by Jessica Gray
“…yes we do. Now, stop being a baby and lie back down.”
Rowan scowled at her and then blew out his breath warning, “If it hurts, you’re done. Got it?”
“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt if you relax,” she said and felt a hot wave sweeping across her body when she remembered that he’d used the same words to calm her, before taking her virginity.
“How can I relax if you’re threatening to poke holes into my skin?” he growled.
“Shut your eyes and count backwards from one hundred.” It was a distraction technique they’d been taught to use with nervous patients and she wondered whether it would prove as useful as the teacher had claimed.
It worked like a charm. Joanna kept her hands on his chest while he counted down to eighty, and then she placed more than two dozen needles at the meridians on his chest, upper arms and face and in key locations known to activate the immune system and suppress pain.
She’d finished the needling, but couldn’t resist soothing her hands across his ripped stomach, feeling the hard muscle beneath his hot skin. When he’d counted down to zero, she wasn’t ready yet to tear her eyes away from his gorgeous body and said, “One last step to help calm you down and then we’ll begin.”
“More counting?” A lazy smile appeared on his face, while his eyes remained closed.
“No. This time I want you to recite the English alphabet backwards,” Joanna said, barely suppressing a giggle.
“Will you know if I mess up?”
“Most definitely not.” She smiled when that seemed to make him happy, and removed several of the needles to stick them in different places. When she was finished she said, “Open your eyes. How do you feel?”
“A bit better, that medicine I took earlier must be starting to kick in. I think we can skip the needles.” Joanna hid her smile, but he caught on saying, “You already stuck me with them, didn’t you?”
“You’re actually looking quite cute with two dozen needles sticking out of you,” she said with a tiny giggle. The dismay on his face was worth a million dollars. “Don’t move. They have to stay there for fifteen minutes. I’ll make you another herb tea meanwhile.”
Chapter 25
Rowan tried not to stare at the needles sticking out of his chest and arms. To give Joanna credit, he hadn’t felt anything. But just the knowledge those sharp steely things were in there made him slightly queasy. But that could be the flu – wind-heat pattern or whatever she chose to call it. He’d be living proof that her unscientific methods didn’t work.
He closed his eyes with a small smile. Just having her around fussing over him took some of the pain away.
“Do you feel better?” she asked, entering the room with another mug of brew.
“Hmm,” he said begrudgingly. There was no way that could have anything to do with her treatment.
“Good. I’ll remove the needles and then you drink your infusion. It’ll help you to sleep.” She cocked her head as if thinking. “I’ll stay in the living room studying, and I’ll check on you in a few hours.”
Rowan rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. His body felt as if he’d been run over by a truck and his mind wasn’t much better off. He drifted off into an uneasy sleep, until he woke a few hours later, shivering with cold.
He crawled out of bed to go to the bathroom and found her having fallen asleep on the couch over her books. She was too cute. He just had to watch her for a minute.
Joanna woke and glanced at him demanding, “What are you doing out of bed?”
“I was going to the bathroom,” he said.
“You’re trembling. Back to bed,” she ordered him.
“So are you.” He stared at her as she tried to suppress the shivering. “Come to bed. Please. We can keep each other warm.”
“That’s not—”
“My doctor ordered me to stay warm and I’m cold.” He sent her his most charming smile and saw how her determination melted.
“Okay, under one condition. You keep your hands to yourself.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Anything. You’re the doctor.” He tried his best innocent face and it seemed to work, because she nodded and followed him to the bedroom where she slipped beneath the covers after asking him for one of his T-shirts to wear.
Rowan cursed his illness, because she looked sexy as hell in his shirt. Even if he hadn’t promised to be good, he wouldn’t have had the strength to seduce her.
The next morning, he woke feeling much better. His mood elevated when he became aware of the gorgeous woman sleeping next to him. She’d made him promise to keep his hands to himself, but she hadn’t said anything about his lips. So he rolled over and placed little kisses on her shoulder, working his way up her neck and nibbling at her earlobes.
Joanna stirred in her sleep and rolled over, coming flush against him. She opened her eyes and for a moment he saw a glint of desire, before she smiled and backed away. “Looks like you’re feeling better.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m ashamed to admit that I am. I have to confess to thinking that all TCM was hocus pocus, but it might actually have some merit.”
“I’m glad you feel better and that you changed your opinion.”
“So, want to tell me what was in that stuff you made me drink? It won’t win any awards for taste.” He grimaced at the memory. Thankfully, he’d been too knocked out last night or he’d have spat it into her face.
“No, I don’t imagine it tasted all that good, but it was effective. As for ingredients, it was a mixture of Ban Lan Gen or Woad Root, Lian Qiao or the fruit of a honeysuckle bush, and Huang Qin or Skullcap Root and a few other herbs.”
“I’m not sure what to say,” he confessed.
Joanna smoothed his hair back. “Then don’t say anything. Just accept that you might have been hasty in your judgment of Traditional Chinese Medicine.”
