Trancing the Tiger (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 1) (10 page)

All this talk of tigers and rabbits and Zodiac animals spun her mind even more…around and around like a carousel she couldn’t hop off of. Everything blurred, but what had begun to stand out was how these people seemed to buy into their Zodiac natures.

“Do you really believe you’re a tiger? Like,
rawr
.” She pawed the air, chuckling at her horrendous imitation.

Sheng’s lips thinned, but his eyes crinkled as though he was trying not to laugh. He leaned in dangerously close to her mouth. “Is that the sound you think a tiger makes?”

“Isn’t it?” Her airy words fanned between them. A challenge? An invitation?
Can’t tell, don’t care.
She was precariously close to finding herself entranced by this sexy, baffling man.

His hand grazed down her back, angling her body toward his, while his other came to rest on her thigh. Her bare, exposed thigh. The hem of the pink lace dress she wore barely covered her lacy thong. His fingertips skimmed along her thigh, sending cascading shivers bursting over her skin.

“Are you going to make me do that thing again? That trance?” The way he stared at her, searching intensely, at once stimulated her and pinned her.

“No,” he murmured. “I will not show you my Tiger again until you are ready. Until your Rabbit has come out from its den.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb, then dropped it lower to part her lips.

“About my earlier conversation with Mei, I didn’t mean I wanted you to kiss me… Unless you want to, that is. Ah…are you going to kiss me now?” Lucy cringed.
Way to be smooth, Luce.

The corners of Sheng’s mouth curved, and his eyes flashed with amusement. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Bastard. Mocking her.

His thumb toyed with her lip for a moment before he sighed. With eloquent grace, he rose, cradling her in his arms. “You should rest. I’ll take you home.”

Rest? She struggled against rolling her eyes and protesting that she was fine. What was with him repeatedly telling her to go to bed, anyway? She wasn’t a baby who needed to sleep all the time.

As if her body went into full revolt, she yawned. She grimaced and covered her mouth with her hand. So much for not being a baby.

His raised brow pummeled her depleting pride, but it was the satisfied smirk on his lips that sealed the deal.

Just missed your shot, buddy, and there won’t be another.

They rode in the elevator to the ground floor where a private car awaited them. Sheng deposited her inside and climbed in from the other side. She drew her knees to her chin, careful to conceal her lacy thong. He’d missed that chance, too.

He conversed with the driver then swiveled to her, one arm stretched across the back of the seat, enticing her to crawl inside the warmth of his embrace.

She shrugged and focused on the window instead. She didn’t need a man to tell her when she was “ready.” Maybe Sheng was too Old World for her. A gentleman was charming, but she had no use for a controlling, domineering
Master
.

After they arrived at her uncle’s condo, she reached for her car door and depressed the handle. It didn’t budge.

Locked. The bastard.

She glared at him as he slid out of his side, strolled around the car, and swung open her door. The hand he extended received an even more lethal glower. She shoved her legs through first, braced the side of the car with her hand, and stepped out.

“Lucy.” Her name was a growl in his throat as she brushed past him. He didn’t manhandle her, but he walked right behind her, matching her stride for stride. Crowding her with his magnetic warmth.

Clutching her purse tighter, she quickened her steps through the sliding doors. Even hurrying, she didn’t beat him to the elevators. Sheng was fast. Exceedingly so.

He pressed the button to go up, his large body blocking the elevator entrance.

“Lucy.” Any hint of tolerance had vanished from his voice. “Look at me.”

She folded her arms and tapped her foot, glaring at the slow progress of the blinking lights as the elevator descended.

He was too used to getting his own damn way. The events of today had served to confuse her far more than clarify this situation she found herself in.

Part of her longed to head to her uncle’s flat. To be embraced in familial warmth. Even if she didn’t really know the man, he was family. He shared some characteristics with her father.

Dad. Mom.

She shoved her grief back down as she maneuvered past Sheng and through the opening elevator doors. The saner part of her struggled against running away, crying in her uncle’s arms like a child. She’d come here to prove, to herself and everyone else, that she was a survivor. Which meant not hiding anymore. Right?

