Bride of the Moso Prince

by Lucy Yam

  “Sure. When would you like to go?”

  Sharon stopped chewing and smiled as she looked at the children. They were adorable and beautiful. Their skins were fair like Pierre’s, but both had a healthy complexion on their cheeks, gotten from the powerful sun of the area. Azalea, the girl, had long narrow eyes typical of the Nakhi, while Yulong, the boy, had curly hair and rounded eyes from Pierre.

  Evidently the children adored Nobul. They pulled his arm and touched his ears, and of course, making it impossible for him to eat.

  And then they heard a woman’s voice coming in from door.

  “Mama is back!” They abandoned Nobul instantly and went to meet their mother.

  “Mama, uncle Nobul is here!”

  “Oh really?”

  A slender, tall woman waved at them as she came closer.

  She looked just like Namu but without her toughness. Instead, her features were all smoothed and supple. Her cheekbones were high but not sharp. Her back was straight but not rigid. Under her carefully plucked eyebrows, the ends of her eyes curled up, and rendered her a kind and mellow look.

  “Nobul! Long time no see!” Then her eyes fell on Sharon

  and she nodded. “Hello!”

  “Limei, this is Sharon. She is Charlene’s sister.” Nobul greeted her.

  “Nice to meet you.” Limei shook hands with Sharon. “I like your necklace. It’s gorgeous.”

  “Thank you,” Sharon wanted to return a compliment on the jade earrings that Limei wore, but Azalea grabbed her mother’s arm for attention.

  “Mama, when can we go to Panda hometown again?”

  “Um, not before the summer vacation, I don’t think? Go ask your Papa.”

  The girl growled and went into the kitchen.

  “He spoiled them,” Limei said to Sharon, “always take them here and there in his helicopter. Now they complain after sitting in the car for more than two hours.”

  Then she left them to finish their dinner.

  Sharon remembered Binma’s excitement when he talked about going to the zoo with uncle Nobul. She said to Nobul, “You’re good at buying over the affection of the kids.”

  “It’s not hard. Children want so little.” Nobul gulped in some wine and then sighed, “It’s much harder to buy over the affection of a woman.”

  Sharon’s lips curled, “Really? I wouldn’t imagine hearing it from you, Prince.”

  He smiled, gazed into her eyes and said in a low and ardent voice, “Let me correct myself. I mean it’s hard with a particular woman.”

  Sharon was instantly stirred. Not at all! She wanted to say to him, but checked her impulse. She avoided his eyes too, for the affection she held for him was overwhelming even at that moment. The rate their relationship was progressing was scaring her. Every day she breathed in happiness. The affection so intoxicated her that she was afraid that she couldn’t live without it. If she let herself slip deeper she would have difficulty to get out of it. It was only a love affair and it didn’t mean to last. But unknowingly she was wishing it to. How could she not? The man was hopelessly attractive. He was simply exceptional. In fact, he was too good to be real. Sharon looked at Nobul and could hardly contain her fascination for him. She longed to sit on his laps just like the children had done, and she wanted to feel him. She wanted to run her fingers through his ferociously dark hair and rubbed against his defiantly chiseled chins. And she craved for those tough looking lips that could be so soft when they brushed against hers. She yearned to be in his arms, to be petted, and to hear his gentle whispers. She wanted to get out of the restaurant and be alone with him in a hotel.

  Nobul was aware of her silent gazes. “What’s wrong?” He asked with a playful look, “jealous of the kids now?”

  “No!” She looked away and sighed. That playful look reminded her who he was. Prince and playboy. He was not destined to settle on any woman. Once she left, he would easily find himself a substitute, a woman ten times gorgeous than herself: a Moso, a Nakhi, a Han, a Tibetan, or even a French. And he would forget her in no time, just like Jason, who had never even called her after the breakup. While she had more or less waited for him to come back to her one day. Silly! She swallowed a mouthful of wine and sighed heavily. She wouldn’t be sentimental. She was not a high school girl any more! She didn’t let Douglass get anywhere deep. She could do it again. She was independent!

