The Tao of Sex

by Jade Lee

  He smiled, his heart and his body fully caught now. “You might very well be the salvation of our temple.”

  She released a self-conscious laugh. “I just want to be able to go to a football game without losing my mind.”

  “Then we should begin,” he said. He didn’t really mean it. He just wanted to touch her. Unable to stop himself, he stroked the soft skin of her cheek. She closed her eyes, lifting her face to his touch.

  “Is this what you did at the temple?” she asked. “Did you teach a lot of girls?”

  “No,” he said, his face already dropping closer. His mouth was almost on hers. “I used to teach, but then my talents were needed elsewhere.”

  She shifted her head so that his fingers brushed across her lips. “Doing what?”

  “The accounts. I cashed the checks for classes and paid the bills. I decided on the repairs and on the luxuries.”

  “You made things run smoothly,” she said. “How old were you when you started doing that?”

  “From the moment I could read,” he answered.

  She stopped rubbing her lips across his finger. “Wow. I started at eighteen, and it sucked then. You must have been a baby. I can’t even imagine how hard it was for you.”

  She understood. Nathan could see it in her eyes, and it made his breath catch in his throat. She understood more than his own mother what he had done as a boy, and how hard he’d worked to bring order to a very chaotic world.

  “Do you miss it?” she continued. “Do you long to go back to Hong Kong?”

  “No. I miss my brother and sister. I will make sure that they have everything they want. But no, I will never go back to that life.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “Never? Was it so very bad?”

  He shook his head, refusing to elaborate. How could he explain a house of two dozen beautiful, sexual women intent on seducing him while completely ignoring the mundane realities of life? Not a one understood bills or plumbing or even the basics of preparing a meal because their minds were completely absorbed with their sexuality. And his mother was the worst of the lot. As a child, he’d had to learn quickly about fixing his own food or starve.

  There were a few who had helped. Tigress cubs too early in their training to have tasted the glories of heaven, too new to have lost all earthly focus yet. They helped him when they could, guided him as a mother or a lover.

  But then came that first touch of divinity, that first moment of true ecstasy and all was forgotten—their promises to him, their whispered love, even simple kindnesses were lost in the search for heaven.

  That was what it meant to be a tigress, and he would not subject himself to it anymore. In fact, his whole focus was to earn enough money so that his brother and sister could escape, as well. Falling in love with yet another tigress cub was not in the realm of possibility for him. He could not do it. He would not.

  And yet, Tracy did not act like any tigress he knew. Tracy had not lost herself in the quest for immortality yet. And Tracy understood him as no one else had ever bothered to try. He knew eventually the spirit would take her. She would taste ecstasy and he would be abandoned once again. Nathan knew, but he couldn’t stop himself.

  He kissed her. He claimed her mouth the way a dragon would claim a woman. He took her; he ate her alive, and he relished every second of her surrender.

  Chapter 9

  SHE HAD BEEN WAITING AGES for his kiss. She had dreamed of this moment, hungered desperately for it. And it had been worth the wait.

  A week ago, they had been strangers in an incredible night of passion. Now they were friends. When he leaned in to kiss her, her entire body stretched for his lips. She met his mouth with a yearning that had nothing to do with his strange tigress rites. It wasn’t hunger that drove her, but a warmth of shared secrets.

  But passion wasn’t far behind. Lightning burned through her system, beginning with where their lips touched and searing through her senses. She came alive in an instant. She opened her mouth wide, seeking to devour him, but he was there before her.

  His arm wrapped around her waist, gripping her tightly to him. His mouth slanted over hers and his tongue thrust into her. She matched him in intensity, but not in skill. He knew just how to excite her. His tongue teased then pushed, toyed then thrust. In and out while she tried to keep up. In the end, she gave herself up to the experience. No, she gave herself to him. It was time for her to become a woman in all senses, and she wanted to do it with him.