“I’m a big enough person to admit I might have been wrong. In fact, I can even admit that not all herbal medicine is hocus pocus.” He stared at her wearing his T-shirt, and he felt desire raging through his veins. But he first had to clear up another thing.
“Joanna, Jin Yue,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Why did you run away?”
“Because…” She pressed her lips together.
“Don’t you think it would only be fair to explain? Give me a chance to know if I did something wrong?” Rowan tightened his grip on her arm as if to prevent her from bailing out of bed.
She sighed. “Do you expect me to give up my studies and marry you?”
“What? God no! Why would I?” Rowan tried to process what she’d said, but he couldn’t make any sense of it.
“My roommates…that’s how their minds work. They think that if they sleep with a foreigner he should offer them marriage. But I don’t want marriage.” She bit her lower lip and stared at him with dark eyes.
“Sweetheart, darling, neither do I.” He rubbed a hand across his stubbled jaw. “I mean, maybe later, but not now. I don’t want or need a woman whose only goal is find herself a husband to support her.”
“Really?” she asked and he could see she wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not.
“Yes. Really. I admire you for being so strong and independent. And I love how passionate you are about your career, and I would never want to take that away from you. Ever.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I want to spend more time with you, get to know you better, see you every day, but I also want you to have your own life, your friends, your career.”
“Talking about my career.” She blanched and glanced at her phone on the bedside table. “I won’t have one if I don’t dash off to classes right now.”
“What day is it?”
“Tuesday.”
“What? I slept all through yesterday? I only remember Nelson dropping me off here Sunday night after that killer of a shift.” Rowan made to jump out of bed, but Joanna sent him a stern glance, “You, my dear, are going to stay in bed at least another twenty-four hours.”
“Doctor’s orders?” he asked.
“Yes, doctor’s orders,” she said, grinning with mischief in her eyes, “or do I have to give you another acupuncture treatment?”
“No thanks.” He captured her mouth in a ravaging kiss, wishing she could stay. “I’ll let you go only if you promise to make another house call after your shift.”
“I will.” Then she jumped out of bed and readied herself to go to the hospital.
Chapter 26
Joanna saw the bus approaching and raced across the courtyard to catch it. Breathless, she took a seat in the vehicle. She pulled her smartphone out of her pocket and tapped on the picture of her parents.
“Hello, mother.”
“Jin Yue. We’ve been waiting to hear from you. Let me get your father. He’s having breakfast.”
“I’m learning so much here,” she said after her father had greeted her.
“That is good. Your roommates are easy to get along with?” her mother’s voice said.
“Yes. They’re all very nice girls. But Beijing is awfully cold. Not like our place. I never go out without a coat, gloves, scarf and cap.” In her hometown in the South of China, temperatures rarely fell below seventy degrees.
“You’re not getting sick, are you?”
“No mother. I’m taking good care of myself, and remember that I study TCM?” Joanna smiled into the phone.
“You’re just like your grandmother,” her mother said. “She was a great healer and knew all about herbal treatments.”
“Are your studies going well?” her father asked.
“Yes. In the past exams I’ve always achieved the highest grades in the class. The longer I’m here the more I’m grateful for this opportunity. Thank you so much for making the effort to send me here. I won’t disappoint you.” Joanna pressed her phone between ear and shoulder and gathered her things to jump off the bus and change into another one.
“We love you, dear, but your mother is concerned that you might be too old to find a husband after finishing your studies.” Joanna imagined the steep vertical wrinkle on her father’s forehead as he voiced the concern. While her parents had done all they could to help her achieve her dream of becoming a doctor, they never quite understood why she couldn’t be more like her mother. Get married, keep house, and raise a child.
“Mom and dad, I’m only nineteen…I have plenty of time to find a husband and have a child,” Joanna protested.
“Most girls your age are already married,” her mother reminded her.
“Yes mom, but I want to finish at the top of my class and that means I have to study. A lot. That’s what you want, right? I want to be a doctor and that will help provide a future income for my family when I have one.”
She heard her parents sigh and then her mother said, “Of course we want you to do well…we just don’t want you to wind up an old spinster...”
Joanna rolled her eyes, glad they couldn’t see her behaving so disrespectfully. It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation. A girl her age was already considered old. No respectable man married a woman past her prime years, and those apparently ended when one turned twenty. Maybe Rowan wasn’t such a bad choice after all. He didn’t think she was too old, nor did he pressure her into marriage. It’s a good thing my parents don’t know that I already lost the main ingredient for ever becoming a spinster. My virginity.
After work she dropped into her dormitory to gather a few things – just in case. She wasn’t sure how well Rowan would be and he might need her to stay over. Actually it was more that she wanted to stay over. She might not be ready to marry him, but she couldn’t forget the hungry look in his eyes when she’d left this morning.
Everyone except for Lin had already left for the holiday, and she murmured something about visiting a friend who was ill and that she didn’t know when she’d return.
“I’ll see you at work tomorrow?” Lin asked.
“Yes, in the afternoon.” The University part had gone into recess already, but of course the hospital stayed open with reduced staff. Since Joanna and Lin wouldn’t travel to visit their families, they’d offered to work their usual half-shift.