  When she put her folk aside, Pierre came back to the table.

  “What would you like to have for dessert?”

  Sharon was full but didn’t want to pass the dessert. “Do you have crème brulee?”

  “Of course. A French restaurant without crème brulee is not a French restaurant. What flavor would you like? We’ve got strawberry, vanilla, and red tea.”

  “Red tea?”

  “Yes. It’s a house special. Made of Yunna Tippy from the tea gardens thirty miles away.”

  “I’ll have that please!”

  It turned out to be the best crème brulee Sharon had ever had. The aroma of the red tea blended in seamlessly with the flavor of burnish brown sugar.

  “This is so good! You want some?” Sharon asked Nobul, who was having a cup of milk tea.

  He smiled, “I’ve had it before. It is very good. Pierre called it the master piece of all his art work.”

  “Really?” Sharon laughed.

  When Nobul asked for the check, Pierre frowned, “What are you talking about? It’s on me. You never charge me anything when I stay in your six-start hotel. You sure you’re leaving tomorrow? We should get together really. I want to go to Marble City to get some marbles to remodel my counter. If you could stay for one more day…”

  “Well, I would love to but,” Nobul said, “Sharon is helping me with the museum. And she wants to have the main exhibition room done before she returns to America.”

  “Return to America?” Pierre looked surprised. “Can’t it wait?”

  “Uh…” Sharon hesitated, “no...”

  “I don’t understand. Didn’t we agree a moment ago that Lugu Lake was a paradise on earth?”

  “Yes, but I live and work in LA.”

  “Oh yeah. But you can live and work in Lugu Lake too. It’s up to you.”

  Sharon blushed, “I don’t know. It’s not that simple.”

  “It is.” Pierre said, “I gave up my life in France ten years ago with much debate. At first it was a bit difficult but now? I spend the morning painting and the rest of the day working here. I’m happy and so are my wife and kids. I’ve gotten everything I want from life.”

  “You’re lucky.” Sharon mumbled.

  “You will be too, if you follow your heart.” Pierre said gave her a significant look, and then turning to Nobul he said, “Now, my friend, don’t you ever come back here without her!”

  Nobul stood up, and they hugged each other. “Well, I’ll try. Thanks for the dinner.”

  “If you change your mind about leaving tomorrow, give me a call tonight and we’ll go to Marble City together.”

  When they approached the door the kids ran to Nobul and begged him to come again soon. Nobul held up both of them and kissed them on the cheeks. Limei came to say goodbye as well. Pierre pulled Sharon to the side while Nobul was still busy with the kids. “I wouldn’t leave him if I were you.”

  “What do you mean?” Sharon blushed.

  “I mean, I’ve been dying to see my exceptional friend settle down with the right woman. And I’m glad he found her.”

  “We’re not, it’s not like what you think,” Sharon stammered.

  Pierre smiled, “There is no point to deny your heart, Sharon. I’m an artist. I not only have keen observation but also accurate intuition.”

  In the center of the market square a group of Nahki women dressed in traditional clothes were dancing and singing traditional songs. Tourists stood watching and snapped photos. Sharon and Nobul joined the crowd and as soon as they did it Sharon noticed that Nobul had attracted attention from people around them. Women of a
ll ages and all ethnicities would fix their eyes on him and ignored the dancers. They whispered to each other’s ear while eyeing him. And Sharon knew what they were saying. Pride mingled with jealousy possessed her. Suddenly she wanted to just be alone with him. If they lingered longer, someone might come up and snatched him away.

  Nobul seemed to understand her concern for he whispered to her ear, “Let’s get out of here!” And he pulled her out of the crowd right away.