Rabbit. She wrinkled her nose. How could there be a rabbit inside her without her even noticing? Ridiculous.

Sheng didn’t require
her
help, more like a therapist’s.

She opened her mouth to tell him so but, as her gaze passed over his face, the distress in his frown lodged the accusation in her throat.

He looked…hurt.

Mei’s words from earlier haunted Lucy’s mind.

For him to not touch me would be sheer torture.

***

Sheng inhaled and exhaled through his nose. His entire body was strung tight. Tiger thrashed against the cage inside.

Lucy wouldn’t touch him. Wouldn’t even glance at him.

Mine!
Tiger roared, pacing, prowling. Searching for any weakness in Sheng’s shields. His instincts told him to drive forward, snatch the Rabbit, and force it out of hiding.

What if she fell into a trance again? Sheng ground his jaw. He refused to risk that happening even though she didn’t understand how desperate he was to kiss her. How terrified he was of losing control if he did.

What if she fell into the trance and never came out?

Mei seemed pleased by the discovery but, to him, it was another cracked board on the bridge between Lucy and himself. Too much weight, and they’d both fall through.

You can’t make someone see what they don’t want to.

She wasn’t ready yet. He was more than willing to give her time, but she was an impatient little thing. Just because he’d eased back from kissing her once, she’d thrown herself into this huff.

And now, she wouldn’t touch him.

His heart sped as she lifted her thick lashes and made contact with his gaze. So much trepidation swirled in those golden eyes of hers.

“Where to?” Would she run to her uncle? With everything she’d undergone today, he wouldn’t blame her. Xiaodan was a thorn in Sheng’s ass, but he’d deal with the old man later. There wasn’t a thing Xiaodan could do. Lucy was Sheng’s to train. The chain of command held firm.

“I don’t understand what you want from me.” Her lips pressed thinly and her knuckles whitened where she gripped the strap of her purse.

Vulnerability was good. He could work with that. The tension eased from his shoulders. “Why don’t we start with what
you
want from
me
?”

Her eyes widened. “I never came to you.”

“No,” he agreed. Mei’s advice? Never try to win an argument with an infuriated woman.
Calm her down first. Make her feel safe.
Tiger grunted in approval.
Need to touch her.

Before he could stop the urge, his fingers stretched out to stroke her cheek. She tensed, but allowed the caress. Fuck, yeah.

He edged forward, careful to keep Tiger leashed, but refusing to give in before he’d gotten what
he
needed.

Then the damn elevator door dinged.

He glared at the sliding doors, Tiger chuffing. Snatching her hand, Sheng dragged her across the corridor to her door. She fumbled in her purse for her keycard. He snagged it from her hand and punched the card into the lock.

He nudged her through and the door groaned at being roughly shoved. Slamming it behind them with his foot, he whirled her around, bracing her back against the door.

“
Now
, I’m going to kiss you.” The warning resounded with a deep rumble in his chest. He didn’t give her a chance to respond as his mouth fell upon hers. Lucy’s sweet lips parted on a gasp, and he took advantage of her surprise to slip his tongue inside. She tasted like nectar, honeyed and luscious. Addictive.

He hardened instantly. She clutched his shoulders, a feminine whimper escaping her. He gripped her slender throat, holding her steady while he claimed her mouth, unleashing the hunger he’d suppressed since the second he’d first laid eyes on her. Sucking, thrusting, nipping, and delving.

Once he’d kissed her, she’d damn well
know
she was his.

His hips rocked against her soft warmth, his balls drawing up tight as she lifted her leg, cushioning him between her thighs. Fuck, he wanted to fuck her. This instant. Her flaring heat enveloped him, making his cock pulse in near-painful throbs.

He’d never desired any woman so badly. Never been so tempted by what he couldn’t, shouldn’t have.

Kissing her, alone, proved a huge mistake.

The best mistake of his life.

He released her throat and gripped her plush ass instead, lifting her to better grind against her. Her moans deepened, driving him to the edge.

He could get off with her. Just like this. Hell, he would, if he didn’t stop soon. So bloody satisfying. Every cell in his body burned for this woman. A passionate inferno that kissing her enraged, rather than pacified.