  Tracy burrowed her hands into his silky black hair and arched into his embrace. When he broke off the kiss to breathe, she dropped her head against his shoulder and trembled from the force of their desire.

  “This isn’t practice,” he said. “I’m not being a teacher. Teachers don’t kiss. Teachers don’t—”

  She pulled his head back to her mouth. She didn’t want an instructor—she wanted a man. She wanted him. “Tell me what to do,” she said against his lips. “Tell me what you want.”

  “Let me open your yin gates,” he said, already pushing her down onto the floor.

  She went willingly, gripping his broad shoulders for balance. “What can I do for you? What—”

  He hovered over her, his dark eyes piercing even in shadow. “I want to drink you up. I need to feel you surround me. Please.” His hands coiled under her shirt, trembling over her bare belly but not pushing higher.

  “Yes,” she answered, not even knowing what he wanted.

  He pulled off her loose T-shirt in one quick movement. She helped as best she could, raising her arms so that the fabric could fly free. And while her hands were still in the air, he popped the clasp on her bra.

  “You’ve done this before,” she commented drily.

  Nathan shook his head. “Not like this. Not as a man.”

  She smiled, unaccountably pleased by his words. She lay down now, her upper body completely exposed to him. He looked at her for a long moment, his right hand hovering ever so tentatively over her belly, then higher to shape the air above her left breast.

  “You are a water soul,” he said as he looked at her. “Your body is full and round.”

  “Is that your way of saying I’m fat?”

  He glanced startled at her face. “No. It means whenever I see you, I think of full mountain streams, of glorious oceans. Your body nourishes whatever you touch, you give life to the world.”

  He saw her as some sort of water goddess, lush and full? Tracy touched his face to reassure herself that he was real. That this stunningly beautiful man was looking at her as if she were the answer to his prayers. His skin burned fever hot beneath her fingers, and she tugged at his dress shirt. “Take it off,” she urged.

  He did, though his hands fumbled with the buttons. He hadn’t even stripped it fully off before his mouth descended to her breast. He began with tiny bites in the skin around the areola that had her toes curling in delight. And just like in her kitchen, a power began to build inside her chest. “My breasts feel like they’re ten times larger than before. It’s like there’s something there, trying to break free.”

  “It is your yin power. Your breasts are the lesser yin gates.” He leaned down, pressing a long, tender kiss at the shallow spot between each breast. “I can open it, Tracy. I want to open it, but it will be intense.”

  More intense than this? She almost giggled at the thought. But then she realized he was serious. “More than that first night at my house? I mean, this feels similar….”

  He lifted up. “I pulled your energy out last time. This will be different. I will open the gates to your breasts first, then move lower down to your cinnabar cave.”

  This time she did laugh. “My what?”

  His hands dropped to the clasp of her jeans, toying with the rivet there. “If they are both open, a circle flow can begin. Drawing in from below, pumping up to your breasts, and then back down.”

  “Like before?”

  He nodded. “But better. Stronger.” He flashed her a grin. “I will b
e bathed in your power and you will scream.”

  She felt her lips curl in a slow smile. “A good scream?”

  He grinned. “A very good scream. And it will last for a long, long time.” Then he paused. “But think carefully, Tracy. Once I do this, you can never go back. Your tigress will be fully released. There will be no—”

  “I don’t want to go back to sleep. I don’t want it gone.” She gripped his shoulders, pulling herself up to kiss him with all the hunger inside her. He opened himself to her demand, meeting her tongue with his own powerful thrust. Then he eased her back down onto the cushion.

  “You must remove your jeans, Tracy. Know that you choose this.”

  He was trying to make her hesitate, to think of the consequences of her actions. She didn’t need to doubt herself. She knew what she wanted. She stripped with quick motions. And when she lay naked before him, she looked him in the eyes.

  “This is what I want,” she said clearly. “And I want you to do it.” Did he understand? Did he know that she trusted him and no other? There wasn’t time to explain.