  Chapter 12

  It was nearly ten when they checked in at a small hotel near the Mu mansion in the center of the town. It was called Charming View, also designed by Nobul. Nobul said that it had the best view of the town. Indeed, when they got to their room on the third floor Sharon was stunned by the view in front of her. Being a corner room, two walls were made of glasses. Over the glasses there was a fence made of chiseled wood, for protective and artistic purposes. The pattern of the fence was predominantly diamond shapes but there were columns of waves every once in a while. The workmanship was so fine that from a distance the fence looked like a net. The buildings around them were mostly of single storage, and they got a complete view of the town filtered through an intricate frame. Standing in front of the window, however, the frame wasn’t much of an obstruction to the view and Sharon felt like she was standing in air above the town. They could see clearly the market square, which was full of festivity at night. The red lanterns marked the waterways and the amber lights outlined the roofs of the stores along them. Mu Mansion itself was decorated with extravagant lights as well. She could see the outline of the bridge in amber lights and the lotus pond in silver. And she could also see the activities on the square, including the dancing, the tourists posing for pictures, and the woman boiling corn in front of a store.

  “Incredible!” Sharon exclaimed.

  “Do you like it?” Nobul hugged her from behind, kissing her nape.

  “Yes.” Sharon nodded. It reminded her of their apartment in Chinatown LA where they had lived until she went to college. That apartment offered a bird’s eye view of the ever busy Broadway street, only the view hadn’t been comparable to this one. She remembered instantly those restless days of high school, and of course, of Jason. One day from the window in her room she had seen him walking hand in hand with another girl. That gloomy memory dampened her spirit momentarily. It was only Nobul’s presence that dispelled the mood promptly.

  “I’m glad.” Nobul whispered at her ear. His breaths tickled her. She shuddered as his hand moved to her front and felt her breast through the thin dress.

  Putting her hand on his, she asked, “Can people see us?”

  “Um,” he murmured, “I don’t think so. It’s dark in here. But I don’t mind if they do. I want everyone to know that you’re mine.”

  Sharon’s cheeks burned as heat rose from the center of her body. She wanted everyone to know that he was hers too.

  Yet still she felt shy to make love in a glassy room in the center of a town. She was stiff. But Nobul meant what he said. His hand had claimed her breasts through the low neck line of the dress. Sharon gasped.

  “This dress is too sexy to be worn in public,” he said hoarsely. “The stares you got from those guys made me mad!”

  So that was why he pulled her out of crowd in such a hurry? The thought flattered her and she forgot her surroundings. She moaned with pleasure as he unfastened her strapless bra and rubbed her nipples with subdued urgency.

  Her knees were wobbling and she leant against him, instantly feeling his erection against her spine. She said weakly, “Oh Nobul, let’s go to bed. I’m afraid people are looking at us.”

  “Don’t worry. They won’t be able to see a thing.” He said and his hand had slipped into her panty.

  She squirmed in his arms. From the way his finger was moving she knew she was drenched. The excitement of making love in front of a window, even though no one could see them, was so great that after but a few rubbings she was on the verge of coming. His finger stopped moving and she thought she would go mad. He teased her with light kisses on the earlobe and down her neck.

  “Please!” She whimpered and squeezed his wrist.

  His breaths went ragged with her plead. All of a sudden he turned her to face him, and pinned her on the glass. Unzipping the side zipper the moment he found it, he pulled the dress down to her waist and instantly her nipple was inside his warm moist mouth. “Oh!” Sharon moaned, overwhelmed by the pleasure she was experiencing.

  Then she murmured, “Nobul! People can see my bare back!”

  “No they can’t!”

  “How do you know?” She murmured.

  Her question was answered by a stifling kiss. While she was still bewildered, he left her gasp for air and knelt on his knees, buried his head in her dress, rolled down her panties and charged her with a velvet touch that made her throw every concern out of her mind.

  Soon she melted in his hot and skillful tongue that performed a variety of strokes and dabbing, with deliberately timed rhythm to prolong her pleasure. She lifted her dress and ran her fingers in his silky hair, grabbing it tightly, responding to the movement of his tongue. She wouldn’t mind if it went on forever, she thought, making fabulous love above a fantastic town, to an incredible lover. But all of a sudden his tongue was making quick circles and her body stiffened instantly. Then she heard herself muttering, “Um, it feels so good, yes, oh yes. Nobul, I…” She stopped mumbling in expecting the climax, and let out an ecstatic shout.

