'Then what will you do? As the doctor said, you will not pass this test today. You are hot-tempered. Your fertility is already dried up.'
'You don't know that!'
He stepped forward. 'I do. But if you like, you can check for yourself. Think of the place between your thighs. Is it wet and supple?'
Ji Yue gasped, her thoughts going straight to that part of her body. And then she remembered what she had done to keep her private area sweet and supple. She swallowed, trying to act casual, but fear ate at her reason. 'Why…why would you ask about that place?'
His eyes narrowed. She wanted to look away, but she could not when he stared at her so intently. 'You have done something,' he said. 'Something that no one else knows about.' His brows drew together in anger. 'Chen Ji Yue! Are you a virgin?'
'Of course!' she cried. 'Of course I am! I have done nothing but—' She swallowed, cursing her errant tongue. What was it about this man that made her stupid with her words?
'But what?' he demanded.
'It is nothing,' she whispered. 'Just a cream to keep the skin moist and the petals blossoming.'
His eyebrows shot up. 'And did you apply this cream today?' he asked. 'Despite my express warning against wearing cosmetics?'
'It is not a cosmetic! It is fruit and herbs. It's not a paint at all. More like food for…for women.' She looked at him in misery. Her face burned with shame. 'Please help me,' she whispered. 'The doctor is sure to notice.'
'My, my,' he drawled. 'You do have a problem.' He did not sound angry, merely pensive. She did not dare hope that he would help her for no compensation, but she was desperate.
'Bring me a bucket with water. I…I have jewelry. I can pay.'
He reared back in anger. 'Do not seek to bribe me, girl!'
'Then what do you want?'
He smiled slowly, but his eyes remained grave. 'I cannot bring you water. It would be noticed and even I cannot break the rules.'
She took a step forward. 'You are breaking the rules now by being alone with me. Say that someone grew ill, that you wish to clean up the mess.'
'I would send a eunuch for that.'
She grimaced, her ideas—and her time—running out. 'What is the punishment for wearing cosmetics?'
He sighed. 'You have already seen the punishment. The eunuchs are not kind when they bathe you. And they will be especially cruel where you are most dirty.'
She winced. 'Why do you allow such men here?'
He folded his arms. 'I do not allow anything. In fact, I have counseled Yi Zhen against it, but we always meet with the same answer.'
'What is that?'
'That eunuchs have been a way of life in the Forbidden City long before the Manchu came and will continue long after we are gone.'
She looked away, cursing herself for her vanity this morning and wondering if she had thrown away her chances with that one simple act. 'I meant no harm. It is just a sweetening cream.' Then she swallowed and forced herself to beg. 'Help me please. What should I do?'
He waited while she twisted her fingers together in anxiety. His look was pensive, but his eyes seemed to burn. 'There is a way, you know, to drown out the scent of your…your fruit and herbs. A way that the doctor will never notice and will boost your attractiveness as an imperial consort.'
She bit her lower lip, barely daring to hope. Could he truly wish to help her? Of course not, and yet what choice did she have? 'More creams?' she asked.
He smiled, and she was momentarily struck silent by the beauty in his face. Normally he scowled at the women who plagued him, but for this moment he looked different. Not gentle so much as less fierce. More… seductive. And again she was startled by how appealing that made him.
'I will not surrender my virginity!' she stated fiercely. 'I will fight you if you try!'
'Of that I have no doubt,' he said dryly. 'No, I refer to the stages before surrender.'
She frowned, extraordinarily suspicious but also a little intrigued. Though her mother had explained lust in great detail, most especially what it could drive a man to do, she had never spoken about the steps of love or of the act itself. 'What stages?'
'You wish to know?' he asked.
'I wish to become an empress,' she snapped.
'Then allow me to touch you and your fertility will never be in question.'
'No touching!' she cried as she backed away.
'I cannot do it any other way,' he responded. 'You need only unbutton your blouse. I will touch your breasts.'
She shook her head, her heart beating so loud it seemed to echo in her mind.
'You will show me your breasts, anyway, as part of the examination.'
'But I will lose my virginity!'
He stared hard at her. 'Do you truly not know how it is done?'
She flushed so hot her ears burned. 'I have seen dogs. I…I know the essence, but a touch one place will lead to more. And you are stronger than I.'
'Then take this.' He handed her his empty plate. 'If I touch more than you wish, then you may break it on my head. Do it hard enough and I will not be touching anything again for a very long time.'
She hesitated a moment, then grabbed the plate from him. Whatever she decided, she would feel better with a weapon in her hand.
'Decide quickly. The doctor will be back soon.'
That brought a return of her fears and a swift decision. With a deep breath, she began unbuttoning the clasps at her neck and then down along her side. All too soon, her blouse was pushed away, the silk dropping uselessly to the floor. Below it, her diamond-shaped undergarment of soft cotton was already stained from perspiration. The ties pulled at her neck and back, but her entire front remained covered by the too-thin fabric.
'Take it all off,' he said, his voice low and thick.
She lifted her chin and stared at him. She had to do this, she reminded herself. And truthfully, a kind of madness had gripped her. She wanted to do this. She wanted to see his face when her flesh was bared to his eyes. So while one hand still gripped the plate, the other resolutely untied her undergarment. And inside her, the blood seemed to beat faster, wilder, with a daring she found as exciting as the man who stood before her.
'Not flat plates, after all,' he murmured. His face was no longer pinched, but his eyes still held that intensity she both feared and enjoyed. 'Your breasts are bells arching outward.' He spoke as if to himself while one hand lifted to touch her. 'They say that women with bells mature young and have very high desires.' His hand stopped, and his gaze leaped to hers. 'I am going to touch you now. Do not be afraid.'
She wasn't. Looking in his eyes, she didn't see anger or vengeance. She wondered for a moment if this was the look of lust, but he did not have the signs that her mother had told her of. His eyes did not pinch nor did his mouth pull back like a dog in heat. If anything, he had the look of reverence.
'Your skin is flawless,' he said. 'It would glow in candlelight.'
He touched her. With his long elegant fingers, he stroked the side of one breast and fire trailed in his wake. She gasped at the feel, and he smiled. Then he curved his hand around the outside before brushing his thumb across her peaked nipple.
She trembled. It started in her belly, but it traveled outward, making her breath stutter and her heart race. He moved closer, his hand still caressing her breast.
'What…what are you doing?' she gasped, though the answer was perfectly obvious.
'You are safe. Keep the plate handy.'
She had forgotten it. With shaking hands, she gripped the fine porcelain tight, but she didn't do anything with it. He moved around behind her, his one hand still stroking. Her breast felt hot and large in his hand, and her back tingled with awareness of him. And then, every so often, he would pinch the nipple and she would shudder at the flash of sensation that burst through her thoughts. Her whole body now beat with a wildness and a hunger she'd