  At her words, his nostrils flared. His hands came to her chest, but then stopped and hovered just above her skin. “Close your eyes. I want you to feel every second of what is to come.”

  She shook her head. “I want to see you.”

  He arched a single sculpted brow in surprise. “So be it.” And with that he began to touch her breasts. She felt a fine tremor in his caress, a vibration in his fingers that told her he was not nearly as confident as he seemed. But then thought faded beneath other sensations. He was a master at this. He began with simple strokes, shaping her breasts into a fine point, then tweaking the nipples at unexpected moments. Her body became a pulsing wave of sensation, and yet her mind remained clear. While she gasped and trembled beneath his strokes, she watched his face, his eyes.

  He was fully absorbed in what he did. His attention focused entirely on her pleasure. This was more than sex to him. He believed it was a spiritual awakening. Sex your way to heaven. It was ridiculous, and yet the more he caressed her, the more she felt a power building. Not orgasm, though she was certainly headed in that direction. This was more.

  “Look at me,” she gasped.

  He did, his hands slowing only the tiniest bit. “Tracy?”

  “What does this mean?”

  He frowned. “I am opening—”

  “To you, Nathan. What does this mean to you?” Was this just sex to him?

  She could tell he didn’t understand her question. And in truth, she wasn’t sure she wanted an honest answer. Much better to simply close her eyes and enjoy what he gave her. And yet she kept her eyes stubbornly open.

  “I am helping you reach your full potential.” He smiled. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded. A lie. She had no idea if she was ready or not. But his smile reassured her. He cupped each breast, shaping them such that the nipples stretched toward him. Then he began to squeeze—not painfully, but in a rhythm that her body quickly began to echo. Then he leaned down to suck on one breast. A light kiss, then a stronger nip. Then a long hard pull that had her arching up, her breath caught in her throat. It felt as if he were pulling on a cord, one that connected her breast to her brain and her womb. And each pull on that cord arched through her like a bow, drawing the power inside her tighter, stronger and more focused at the point where his mouth licked her nipple.

  Then he moved to the other breast and repeated the process. Kiss. Nip. Pull. Back and forth he went between breasts, keeping the rhythm steady. And with each sequence, the power inside her became more focused, more insistent.

  At the beginning, her legs had been slack, her knees lightly touching. Now they spread of their own accord, her heels digging into the floor, her hips undulating with his rhythm. Her breath came in gasps, timed with him. And her breasts…They were the focus of everything. Tingling fireflies, horny lightning, all of that was nothing to what she felt now. Her body was her breasts, and they were huge with energy—throbbing, sizzling, aching.

  He was concentrating on her left breast. The kiss. The nip. Those were the same as before—wonderful, but not enough. And then the pull. Hard. Sharp. Just like before, only this time something new happened. Another hard pull. Another pop! Like a plug pulling free, and a burning current of energy gushed forth. She had to look down to see that she wasn’t actually on fire. It wasn’t visible, but the sensations were real. Her left arm spasmed with the fire, but he didn’t stop. He quickly focused on her other breast.

  No sequence this time. Just the pull. Again and again. While her entire left side felt as if it were pouring lava, born from deep within her. And then, pop! The other side began its own current.

  “There is so much,” Nathan gasped from above her. She couldn’t speak. White light was searing through her brain as her entire chest seemed to open up. Her back was arched from the power of what he had released.

  Then she felt him between her legs. The sensations all blurred together, but his mouth was cool and wet where she throbbed. He supported her hips with his arms, though he barely needed to. He kissed her, then swirled his tongue through all the right places. Then he did a long, sucking pull. Oh, my God. Kiss. Swirl. Pull. Kiss. Swirl. Pull.

  The orgasm came in a rush—but there were so many other sensations that she almost didn’t notice. The contractions deep in her belly were a simple addition to the steady rhythm he had started with. But now her entire spine was involved, contracting below, pushing the energy upward, where it swirled at her chest before dispersing.

