Trancing the Tiger (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 1) (25 page)

Lucy padded closer to him and stroked her fingers against his cheek. “It wasn’t your fault, Sheng.” Her delicate murmur smoothed over him. The weight of the guilt inside his chest made him long so badly to believe her.

“After Chicken, the Council realized they had a problem. Snake wouldn’t join with me, nor I with him, and the ones we’d recruited would be casualties caught in the middle.” Pacing to the temple wall, he grimaced, his anger shifting from himself to those bureaucratic assholes. “Instead of making a decision about who should lead, they push fucking papers around, waiting for the other Chosen to show up.”

She followed him and stilled his pacing by wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. He stiffened at the gesture, but since Tiger had been waiting the entire day for this affection, Sheng stroked her downy hair. She’d been through a lot these past couple of weeks. More than anyone should have to endure.

“What will the Council do when each of the spirits has chosen a side?”

He shrugged. “My guess is they’re waiting to see which side collects the most.”

“What happened to Chicken’s spirit?” She pulled back, posing the question he didn’t want to answer. Chicken’s death was a harsh reminder they
weren’t
immortal.

Even more, they were expendable. Every one of them. He wanted to believe the Council would respect the Jade Emperor’s choice of hosts, but he couldn’t shake his deepest, darkest fear: The Council was out to fuck them all.

Chicken died. The other Chosen could die, too. They could be replaced…possibly by more compliant hosts.

He sighed. “Who the hell knows?” Chicken hadn’t reappeared in a new host, but it was only a matter of time before the spirit popped up. The Earth was a shit pile of imbalance. The Plague God continued to roam freely, wreaking havoc. The Jade Emperor had to unite the Chosen soon.

Right?

He pressed his lips to her forehead, refusing to concede any other reality in this moment except holding Lucy in his arms. Her delicate fragrance, her sensuous curves. Every contrary action of the Rabbit ought to make him thrust her at Snake. Instead, he found himself drawing her closer, needing to protect her.

Her scrutiny hollowed through him, as if perceiving what even he didn’t accept. The past, the future. The uncertainty and the doubt. Yet she regarded him with compassion when she ought to be fleeing in the opposite direction.

What if Snake was right? What if Sheng was no good for her? What if he’d only hurt her in the end?

She lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips against his, eradicating every sensible notion in his brain. Instead of pushing her away as he should, he drew her closer, gripping her head and angling her mouth to explore her sensual offering.

He was hard before he’d had the chance to take a second breath. His mind screamed he should let her go while his body pleaded he wouldn’t survive if he did. The Matchmaker warned him against getting involved with Lucy yet, in this moment, he had but one thought.

Fuck the Matchmaker.

***

The moment Lucy brushed her lips across Sheng’s, there was no going back. The hard evidence of his arousal jutted into her stomach. His mouth was demanding against hers.

Need pooled in her core, and she moaned.

His hands dug into her ass as he flipped them around, pressing her back to the temple wall. He growled, easing back to stare at her with seduction in his eyes. “I shouldn’t want you, Lucy, but I do. Badly.” His chest heaved against hers. “I don’t want to corner you, to push you too fast too soon.” His brows drew together and he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I care about you.”

Warmth radiated through her body at his declaration. He wasn’t indifferent. Beneath his stoic exterior, he’d let her observe the caring man. The one haunted by a death he wasn’t responsible for. Who’d respect her wishes even if that meant choosing Snake.

She didn’t answer him with words; she’d squeak them anyway. Instead, she lifted on her toes and kissed him, first on his lips then along his jaw. Her mouth trailed a path lower, tracing the flesh exposed at the opening of his shirt. Her hands slipped under the hem, fingers skimming his abdominal muscles, which jerked in response.

“What the fuck are you doing?” His voice came out husky. She sank to her knees and unbuttoned the top of his jeans.

“I’m choosing. I’m not cornered.” She flashed a smile at him and cupped his thick length through the front of his pants, giving him a tight squeeze.

Slowly, she tugged the zipper down with one hand, teasing her fingers through his treasure trail with the other. By the way his hands grated against the wall behind her, she’d unnerved him. Was he torn between stopping her and holding out for what she promised?

