her? Or that she wasn’t simply accepting his decree and moving on?
Tracy slowly stood, startled to realize that for all the physical intimacy they’d shared, she really didn’t know him that well. “I don’t want a teacher—you or anyone. I just want you. As a boyfriend.”
He glanced at her in alarm. “You are a tigress. You cannot go back now. I told you that before we opened your yin gates. You have to study!”
“Or what? I’ll go insane? Nymphomania? Psycho killer?”
He nodded, his expression grave. “All those are possible.” He took a step forward then abruptly stopped. “I will give you Dragon Stephen Chu’s e-mail address and phone number. He is very experienced and very wealthy. He will pay for your ticket to Hong Kong. You will stay at the temple for the initial orientation, and then later you will move into his home on Repulse Bay.” He lifted his chin, but didn’t quite meet her eyes. “It is a very exclusive neighborhood. His villa overlooks the water.”
“So I’m to become some playboy’s mistress.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t think so.”
He cursed long and fluently in guttural-sounding Chinese. It came from deep in his throat and sent startled shivers down her spine. “Get it out of your head that this is sex,” he growled as he stalked closer. “It has nothing to do with sex or depravity. Stephen is the best teacher for you!”
“I don’t want him!” She abruptly released her hold on the blanket, letting it slip away. It was an obvious ploy, but all she had as she reached up to touch his face. Her fingers trembled, but then so did his lips as she stroked across their full texture. “I want you.”
She would have leaned in for a kiss then, but he refused. He held her away though his grip trembled slightly on her arms. “Why?” he pressed. “What do you intend? Do you think we will have a relationship?”
She stopped cold, realizing that yes, she had indeed thought that.
His gaze flashed fire then abruptly darkened to a cold, flat black. “To progress as a tigress, you need to cut ties with the teacher. You cannot keep your energy—your personal power—if you give it to your instructor. You cannot use it to reach the immortal realm if you give it all to me.”
Tracy released a huff of true frustration. “I don’t understand a word of—”
“Listen to me!” His hands tightened where he held her, and she thought he might shove her away. Either that or jerk her into his arms. But he did neither. He simply held her tightly and spoke, each word like tiny daggers. “You have the potential to become a goddess among humans! A goddess! But not if you give your power away.”
She shoved him away, her eyes burning with unshed tears as she picked up the blanket. “I have no power,” she muttered. “You did it all. I just—”
“Do not lie! Not to me and not to yourself!” Nathan’s voice vibrated with a power she’d never heard. It locked her in place and even silenced his neighbor. Then he came around to her to wrap the blanket gently around her shoulders. “Do you truly deny the power that you felt earlier? Do you really think you have nothing?”
“I experienced some amazing things,” she whispered. “But you were the one who did it. I did nothing but enjoy.”
He sighed. “I did nothing but open the door to your power.” Then he touched her chin, gently lifting her gaze to his. “I. Did. Nothing.” He shook his head. “Compared to you, I have nothing. I will not hold you back because I am inadequate.”
She stared at him, her eyes narrowing as she studied his expression. “You’re lying,” she whispered. “I don’t know how I know it, but you’re lying. You have plenty of power. There’s something else.”
His eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t deny her words. In the end, he fell backward to lean against his desk, his shoulders slumped in defeat. She felt her belly tense in fear.
“You wish us to be lovers? I would love that more than anything, but I am a student here for another twenty months. After that, I will work in high industry for as much money as I can find. And you, where will you go to be a stockbroker? It will not be here.”
“I still have to go to school! We’ll figure out—”
He didn’t wait for her thoughts. “And what of your college dreams? Do you intend to go to school here?”
She bit her lip. She’d been thinking of a different school. One in New York. “I don’t have to be a stockbroker,” she said softly.
“And then what? Will we marry? Will you leave everything you have to go with me?”
Her breath hitched in her chest. “Marry?” she squeaked. “Isn’t that jumping the gun a bit?”
“So you would give yourself nightly to a man when there was no future in it?”
She straightened, twisting around to face him. “Now just a minute here! Why wouldn’t there be a future —”
“Our lives are in flux right now. It is irresponsible to enter a relationship that cannot work out in the long term.”
“Irresponsible?” Her voice started to rise, but she controlled it, her mind working fast for all that she’d just woken up. “Listen to me, buster, I’ve had boyfriends before. Irresponsible, my ass. You’re turning tail and running. I want to know why.”
“Dragons do not run!” he said in his most stiffly formal tone.
“Well, I’ve got a pretty clear picture of your backside right now,” she snapped. “And it looks like you’re running scared.”
His eyes narrowed. He rose up from his desk, his motions smooth and infinitely powerful. He was like a god rising from the depths and she hadn’t even realized she was talking to one. And worse, he was angry. Tracy took an instinctive step backward but he pursued her. His words were low—almost hissed—but she felt every syllable all the way through to her soul.
“You are a tigress. I am a dragon.”
She threw up her hands, but the motion was weak and trembly. “Tigress smigress. I don’t even know what that means.”
He took another step forward, his words growing softer and more potent with every step. “It means you belong in the temple, tigress.”
“Me in Hong Kong.” She folded her arms. “Not gonna happen.”
“In Hong Kong,” he repeated, his voice cold and hard. “There, you will study with the best. You will become divine and will gift many others with your wisdom. It is what tigresses do,” he pressed. “Whether they wish it or not, whether they understand it or not, they all end up there.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to Hong Kong!”
He straightened, and for a moment his eyes flashed understanding, even regret. “Yes,” he said softly. “You will. You will not be able to avoid it.”
“Bull—”
“Then how will you balance your energies again? You have gone beyond what I can give.”
She swallowed, her mind zipping back to her last week. She didn’t want to repeat last week ever again. She did not want to lust after her brother’s friends or hunger desperately for someone to satisfy her cravings. “You’re lying,” she said, but she feared what he said was true. “You’re a dragon. You can satisfy a tigress.”
Nathan shook his head. “I can—for a time—but you need training. And I do not have the time to spend on you right now.” He glanced at his books. “I have already told you how hard it is for me to read English books. I am here for an education, not to train you.”
She took a deep breath, the truth slowly slipping into her consciousness. “I was right. All along, I was right.”
He frowned, obviously confused by her abrupt change of tone.
“This was a scam, wasn’t it? You get a woman into your bed. You do…You do stuff to her. And then, wham, you dump her. Does it give you a feeling of power to have her beg?” Tracy swallowed back her tears. She was not, not, not going to cry.
She spun around, searching for her clothing. It was too dark. She couldn’t see a damn thing through the tears she refused to let fall. But she heard. She heard him curse again in Chinese, the words low and primal. It sent a shiver up her spine and she felt another stirring in her belly. Oh, god. She couldn’t be getting horny. Not now. Not again. What the hell is wrong with me?
She heard him sigh. The sound came from deep within him—all short and harsh and very male. He was frustrated. Well, so was she. And yet, for a moment she stopped just to hear it again. Did he really feel as bad as she did?