  Sharon lay on her side and gazed into the night sky contently. Nobul’s arms were around her shoulders. She looked at his big masculine hand under the moonlight. How could it be so powerful and gentle at the same time? How could it be skillful at so many things? Carving wood and pleasuring her body. She wanted to kiss his hand but was afraid that her stir would wake him. She didn’t want him to move. That warm body enveloping her was a safe harbor and she wished she could stay there for the rest of her life… for the rest of her life? What was she thinking? She couldn’t be so naïve. This wasn’t even a relationship. It was a just an affair. Soon she would be going back to LA, back to Web Genius, back to her regular life. She would get up at six every morning and swim for an hour before going to work. She would go home at six, have some frozen dinner, watch TV for a couple of hours, and go to bed. It was a great life and she had been thankful for that, except, except it all seemed mundane to her at that moment, and lonely. Suddenly she felt sad and tears tickled her face. God! What kind of life was that? She had lived like an old woman, a spinster, no, a robot, to be exact. For an old woman or a spinster would still have family and friends to visit. And she, she had no one. Charlene would be far away and her father had no need to see her. And here, here there was someone who needed her…and she needed him. She cuddled against him to feel his presence. She needed him so. The days they had spent together were the fullest and happiest of her life. The things they had done together had woven them together. She could no longer be content with eating breakfast or dinner alone, and she would miss him at nights. Oh god, what does it mean? It was not just an affair. It was even more than a relationship. She was, she was…in love! How could it be possible? She opened her eyes widely, startled by the discovery. In the quietness of the night she heard her own voice within, and she couldn’t deny her feelings. She had almost blurted it out when they were making love. Pierre’s words rang in her ears, “I’ve been dying to see my exceptional friend settle down with the right woman.” She sighed. Was she the right woman for this exceptional man?

  The next day they decided to go to Dahli, the Marble City with Pierre. Since Limei had to take care of the children, Pierre drove the three of them in his van. The scenery along the highway was fabulous. Often there was heavy fog hanging on top of the mountains while a strip of sunshine miraculously shone through and made a gorgeous pillar that reached directly to the car window. For awhile they were along endless rice paddies, and then they were passing acres after acres of tea gardens and bamboo forests. It
was about two hours of drive and during which Sharon had not wanted to turn her head away from the window for a single minute.

  They stopped briefly at the Three Pagodas of Chong Sheng Temple, a famous sightseeing spot, before they headed towards the old town of Dahli, which was similar to the ancient town of Lijiang in structure, but not at all comparable in prosperity and in scenery. They had lunch at a dumpling restaurant and drove to a shop close to the mountains.

  The owner of the shop was a Bai woman. Since Pierre was a regular customer, she was very friendly to them. When Pierre and Nobul were looking for a marble piece, she took Sharon to look around and taught her basics about marbles. She said that all the marbles were from the Chang Mountains that surrounded the town, and were all of top quality. There were three basic kinds of marbles: the ones with pattern resembling natural scenery was called Water Color, and ones showed patterns of clouds were called Grey Clouds, the one that was pure white was called White Jade. Sharon looked around her, indeed the marbles all looked different. She was amazed by all kinds of marble products: marble table tops, marble fountains, marble lions, marble statues of Kuan Yin and of Buddha, marble bowls and plates…

  A particular piece of Water Color marble caught Piere’s eye. It looked just like a water-ink Chinese painting. The owner said that it was a rarity, and it was usually framed in expensive wood to make partitions. It would a waste to use it for a table top. Pierre nodded and went on to look for something else with the owner.

  “Maybe we could get something for our museum?” Nobul asked Sharon while waiting for Pierre.

  The phrase ‘our museum’ delighted Sharon. The museum had indeed become part of her unknowingly.

  “Sure. Why don’t you purchase that Water Color piece and make it into a partition? You could put it in the main display room.” Sharon suggested.

  Nobul thought awhile and shook his head, “It’s nice but it would be out of place. Marble is not really our culture although we live close to here. The Bai, who are indigenous of the region, don’t use marble for furniture either.”