Curiosity won.

He braced his hips, locking them as she opened the front of his jeans and freed his full, heavy length.

She licked her lips at the hard, warm flesh in her hands, eager to taste him. His chest rumbled, focus fastened on her. She moistened her lips and captured the tip with her mouth.

“Fuck.” He hissed as she twirled her tongue around him.

She moaned deeply in her throat and drew him in, hoping the vibrations augmented the intensity. A virgin she might be, but oral sex was no mystery to her. His rigid shaft throbbed beneath her ministrations, his abdominals and thighs tensed as she pleasured him. Satisfaction bubbled in her chest at being able to give him this. Not weak, not boring. Sheng would learn, right here, right now, never to underestimate her.

Sometimes the rabbit was the one pulling tricks out of a hat.

She cupped his soft sac in one hand, giving his balls a nibbling lick before diverting her attention back to his massive, demanding erection.

Licking. Sucking. Exploring. Oh yes, she’d give him more. More than he could bear. Then he might finally agree they stood on equal ground.

His low grunts and growls urged her on. His hips swayed. He released one iron hand from the wall to slide his fingers through her hair, gathering her locks in his fist to direct her mouth.

Deeper, she sucked him in before drawing him back out while he mastered her head with his hand.

“Fuck, Lucy.” His voice was husky. His British accent intensified as his words slurred, revealing how on edge she’d made him.

His hand yanked her head back while his hips thrust forward, his shaft weaving in and out of her mouth. She twined both hands around his steel length, guiding him into the pocket of her cheek, then into the back of her mouth.

The second time, his hips bucked, switching from smooth gliding to a passion-crazed euphoria.

He was close.

She gave his sac a forceful squeeze. A guttural curse emitted from Sheng while she tongued the tip of his shaft.

A string of muttered swear words spewed from his mouth. “Fuck, yesss. I’m going to come. Inside your mouth. Now. Take me, all of me.”

Despite his order, she was the one in command. With one last twisting pull, she wrenched her mouth off him and murmured, “Now who’s cornered?” Bolting out of his reach, she dashed away.

Leaving him to fulfill his orgasm alone.

***

Holy hell. One minute, Sheng was on the edge of the most intense orgasm of his life. The next, he’d lost every ounce of command. A second before his body spasmed out of control, he stopped his cock from spurting his cum without his permission. The orgasm he couldn’t prevent. So, as he fell back on his strict discipline, he forced the
jīng
—sexual energy—inward instead of ejaculating. By holding back his semen, he ensured the
jīng
stayed inside his body.

Lucy.
He gritted his teeth as images of releasing inside her brought him to the edge over and over again, his orgasm rippling through his body. Her mouth had been a decadence he’d never indulged in. But, fuck. She’d left him to enjoy this pleasure alone.

Tease. Yeah, that’s what she was. She’d aimed to teach him a lesson about not being as weak as everyone depicted her.

Lesson learned.

Time to switch roles. She’d pay for this, the almost uncontrolled release of his
jīng
.

He grunted as his cock stopped twitching and stuffed his unsated hard-on back into his pants. He hadn’t nearly had enough of her.

Yet.

Lucy would never stop surprising him, would she? He’d deemed her submissive, innocent, obedient.

Tonight, she’d shown him the precise opposite of these things. Her handling of him had been anything but virginal. Her expert mouth and hands dominated his flesh. Her teasing retreat was the last straw.

She hadn’t obeyed a single fucking command he’d given her.

Now, he’d worship her for it.

Tiger roused as Sheng sniffed the night air, searching for her floral scent. He loved nothing more than a good chase, and catching Lucy would be a sweet reward, indeed.

Because it was his turn to play Master.

She was a virgin. He had more experience than her, regardless of the exquisite manner in which she’d pleasured him. Sheng couldn’t wait to hear his name cry from her lips. To make her body shudder in ecstasy, giving her orgasm after orgasm without mercy.

She’d just declared war; he’d never lost a battle.

Tiger caught her scent as Sheng prowled through the maze of statues and scattered jungle plants. The perfume of her scent permeated the air. She hadn’t gone far.

She wanted to be caught.

