The Tao Of Sex (8 page)

“Then stop me.”

He didn’t, though she felt the conflict within him. Then she began to move with his strokes. As he circled her breasts, she drew her hands higher on his thighs. At first it was a small movement, a simple shift of her wrists. But as he continued to flow around and around her breasts, she began to lengthen her movements. She extended her arms and grabbed him just above his knees.

His muscles were clearly defined there. The thin cotton fabric did nothing to disguise the lean strength of him. She knew she could grip her hands as tightly as possible and he would barely notice. She began with a grip, but as his thighs widened, her hands opened, making her touch more of a caress.

His arms tightened. The chair back creaked as he leaned harder against it, more fully into her. He no longer touched her with just the pads of his fingertips, but the full lengths of his fingers. And though he was careful not to touch her nipples, more and more of her breasts hummed beneath his stroke.

“Focus on the energy,” he whispered. “This is not sexual—”

“Shh,” she interrupted. His words were disruptive. Yes, she felt the energy expanding all around them. She was her body, but also so much more. And together, they were like a bright flame of light.

And contrary to what he claimed, it was also very sexual. Her breasts were pulsing with power that throbbed on a direct line to her womb. Even better, that beat seemed to echo through their joined energy, reverberating in her mind and through her hands where she stroked his thighs.

“Touch me,” she whispered.

“This is not sexual,” he began.

“Touch me!” she ordered, and she felt power echo through the words. Then at the peak of her stroke, she stretched one hand farther up so that she had his cock in her grasp.

She heard him gasp in alarm, and his hips jerked in reaction, but he didn’t move away. His body thrust forward into her palm and in that moment, she knew she had won. He had his dragon power, a force she didn’t even begin to understand, but apparently, she had her own strength. She could touch him, she could hold him and feel the heat of him like a sun. It arrowed through her hand all the way up her arm. It stroked across her palm, allowing her to measure the length and girth of him. And most of all, it allowed her to wrap her fingers around him and keep him right there, hard and hot.

She let her head fall back against his shoulder and wished that they didn’t have a hard wooden chair between them. Then she simply breathed, letting her lungs expand into his hands as they now spread around her full breasts, cupping them as a man would. He held her now, without circles, without intention, he simply held her as she held him.

“What now, Grasshopper?” she asked.

“The tigress wants to play, does she?” he answered, his voice a seductive caress.

“She does.” She pulled her hand upward a bit so that she could roll her forefinger across his tip. She felt the wetness in his pants and knew he trembled behind her.

“Then lean forward into my touch and spread your legs.”

She did, but she was still wearing her sweatpants. They felt hot and confining, but when Tracy shifted her free hand to release them, he tightened his arm, holding her still.

“But my pants—”

“I am going to penetrate you with my energy, Tracy. I will not touch you more than I am now, but my chi will. My masculine dragon power will dance in your cave until you quiver your delight. In this way, you will know it is real.”

“Really?” she asked, fear and excitement building inside her. “Is that really possible?”

She felt his face turn toward her neck, and then his lips pressed against her, right at the pulse point beneath her jaw. “Not only is it possible, Tigress Tracy, but it is only the beginning.”

She thought about telling him then. She thought about confessing how new all of this was. Sure the energy stuff was very unique, but did she tell him that no man had ever…That she had never…

His hands began to move again, and her thoughts scattered. Whatever she had done—or not done—in the past didn’t make a difference. This was about now, and she didn’t want it to stop. She wanted to learn what she had been missing all those years. And so she closed her mind to her other thoughts and let herself experience this.

His hands circled around her breasts, spiraling around until they nearly reached her nipples, but this time it felt different. This time, there was a dangerous tension in his movements. As if he really was a dragon wrapping around her body.

His hands tightened—not painfully but deeply. She was sure he could feel her ribs beneath her breasts, but his energy went further. It slipped around her nipples to coil inside her chest. With every pulsing compression from his hands, his power pushed deeper, like a living flame tunneling straight through her.

