by Jade Lee
She frowned, looking outside. “I thought you built the road up here.”
He shrugged. “A calculated risk.”
“I see.” She did, actually. Or guessed she did. “You’re the one buying the temple, aren’t you?”
His gaze sharpened with a gleam that had nothing to do with sex. Suddenly his smile shifted to a more professional competence that was even more devastating because it showed total confidence and a glint of pride. “I’ve waited a long time for this opportunity. I will ensure that the temple survives for another hundred years.”
She wanted to find out more. She wanted to know his plans for Nathan’s family. But in the end, she shook her head. “I’m sure I’ll learn more in time. Right now, I would like to go to the kitchen.” And Nathan. She wanted to see Nathan.
Stephen nodded, but he didn’t move. Instead, he hesitated. When he finally spoke, his voice was low as if he was confiding in her. “He does not love you, you know. Not how you think. Not forever, not the marrying kind of love.”
She gasped, startled by his words. How could he know she was thinking about Nathan?
He reached out and touched her arm. She felt the tingle there, of power arching from him into her. “A man knows when a woman is thinking of another man. But Nathan is a dragon, and we do not love that way.”
She stepped backward, trying to find clarity in her thoughts. But that would take more than just distance from this charismatic man. “I thought Nathan was kicked out of the temple.”
Stephen shrugged. “He was. His mother did not like him controlling her spending. But that has nothing to do with his training. He was trained as a dragon, trained as someone who touches women and moves on.” He shook his head sadly. “Nathan is in a difficult place. He had no example of marriage, normal love. He does not know his father, never heard of weddings until he was ten. He trained since birth to touch a woman and then move on.”
“He says he is not a dragon,” she said.
“His natural inclination is to attach too easily. This traps him in a place between—too flighty for marriage, but too attached to earth to attain heaven.”
“That’s not true,” Tracy said. “Nathan’s very stable. He’s taking care of his family, studying to get a good degree.” A list of his many admirable qualities formed in her mind while Stephen rocked back on his heels.
“Do not fall for him, Tracy. He is not your future.”
She folded her arms across her chest. Everything was happening too fast. She had wanted to learn more about Nathan’s family, not plunge headlong into temple politics. But then again, perhaps they were one and the same. Meanwhile, Stephen did not ease up his campaign to win her.
“Every tigress, every dragon must choose between earth or heaven,” he said. Then he touched her face, skating a finger over her lips. “Choose heaven and I can give you everything you want.” He let his hand drop away. “Choose earth and we will have no more to discuss.”
She bit her lip, finally understanding what she had been missing. “Nathan chose earth. That’s why he says he’s not a dragon. He chose to manage things here on earth.”
Stephen shrugged. “Someone has to make sure the bills are paid, the food is cooked. There is great honor in that path.”
“But it is not a dragon’s path?”
Stephen’s smile grew sensuous, and his entire demeanor shifted into that dark, primal place that called to her on an animalistic level. “I am the dragon path,” he said.
She swallowed, her options crystal clear: Stephen or Nathan. Except according to Stephen, Nathan was too flighty to be a real life mate on earth. “You’re a persuasive man, Mr. Chu. You make it sound like you’re my only choice.”
“Don’t you long to return to heaven?” he pressed. “I can take you there. Again and again, we can both dance with immortals.”
She was tempted. The urge to run with Stephen was like a mythical call. But she was more than just her sexual side, and she would not make a decision like this without thought.
“Nathan said he’d be in the kitchen,” she said. “Can you show me where that is?”
“Over here,” he said in a normal voice. His sexuality abruptly masked beneath his smooth, urbane, ultrarich persona, Stephen escorted her to the largest kitchen she had ever seen.
Tracy stepped inside and was hit by the delightful scents of soy sauce, spicy pork and herbs. Heat crackled across her face, but her attention was on scanning the huge room. She saw movement everywhere: people chopping or stirring or steaming things along a huge wood table or by an equally huge stove. Gleaming pots cluttered her vision, and strange roots dangled from the ceiling. But in all that, she focused on one person: Nathan. He sat at a large wood table and sipped tea. A dumpling lay half-eaten on a plate before him.