Damn, he was lost.

***

Lucy clung to Sheng’s broad shoulders, an anchor in this stormy sea of lust. The last thing she’d anticipated was for him to kiss her. Now that he was, she prayed he’d never stop. He kissed like he fought. Hard. Rough. Demanding. Absolutely every inch of him in command.

Her panties dampened from the friction of his shaft rubbing against her sex. Could he sense how wet she was? How needy?

Not a doubt in her mind remained that he was a skilled lover. He moved with far too much purpose to be anything less than masterful in bed.

Everything I’m not.

She cringed as her brain reminded her body she’d never done this, while he obviously took women to bed left and right. No way would his hands and mouth be this skilled otherwise.

Another moan echoed from deep in her throat as his lips left hers in order to seek out the hardened peak of her right breast. A talented swirl of his tongue. A teasing lick and pull. The careful grazing of his teeth.

Every action of his sealed her theory. Sheng was as sensual as he was strong.

“Ah, fuck, Lucy.” He ground his hips against hers, pushing the thick ridge of his erection into her core, hindered by the barrier of their clothes.

Abruptly, he pulled back from her breast, raising his head of thick, silky locks to stare into her eyes. “I want to fuck you. Right here, right now.”

It was one thing to be caught up in the moment, but for him to stop and pierce her with the decision snapped her back to reality.

She’d never slept with anyone. First, second, and third base, sure. In fact, she’d spent way too much time at third base, never quite seizing the opportunity to leap over to home.

His brows drew together. “You’re not a virgin, are you?” The muscles in his throat tightened as his dark gaze bored into hers.

If she told him the truth, would he stop? The fierce apprehension in his slashed brows warned her… Maybe.

Don’t say yes, don’t say yes, don’t say—

“Yes.” She clamped down hard on her mouth, but the word had already slipped out. Crap.

Sheng sprang backward as though she’d just stamped “undesirable” across her forehead. Like diving from a sauna into an icy lake, cool air condensed around her, shocking her system.

With a trembling hand, she tugged down the hem of her skirt while he paced ten feet away from her. Each time he cast a glance in her direction, he stopped with an abrupt shake of his head.

By the light streaming in from the French doors, she discerned the outline of the thick bulge in his pants. He was still aroused and interested, just not in her.

What the hell?

“You’re twenty-four.” He shot her an accusatory glare.

She stiffened. Yeah, a sore point for her as well, but she’d never met anyone worth having sex with…until Sheng. Judging by the glower on his face, that opportunity had flung itself out the window. She crossed her arms defensively. “My reasons are none of your business.” Anger replaced her humiliation. How dare he make her feel lesser because she
wasn’t
a whore?

“They damn well are, if I’d been about to—”

Tension gathered around the words he’d left hanging in the air. She narrowed her gaze on him, but decided it would be better not to hear the end of his sentence. He wasn’t the only one who had a say in this. Pulling herself together, she headed toward her bedroom.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going? We’re not finished.”

“Oh really?” She spun and smacked straight into his chest. Damn him for being so stealthy. Her fingers curled against his hard pecs, sending more condemned desires spiking through her system. “I’m pretty sure we are.”

His expression was calm, but even he wasn’t capable of concealing the heavy thudding of his heart beneath her fingertips. He snatched her wrists, extricating her fingers from his chest like he extracted an arrow.

Like it was excruciating.

What was he thinking? She licked her lips, her gaze flicking from his mouth—the mouth which had ravished her moments ago—to the indecipherable expression twisting his features.

The muscle in his jaw ticked from its tight clenching. “Don’t assume that because I stopped, I don’t want you.” His thumbs rubbed tiny circles over her wrists before releasing them.

Her breath lodged in her throat. What a way to diffuse her anger and leave her dumbfounded.

Without further explanation, he bent forward, inhaling as he brushed aside her hair, and planted a soft kiss on her neck.

Two seconds later, he stormed out the door.

Its slamming echo snapped her back to her senses. She gasped in her fullest breath since he’d started kissing her. Her fingertips grazed along her skin where the heat of his lips lingered. She shook her head. When would she learn? Sheng never conformed to any of her expectations.