Beneath her hand, she felt his penis come alive, as well. It seemed to move, twisting and shifting in an echo of what she felt inside her. She heard his breath, deep and long, heating the skin at her neck, over her collarbone and down around her breasts. All was movement and flame—in her hand, deep in her chest, and rolling over her skin.

“What is that?” she whispered.

“Yang power. Refined, purified, and aimed like an arrow shot from a bow.”

“Aimed where?” she whispered, though she knew the answer.

“To you. To your core, Tigress.”

“I’ve never…” The words slipped out, but then were cut off in a gasp of surprise. He nipped the back of her neck. A shiver expanded from the sharp bite of sensation, only to be followed by waves of desire as his wet tongue stroked her skin. “Wow. Do that again.”

His lips curved into a smile. “Do not seek to instruct the dragon on how to stalk his prey.”

He squeezed her nipples—finally!—a single sharp twinge of sensation. Her thoughts had been on her neck, so the bolt of lightning caught her unawares, sizzling down that invisible cord to her womb and up another line straight into her brain. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She was leaning forward as he had instructed, but now she arched her back, curving her pelvis such that her inner core pressed down against the seat.

“Lean your head forward,” he whispered, this time from farther behind her ear.

She did, and her hair slipped across her shoulders to dangle before her face. The ends tickled the tops of her breasts, but her mind could not focus on that. Not with his hands still circling and now his mouth pressed to the base of her neck.

She frowned. Without her realizing it, he had slipped out of her grasp. He now stood above her and her hand rested again on his taut thigh.

“I want to touch you,” she said as she tightened her grip on his leg.

“You are touching me, and I am touching you. Do you feel my dragon stroking you?”

She shook her head, and her hair brushed across the backs of his hands before dropping on top of her nipples.

“Close your eyes and listen closer. You will feel it.”

She did, trying to hear over the rapid beat of her heart. She felt a presence inside her. An energy that throbbed and tingled deep in her core. Was that him? Rubbing against her womb? That was what it felt like—a thick, wonderful presence deep in her belly. Not physical, and yet she felt it so clearly.

And while she was focused so intently on the sensations in her belly, he bit the back of her neck. She gasped, arching in reaction. “Is that your dragon power? That…” She gasped again as the energy deep in her belly shifted—seeming to slide up and down inside her. “Oh, God.”

He didn’t answer except to swirl his tongue over the bite on her neck. Her entire body was trembling. It was wonderful and terrifying at the same time. She had never even imagined sex like this.

“Don’t think,” he said against her spine. His mouth had dropped lower now to just below the base of her neck. “Just feel.”

She didn’t have a choice as he nipped then soothed the nobs of her spine. Her shoulders trembled. Then he dropped another inch. She felt his lips tickling her skin, murmuring something against her secret vulnerability—the spot high between her shoulder blades. It was her secret vice and the reason she kept her hair long. She loved the feel of something touching her at the center point between her shoulders.

He knew about it. He knew how to brush his lips ever so lightly right there. No bites—that would be too much—but then he did something that made all the strength go out of her legs. He flattened his mouth against her skin and sucked. Once, lightly. Then again, harder. And then a third time—hard.

Pop! It felt as if he’d popped a cork, and out of the hole poured energy. It was a simple stream at first, tingling as it passed through her spine and into him. But then far below in her belly, his energy stroke thrust hard, pulsing in time with the suction of his mouth. It was a like a pump, pushing the power flow upward.

His hands began to move on her breasts, as well. He squeezed her nipples rhythmically—everything was timed together—adding power and strength to the river of current flowing through her.

Then her orgasm began. It wasn’t a ripple as she was used to on those secret nights alone. This was a full-body explosion that began with her womb, bringing her thighs along as she squeezed her legs together. Her entire lower body began to pulse in time with the compression of her nipples. She undulated from bottom to top where he pulled the power out with his mouth.