He grinned until he spotted a delicate strip of pink lace strung over one of the statues. He seized the fabric. The silken material glided through his fingers.

Lucy. He growled low in his chest, bringing the lace to his nose as he inhaled the fragrance of her arousal clinging to the slip of fabric she’d worn between her thighs.

Tease.

His semi-erect cock jolted back to a full hard-on, pulsing with need. Tiger’s night vision pierced the darkness, seeking her slender frame.

There.

Perched on the waist-high ledge of an inactive fountain, she awaited him.

He stalked forward, deliberation in his every step. He calculated what he’d do to her, step by step, to make her his.

Starting with tonight.

He’d brand her so thoroughly, she’d never entertain anything but complete submission in his arms.

He detected the increased rise and fall of her perky breasts and the racing of her pulse as he approached.

Her eyes dilated and she fixed those remarkable eyes on him, nibbling her lower lip. “Did you enjoy that?”

Her sultry voice caressed his skin, prickling awareness into every inch of him.

He leaned in, grasping her chin between his finger and thumb. “You taunted the Tiger. Wanna know what happens when you do that?”

Her pink lips parted, releasing a sound between a moan and squeak.

“It means I get to take what I want,” he purred. “And I want you, Lucy. As mine.”

He dangled her lacy thong in front of her face. She reached to snatch it, but he stuffed the thong in his back pocket. “It’s mine now. As are you.” His focus lingered on her mouth before dropping to the swell of her breasts.

A shuddering breath passed her lips. As succulent as her mouth was, he hadn’t come here to kiss her. He had a point to make and it was far past time for him to stake his claim on her.

“Are you? Are you mine?” He raised a brow, searching her eyes for confirmation that she craved him as desperately as he desired her.

“Y-yes.”

Her breathy assent was the sole encouragement he required. He dipped his head forward and tugged one tight peak of her breast between his teeth.

She moaned, her toes digging into the dirt between them.

He slid his hand downward, massaging her ass before diving between her legs. “Wanted to touch you here, make you scream,” he rasped. “Ever since I heard you come in the infirmary.”

Her bare flesh greeted his fingers, hot and feverish. Slick with her essence.

Ready for him.

“Y-you heard me?” Any other time, her question probably would’ve come out accusatory but, here and now, she whimpered the words with breathy desire.

“Hell yeah, I did. Took care of myself, too, but I wish we’d done it together.” He wasted no time caressing his fingers along her clit, the little bud swollen.

A need he’d soon fulfill.

Rubbing her clit with his thumb, he spread his fingers over her sex, tracing the edges of her opening. As he delved with tauntingly deeper circles, she mewled, squeezed her eyes shut, and threw back her head.

“Eyes on me, Lucy.” He caressed her cheek. “You’re going to watch. You’re going to watch while I fuck you with my fingers and take you with my hand. Then you’ll always know I had you first. That you are mine.”

Her eyes flew open as she gasped, her pants accelerating. “No one’s ever…”

“Exactly.” He flashed a grin before nuzzling her neck. “
Shh.
I won’t hurt you.” He slipped one finger inside her, easing into her tight, clenched sheath. Damn. When they finally did make love, it would be far more comfortable for her if they took care of her barrier now. Plus, technically, they were still taking things slowly, right? Yet after the failed joining of their spirit animals this afternoon, he couldn’t repress his desperate need to seize some form of connection with Lucy, some way they would belong to each other. “Say yes, Lucy.”

“Yes,” she whimpered, one hand wrapped around the back of his head, the other braced against his shoulder.

“Yes what?” He lifted a brow while he lowered his other hand beneath her skirt, increasing the pressure as he rubbed her clit. She was so wet, so shaky, she had to be close.

“Yes, please, yes, Sheng.
Ahh…
” Her words rushed out. She bucked against his hand, rubbing to reach orgasm.

Fuck that. He slid his finger out. He would time this perfectly, just as she had for him.

Little tease.

Sheng waited until her nails dug into his shoulder in a wordless plea, before increasing the pressure again. He eased his finger back inside her and his control almost left him as her pussy clamped around him.

“Fuck, you’re wet. Tell me you want me.”