Their eyes met immediately, and then his gaze flickered to Stephen right behind her. She stepped forward, wanting Nathan’s attention to return to her. It didn’t. In fact, he seemed to carefully avoid her as he stood up from his seat.
“Ready now?” Nathan asked.
“If you are,” Stephen answered.
“I am.”
“Then, shall we?”
Nathan nodded and grabbed his battered attaché from the floor. Seconds later, both men had left the kitchen without one more glance at Tracy. She watched them go, still hoping for a connection with Nathan. A look, a touch, anything to remind her that he was still the same Nathan who had carried her into her bedroom, who had served her an omelet and kissed her senseless. But there was nothing.
“He can’t see you anymore,” said a woman from behind her.
Tracy spun around to see Nathan’s sister standing by the table. “What?”
“Nathan. He’s handed you over to your new partner. Since he’s not part of the temple anymore, he can’t talk to you. He’s only allowed in the kitchens and back gardens, and that’s just because he’s family.”
Tracy swallowed. “That’s silly. He’s taught me everything.” And she felt lost without him.
Cai Ting gave her a wry smile. “That’s exactly why. Do you honestly think you’re the first tigress to fall for her teacher? Trust me, it’s better this way. Break ties. Move on. Easier for everyone.” Then she leaned forward, her expression abruptly fierce. “Better for him.”
Tracy swallowed, realizing that everyone here, most especially Nathan, expected her to embrace this tigress training, toss aside everything she knew and abruptly walk into the land of the divine. It couldn’t be that simple. It sure as hell didn’t feel that easy. And yet, the thought of returning to that heavenly place tempted her. Not to mention the youthful gorgeousness gifted to full tigresses. If Stephen could get her there—and he obviously had as much skill as Nathan—then shouldn’t she consider what they suggested? She bit her lip, feeling confused and disoriented.
Cai Ting shook her head. “You need a break. Here, Nathan had me get something for you.”
Tracy followed the woman to the table and a covered dish. A moment later, Cai Ting lifted off the lid, and Tracy’s heart melted in a rush. Nathan had ordered this for her? With a grin, she grabbed hold of the biggest and best burger she’d ever had in her life.
TRACY OPENED HER EYES to the deepest darkness she’d ever experienced. She tensed, her mind grappling with sensations too rapid to catalog. She was naked and blind. And not alone.
“It’s me,” came a soft, familiar voice. “It’s Nathan. I’m sorry I woke you.”
She exhaled in relief, her body sagging into a large comfortable bed. But she was still blind. Her eyes were open, but there was no electricity in the temple and no moon tonight. She might as well have been in a cave, except that she was warm and the silence was comforting, especially with Nathan there…somewhere.
“What time is it?”
“After two in the morning.”
“Really? It feels like later.” Sleep was rapidly fading as she sat up.
“It’s after noon back home.”
Of course. Jet lag. “
Where are you?”
“Right here.” She felt the mattress dip by her feet as he settled on the bed.
“I should be annoyed at you for abandoning me.”
“It’s the rules, Tracy. I shouldn’t even be here now, but I…”
“Had to see me?” She couldn’t keep the hope from her voice.
“How was your first day?” he asked, obviously avoiding her question.
“Gorgeous women, ancient texts, frank discussions of sex with your mother.” She sighed with dramatic intent. “You know. The usual.”
“Of course,” he said, humor lacing his tone. She felt the mattress shift as he leaned back against the headboard. “And did you enjoy the usual?”
She hesitated, trying to frame her thoughts. “I got a bunch of stuff on how to control the tigress in me. At least now I’m not so afraid I will jump the next male body I see.”
“You never would have. Your strength of will is very disciplined.”
“Oh,” she teased, “you say that to all us tigress girls.” Then she sobered, realizing that he may have said exactly that to other girls. She felt the mattress shift again as he stood, and she abruptly reached out. “Nathan?”