The contractions increased. More and yet more. She didn’t even have the breath to scream. He changed his grip on her nipples, pulling now instead of squeezing. She might have been horrified, but what it did to her breasts added to the power. Every stroke sent tiny fire bolts from her breasts to her core, adding to the orgasmic wave—there was no other way to describe it—that rolled up her spine. And it was still building.

Oh, God. Her fingers were throbbing. Her hair was on end. Even her brain was orgasming. And still it went on. She thought she was going to pass out from the pleasure of it all. Nobody could withstand this forever. She was going to have a brain aneurism or something.

Oceanic waves of pleasure crashed up her spine. More and more. She heard him gasp and the suction broke against her skin. It was just a moment until his lips returned, but it was enough to disrupt the rhythm. The internal pump continued, but his hands were no longer steady. He was shuddering!

She felt his tongue, swirling again at that wonderful place, and she felt the flow increase again, but not for long. The overall response was diminishing.

“No…” she whispered. And yet there was welcome relief, as well. A steady glow was replacing the waves, which were steadying into a sweet tremble. She was able to take a breath, and for a moment the increased oxygen added a surge to the contractions. But all too soon that faded. The current continued, tightening from a river down to a stream into a tiny thin wire still vibrating up her spine to his lips. How bright she felt! Like a wire filament in a lightbulb burning brighter than the sun. Then it, too, began to dim. A thousand watts. A hundred watts. A simple night-light of gentle warmth.

She collapsed forward, completely boneless. He took her weight easily. She barely noticed when he shifted her to lie sideways in his arms. Then without another word, he lifted her up and carried her from the kitchen.

She drifted in and out of consciousness as he climbed the stairs. It wasn’t that she lost herself into darkness. Her entire body still glowed. She simply lost awareness of the world as she floated in a bright sea of joy.

He set her down in her bed and stripped her out of her sweatpants with quick efficient movements. He left her panties on, though she would have preferred he take those, too. His hands were respectful, even reverent, as if what he did was a form of worship.

Tracy wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. She wanted to thank him or hold him or ask when they could do that again, but she hadn’t the control. Instead, she let him pull the covers over her nearly naked body then brush the hair from her face.

The stroke of his fingertips across her cheek revived the fireflies for a brief second. They tingled in his wake, then quieted back into satiated ecstasy. She felt his lips then, a brief touch on her mouth followed by a long slow stroke of his tongue across her lower lip. It was the coup de grâce, and she roused herself enough to open her eyes when he pulled away.

“That…” She didn’t know what to say. It had been overwhelmingly incredible? Beyond imagination fabulous? Nothing fit, and she saw his lips curve in a very male smugness.

“That was just the beginning,” he said. “You are in balance for now. Yin and yang are equalized and so your body will be able to rest. Find me tomorrow if you want to learn more.”

THE KNOCK ON HIS DOOR was insistent. A rapid three beats—bap, bap, bap—then a pause only to begin again. Bap, bap, bap. Loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to disturb the neighbors at…Nathan glanced at his cell phone—2:17 a.m.

He knew who it was. Tracy. No one else would disturb him at this hour. But it was eight days since their last encounter. He’d given up hope that his landlady would return.

He shoved out of bed, pulling on his teaching pants merely because they were the closest thing at hand. His toes curled in reaction as they touched the chilled wood floor, but that was all to the good. His dragon had leaped fully awake at the Tracy’s first knock. Now that she was on her fourth series of taps, freezing feet could only help him walk upright.

“I’m coming,” he grumbled, annoyed to realize how strong his voice was and how quickly he made it to the door. Given the power of her yin energy, he had expected her to show up a week ago. After two days of waiting, he had begun to worry. Had she hurt herself? She hadn’t been around the apartment building at all. One of his neighbor’s walls remained half-painted and the front hallway had grown cluttered with fall leaves and muddy footprints.

