, she returned to the one question that could hold her attention.