She felt a soft kiss flutter across her cheeks. “Good night, tigress.”
“Nathan!” she called again. But she couldn’t say it loudly for fear that someone else would hear. And within another breath, she knew he was gone. She collapsed backward on the bed in a huff. Then she heard him, a voice from the hallway, whispering such that she could barely catch the words.
“Yes, I had to see you.”
SHE WAS AWAKE WHEN he came the next night. She’d been waiting for him, dozing fitfully, alert for the slightest sound. She’d already leaped upright when one of the temple cats had meowed in the hallway. But this time she knew it wasn’t a false alarm. She knew he was there, standing in the darkness looking at her, though how he could see anything was beyond her.
“You are awake,” he said, his voice a warm jolt of electricity to her spine. If she hadn’t been alert before, she was now.
“I didn’t see you today,” she said as she sat up in bed.
“The temple finances are a disaster,” he answered as he moved into her room. “How my mother can mess things up so quickly is beyond me. She only had a few months, but…”
“Big debt?”
“Big ignorance. She simply doesn’t want to understand anything mortal. Her whole focus is the divine, and as such, it is our duty to support her in her quest.”
“You mean your duty.” She wrapped her hands around her knees.
He was silent for a long moment, but then she heard him step closer. “It is my duty as—”
“Yeah, yeah, oldest male. Embrace the responsibility. I understand that Nathan, I really do. I just feel bad because it obviously wears on you.”
Tracy felt the mattress dip and smiled. He was going to stay for a bit. She’d set a candle on the bedside table and now lit it with unsteady hands. A warm glow filled the chamber, and she was able to finally see him sitting in his wrinkled suit. The light was gentle enough to emphasize his beauty, but she also saw the weariness in his face and the droop in his shoulders.
“You’re tired,” she said. “Did you get anything to eat?”
He nodded. “My sister left food for me. But what of your day? Temple accounting cannot be nearly as interesting as your first full day as a tigress.”
“Doubtful.” Today had been a day for Stephen to show off his many accomplishments. Under the guise of “orienting her to Hong Kong,” she had wandered the finest boutiques where he had bought her silk robes and sexy lingerie. She had dined in a floating restaurant and then had high tea at the Mandarin hotel. Nathan knew, of course. One of the first things she’d discovered was that she was big news in this little community of women. “You didn’t tell me Stephen was that rich. I mean, wealthy, yes, but über-rich? Top-twenty-in-the-world rich?”
His gaze slanted down to the silk coverlet. “Money is nothing to him. He can put you and your brother through college and think nothing of it. He could set you up with diamonds, cars, a villa of your own. Whatever you want, Stephen can give it all to you.”
“I don’t want material things.” She saw him arch a brow at her, and she had the grace to blush. “Okay, okay, so I like the money. I’m human. And frankly, nobody is more surprised than me. But all I want is a financial cushion. I don’t need a whole pillow factory.”
He frowned at her, and she knew she wasn’t making any sense.
“I want enough wealth to live comfortably. I don’t need über-wealth.”
“And heaven?” he pressed.
And right there was the problem. Every moment she was with Stephen—no matter what he did or what he said—there was something elemental in her attraction to him. His energies, her energies—they yearned toward one another. It didn’t help that deep down, she kinda liked the guy. He was unfailingly suave. And who wouldn’t love being wined and dined by a gazillionaire?
“There’s nothing between us,” she said as much to herself as to Nathan. “Chemistry, yes. But a connection? No.”
“That makes it easier to launch to heaven, Tracy. Earthly attachments—”
“I know.” She’d already heard it from everyone. One couldn’t focus on the divine when your mind—or your heart—was on your partner. “Nathan—”
“It will get easier, Tracy. Give it time.” Was there a flash of regret in his eyes? She couldn’t tell in the dim candlelight. And worse, he was already standing up to leave.
“Don’t go, Nathan. Stay and talk to me. Tell me about the sale of the temple.”