After five days absence, he realized what must have happened. A tigress’s awakening was unusual among students who’d trained for years and Tracy was a neophyte. So when he’d pulled all that yin from her in her kitchen, her feminine aspect must have gone back to sleep. With her yin and yang balanced, she had returned to her normal life, probably working hard to forget it had ever happened. And since she was likely embarrassed by the events, she would avoid him like the plague, and he would never see her again.

The pain of that thought had left him unable to study for two more days. Tonight had been the first night he had managed to fall into an exhausted sleep despite the woman who still haunted his thoughts. And now here she was, hovering uncertainly on the other side of his door in the middle of the night. Could he have been wrong? Was her tigress still awake? If so, a week’s loss of training would have built up the yin in her system to a frightening level. And wouldn’t that just serve her right for ignoring him—and her own condition—for over a week?

He was grinning as he unlocked the door, but he pretended sleepiness. He cracked the entrance wide enough to see her clearly, but not enough to invite her in. Then he leaned against the door frame and prepared to look his fill at his gorgeous landlady.

The smile faded the moment he saw her. She looked wonderful and terrible at the same time. Her eyes were bright and clear, but with a feverish intensity that seemed to eat him alive. She wore baggy sweats and a loose T-shirt, but her body clearly reacted to every shift of the ugly fabric. Her nipples were pointed; her hips swayed in enticement, even as she folded her arms across her chest and swallowed in anxiety.

Her tigress was still awake. And clearly, she had tried to deny it, suppressing the demands of her awakened body until she was literally sick with her own yin abundance.

“Sorry to wake you, Mr. Gao,” she said. Her voice held a husky rasp that went straight to his organ, tightening his dragon pearls to painful intensity.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t trust himself. Everything inside him urged that he drag her inside his apartment and relieve her suffering. But he’d already done that a week ago. He’d balanced her chi in a night that still haunted his thoughts. She needed training, not a quick fix.

“May I come in?” she asked.

He took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. She was surrounded by the musky smell of a tigress on the prowl. It burrowed deep into a man, bypassing his mind and going straight for the most primal needs.

“I…I need to come in, Mr. Gao. Nathan. Please.”

“You need to balance your energy again, Miss Williams. You have let things go way too long.”

She swallowed, her skin becoming even more pale. “That’s…um…what I wanted to talk to you about.” She glanced nervously about the empty hallway. “Can I come in please?”

“Why?”

She ran a hand through her full, shimmering hair. His dragon reacted predictably to the sight of the wavy brown silk. His mind saw that her hand trembled. “I thought…I mean, I hoped…I would like to see if you would.” She closed her eyes, then said something that must have cost her greatly in pride. “I brought condoms. A whole box.”

His dragon leaped forward. She noticed, of course. His loose pants could not hide everything. She stepped forward, sure of her welcome, but he didn’t move. Though lust rode him hard, he resolutely barred the door to her.

“You don’t need another balancing, Miss Williams. You need training.”

“Okay. Okay.” She put her hand on the door. “But I can’t think right now.”

He didn’t budge. “What have you been doing? Ignoring it? Hoping it would go away?”

She flushed. The rosy tint to her cheeks looked better than any model’s and then she wet her lips, leaving behind a glossy shimmer that nearly made him miss her next words.

“I thought maybe it was just one of those things, you know?”

He did know. But he couldn’t let her give in to the need to just forget. “And now?”

She looked up and tears shimmered in her eyes. “I’ve been having these thoughts. Lustful thoughts. Fantasies.” Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Urges.”

“A tigress must be satisfied. That’s why—”

“About my brother’s friends!” she continued, her voice tight with panic. “Boys! Young, teenage boys in their football gear with their tight bottoms lifting up.” She swallowed. “I was watching a game and you don’t want to know what I was thinking!”

He could well imagine. But she didn’t stop long enough for him to comment.