  He began lifting and lowering her hips. An inch down, an inch up. He timed each beat with the same sequence—kiss, swirl, pull. She hadn’t known it was possible to orgasm for more than a few seconds, but now she realized that with every beat, the contractions intensified.

  “Too much,” she gasped. Much too much. Her entire body was beginning to undulate as her contractions still gained in strength. Her toes were curling, drawing power up her shins and thighs. Then his mouth added to the pulse and the power. Her belly contracted, pushing the energy higher.

  Her head was thrown back, then her neck began to throb with what he did. She arched then released then arched again. Her fingers clutched the cushions, contracting of their own accord at his rhythm. Her arms added their power, as did her breath, her thoughts, her entire being.

  All collected—collided—beneath her breast bone where flash after flash of energy burst through her breasts. It was all energy—invisible but so real—and it was coalescing into a river that poured out of her.

  And still he continued. He was gripping her hips now, otherwise she would have bucked out of his hands. Kiss. Swirl. Pull. “Open!” he cried, the order adding its own vibration to the overwhelming pulse. “Open now!”

  Then he put his mouth on her and sucked sharply. Whoosh! The energy door flew open right below his lips. Only this point did not release power, it drew it in. She felt the roar of lightning spear through her. From clit to womb it burst in, then remained—a steadily growing current of fire—moving inward. Upward. And her orgasm that had been strong before, now grew in proportion and intensity.

  “Do you feel the circle?” he asked. “Does the power flow from breast to womb and back up?”

  It did. She could feel it. Her orgasm pumped the heat up her spine until the energy flowed from her chest. But now, it continued outside her body, then curled back in, drawing up that bright cord from clit to womb, adding more velocity to the flow, more current. More power.

  An eternal feedback loop of fire. It grew and grew until she felt pierced by a river of light. Expanding through her groin, widening through her belly as the orgasmic pump pushed the energy upward again.

  She began to scream. It wasn’t a single cry, but an ever-expanding sound that engulfed her. She was no longer a body encasing a river. She became the river. Her body was simply a small part—the smallest part—of an ever-growing circle of sensation.

  Her mind shut down. She was a ri
ver of joy. She was beyond anything she had ever known.

  Ecstasy.

  NATHAN GENTLY SETTLED Tracy on his bed, taking time to cover her though her body still burned with yin fire. He didn’t even have to touch her to feel her heat. She radiated like the sun and he closed his eyes for a moment just to appreciate it.

  Her yin power washed over him, warm and sensuous but with the strength that was integral to her character. He took a deep breath. And then another. And in the third, clarity flashed through his mind.

  It was happening again. The forbidden event, and the real reason he had chosen to go to school in the United States. He was falling in love with a student. Attachments were inevitable between teacher and pupil, but this was more. When he saw Tracy, he didn’t just take pride in her progress, in the shift from skeptic to tigress. He saw the fierce love she poured into this building and the softening in her eyes when she spoke about her brother. She was a tigress in more ways than her sexuality. And he was falling hard for her.

  He sighed and forced himself to step away. She was a tigress. She belonged at the temple. And he…He had no wish to go back there again. His life was ahead of him, not back in Hong Kong with greedy tigresses.

  Though it tore at his soul to admit it, he could no longer stay around Tracy. He had to end their relationship now before he lost himself in her. He would not fall in love with Tracy.

  He booted up his laptop and began composing an e-mail to the Tigress Mother and the head male practitioner Dragon Stephen Chu. With the right words, he could ensure that Tracy had a place at the temple. Even more, he knew that after a few choice hints, Stephen would move heaven and earth to get this newest tigress beside him in Hong Kong.

  Within a week, Tracy would probably be half a world away.

  Chapter 10

  TRACY WOKE ON A LUMPY mattress to the sound of…horse racing? She rolled over and blinked her eyes. It was nearly pitch-black and a little cold, so she wrapped the thin blanket tighter about her body. Nathan’s scent rose with the fabric, and she buried her nose to inhale even more deeply.