He paused, his eyes warming into friendship. “What have you heard?”
“Nothing. Honest.” She shifted, crossing her legs as she faced him. “So what do you think Mr. I’m-so-rich-I-can’t-think-of-enough-ways-to-spend-it is going to do with the temple?”
“Keep it exactly the same or so it says in the contract,” answered Nathan softly. “I had hoped that Mama would take on some responsibility after I left. That she would see…”
“I doubt finances are your mother’s forte,” Tracy said drily. The Tigress Mother seemed to float through her days and nights, seeing only what she wanted to see, then ignoring all the rest for others to handle. Others like Nathan and his siblings.
“No,” he said with clear regret. “Managing money has never interested her.”
“So what are you going to do?”
He sighed. “Alienate my mother forever.” He reached out and gripped her hand, his warmth enveloping her. “The money will be evenly divided. We all will have plenty to live on assuming it is spent wisely.”
And there, of course, was the problem. “Will your mother spend wisely?”
He grimaced. “She will have to. She has destroyed her credit rating. So now, her monthly allowance will be given on a debit card. As long as she remains at the temple, her daily needs will be cared for. That, too, is part of the contract.”
Tracy smiled. “You’ve done well, you know. You’ve seen to everything and everyone fairly.” Then she sighed, guessing at the future. “She’s going to hate you for this, isn’t she?”
He shrugged. “That, too, sometimes is the lot of the eldest son.” He spoke casually, but she knew this wasn’t easy for him. She squeezed his hand and saw his expression tighten on his face. It was so intense, she felt as if he were actually touching her cheek, stroking her lips. Her belly tightened; her breath quickened. She had already consumed the yin-dampening tea, done her nightly meditation on not being horny. She’d done all the things she needed to so that she would not jump the nearest man.
But the nearest man was Nathan. And at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to touch him, to give comfort, to…She swallowed, realizing the truth in that moment. She wanted to give him the love he had been denied throughout his childhood. But the moment she leaned for him, he leaped out of bed, breaking the connection of their hands.
; “You’re tired, Tracy. And I shouldn’t even be in this part of the temple.”
“I’m not tired!” she cried. “And you’re here. Please, Nathan, don’t go.”
She should have saved her breath. He shook his head and crossed quickly to the door. “You’re a tigress now, Tracy. You cannot see what is possible with me blocking the view,” he whispered. Then he ducked into the hallway.
“Nathan, wait!” She was already dragging on a robe. Then she grabbed the candle and rushed to her door. But by the time she got there, the only living thing in the hall was another temple cat.
Chapter 18
HE SHOULD LET HER SLEEP. Nathan knew that Tracy had begun classes today. Few people understood the rigorous physical demands put on a tigress. Eternal youth and beauty had to be nurtured every day, and she would be sore and exhausted from her physical studies. He should let her sleep…but he couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.
He slipped into her room, inhaling deeply. Her scent filled his mind as it had filled his thoughts from the moment he’d first met her. It was clearer here than in Illinois. Here, she had no access to her perfumes; the air was not purified and circulated as in the United States, and most of all, his mother would have demanded that she throw out any lotions or deodorant.
So now when he saw her lying so sweet in her bed, he could inhale deeply and know that a tigress rested here. That a woman of extraordinary beauty and skill tempted men from this boudoir, and that he was privileged to enter. He smiled as he stepped to her bedside. He had already known that. He had seen her incredible potential long before his mother had begun feeding her purifying teas and food laced with aphrodisiacs.
He set his candle on her bedside table, right next to the one she kept there in case he visited. She lay twisted in the sheets, her body completely naked. He could see the lush mound of one breast, the rounded curve of her hip and the silky bronze coil of her hair about the pillow.
His belly tightened and his organ stretched for her, but he held back. She was not his. Now that she was learning what was possible, he would not remain long at her side. Her destiny was as a tigress. His was…not here. He would be better served to cut ties now. He extended his hand, needing to feel the dewy softness of her cheek, to touch the wet fullness of her lips. How he longed…