Then she took off with a happy bounce in her step, because she would see Rowan again. He was already waiting for her in the bedroom watching a DVD on his laptop and the moment she bent over to kiss him, he pulled her into his arms, causing her to lose her balance and crash on top of him.
Before she could protest, he captured her mouth in a ravaging kiss. Electricity spread through her limbs and a wet heat pooled between her thighs.
“I missed you so much. Being confined in here was incredibly boring,” he said with a mischievous grin when they had to come up for air. Given the hard bulge pressing against her, he must be back to his normal strength.
“You really should rest,” Joanna murmured.
“That’s why you’ll be on top.” He grinned and put her into a position where she was straddling him. His eyes never wavered from her face as his big hands roamed her back and with one swift move pulled her sweater up and off.
Joanna gave a surprised gasp, but at the same time she felt her skin prickle and the delicious heat deep down in her core. She tried to put up a mock protest, but was lost the moment he unclasped her bra and cupped her breasts with his big hands.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” he groaned and she could feel the evidence of his desire pressing hard against her core. She closed her eyes to focus on the intense sensations as he molded her breasts. His fingers ran lazy circles around her nipples, drawing impatient moans from her throat, but he wouldn’t be rushed and tortured her with feather light touches until he finally – finally – rolled her nipples between thumb and forefinger.
“Whoa.” She jerked at the sudden sensation burning its way through her body. Her panties were soaked by now and she lowered her upper body to bring her chest against his face.
“Hmm… I love your boobs…they are perfect…” He placed small kisses on her sensitive skin, which almost drove her out of her mind, because it wasn’t nearly enough. She needed more. A lot more. But all her wriggling and writhing didn’t help. Rowan stubbornly refused to take her nipple deep into his mouth.
“Anything you want me to do, my love?” He grinned up at her.
“You know what I want,” she pressed out. He did know, didn’t he?
“Say it. I’ll do anything you wish, but you have to say it first.” Rowan licked his lips.
Blood rushed to her face. He doesn’t really expect me to say it aloud…? But one glance at his determined face told her he did. How can I ask a man to suckle me? Hot embarrassment flooded her cheeks at the thought, but at the same time it turned her on beyond imagination and she felt more moisture dropping out of her.
“Can you…put your mouth on my…nipple?” she said, flushing even more.
He did. And looked up at her with a very mischievous glance. “And?”
Joanna took a deep breath. Apparently she had to tell him exactly what to do if she wanted him to continue. “Please suckle my breast.” He obeyed and pleasure exploded in her body until she writhed atop of him again, rubbing her core against the hard bulk in his boxer briefs. When he grazed his teeth across the hard, swollen peak in his mouth and lightly bit, she yelped with ecstasy. Emboldened by the experience, she gathered all her courage and said, “Can you fuck me now, please?” It was the first time in her life that she’d used this word, and it felt immensely empowering – and arousing. Who would have thought that she could be in command?
Rowan chuckled. “Anything to please my gorgeous sex kitten.” Then he rolled her off to the side and they made short work of their clothes. Rowan pulled her across his body, urging her to straddle his thighs and then positioning her exactly where he wanted her. He pulled her head down for a searing kiss at the same him he thrust his hips upward, piercing her in one move that took her breath away and caused her head to spin deliciously with the sensations coursing through h
er body.
The feeling of being filled up was almost too much to bear, her muscles ached from being stretched wide as she took in his entire length. Where she’d been nervous and passive several days ago, she now gave herself permission to explore.
Looking down at his chiseled chest, suddenly she wanted to know his body as well as he was coming to know hers. She sculpted his muscles with her hands and relished in the power she had over him. Her fingertips engaged in the same torture he’d used on her, tracing featherlike wisps across his skin. By the way his muscles twitched and twisted she knew it was having an effect on him.
She tasted his skin, licking her tongue across his bare chest, exposing rock hard muscles beneath the soft skin. His eyes darkened into brown pools with tiny specks of green and she could see the restraint in them. That moment she saw how much self-control it took him to lay still beneath her, letting her take the lead and not turning the tables and ravaging her. It gave her arousal another boost -- if that was even possible.
His desperate groans caused her to smile and she whispered, “What do you want?”
“I want you to ride me,” he growled and grabbed her hips to move her up and down on his cock.
The feeling stunned her, taking the sensation to new heights. Joanna rose to a sitting position and forcefully slid up and down his entire length.
“I’m about to come,” he said and removed one hand from her hips to place his thumb on her swollen clit. While she furiously rode him, he rubbed her clit and moments later they both fell into a vortex of cataclysmic release. After quieting her ragged breathing, Joanna lay panting on his body covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
“That was amazing,” he said. “Just what the doctor ordered to cure my cold.”
“Says the man who believes only in modern medicine.” She smiled against his chest and slowly rolled off to cuddle at his side, pulling the blanket over them.
“Hmm…I may have realized that there’s more between earth and sky than science can prove. Powerful energies like love.”