“I touched one of them. Not on purpose. Well, yes on purpose, but not because I meant to. I mean…” She closed her eyes.

“Did you hurt him?”

“What? No! I was working concessions and he came for a drink. A bottled purple…whatever. I took his money. I got his bottle. But when I was handing it over…” Her voice broke. “He wasn’t even cute, but it didn’t matter. He was young and healthy and when I touched his hand, I looked into his eyes.” She raised her gaze, humiliation staining her cheeks. “I licked my lips and smiled. It wasn’t anything, except it was. He knew what I meant. I knew what I meant. Thank God there were other people there. Part of me was ready to take him behind the bleachers right then and there!”

He frowned, not understanding her panic. “But you did nothing wrong.”

“But I wanted to! Don’t you see? He was my brother’s friend!” Her voice was rising on a wail of panic that would soon alert his neighbors. And then she startled him. She shoved hard against the doorway, her hunger overcoming her natural restraint. “Please let me in, Nathan.”

He stared at her, his thoughts whirling in confusion. He had grown up in a tigress temple, seen women learning the ways of sexuality from the moment he could focus his vision. His own dragon education had begun when he was just learning to read; in fact, his first Chinese characters had been learned from the sacred texts. Never, ever had he met a woman so stubbornly confused by her own sexuality. And that, heaven help him, was in part why she was so attractive to him.

Every woman at the temple had tried to seduce him or his brother at one time or another. They were the only men around. But Nathan had never felt such an incredible pull toward any of them. Tracy was the exact opposite of every woman he’d ever known. She was competent at business, strong physically, and not in the least bit averse to hard work. And yet on the sexual side, she was nervous and uncertain. Before all this had begun, she’d been a shy flirt. And now, she resisted her sexuality until she was literally sick with it. Who could understand such a woman? And who could resist teaching her to embrace her feminine power?

“Nathan,” she whispered, her voice making his belly tighten with hunger. “Please. I don’t want them. I want you.”

“Why did you wait?” he pressed.

“I…I…” She swallowed, then she looked into his eyes and he saw stark terror in them. “I’m afraid. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be like this.”

“But why?” He truly didn’t understand. What woman wouldn’t want to be a sexual goddess? A woman lusted after by every man alive?

“Just make it go away. Make it all stop.”

“You have to come to a class, Tracy. You have to learn to control the tigress.” The need to comfort her burned inside. He wanted to hold her, to take the fear from her eyes. But if he touched her, if he once gave in to temptation, there would be no stopping. He was already rock hard, his every cell straining for her. “I cannot take advantage of you like this,” he said, as much to himself as to her.

“I’ll pay you.”

He blinked, her words dousing his fire more effectively than a cold shower. “I’m sorry?”

She blanched, then abruptly rubbed her hand over her face. “I don’t know what I’m saying. Nathan, I don’t know what to do!”

God help him, he was tempted. She obviously needed help. She didn’t yet realize that she would need balancing on a regular basis. Weekly, at least. It was not as if it were a hardship for him, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t use her like that even though every cell in his body screamed for him to ease her suffering.

Nathan moved fast. Spinning around, he grabbed a book off his shelf, then returned to the door to block it before she could push her way in. He nearly didn’t make it. She had her shoulder against the door, but he caught it before she could nudge it open. He shoved the book at her, careful not to touch her or his resistance would crumple entirely.

“Study this,” he said. “It will give you basic exercises. Don’t come back until you have mastered the initial forms.”

She stared at him, her mouth slipping open in shock. “You want me to read a book?” she gasped. “When you could…When we could be…You want me to read?”

No!“Yes.”

Her eyes widened as the truth finally hit her. He wasn’t going to touch her tonight. “But there’s another football game tomorrow evening!”

He tried not to imagine it. He tried not to think of her under the bleachers with any one of the willing American boys who would happily join her there. “Read fast,” he said. And then he did the hardest thing he’d ever done in his entire life.

He shut the door.