Trancing the Tiger (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 1) Read online

  Returning her attention to her half-empty plate, she mumbled a soft greeting.

  He shifted in his seat, causing his leg to press against hers in a possessive gesture beneath the table. His heat permeated her body, firing upward from the contact and settling into her core.

  He carried on a conversation with her uncle, but she was too distracted to decipher the Mandarin words. Sheng dropped his hand and the haze amplified. His fingers glided across her thigh before tightening in a dominating squeeze. A second later, his grip eased, fingertips resting along the lacy hem of her dress, mid-thigh. The skin where they made contact above the fabric blazed; below shivered in anticipation. His fingers skimmed beneath the hem, stroking her inner thigh.

  She gripped her spoon like a lifeline. He honestly wasn’t going there, was he? Getting her off in front of her uncle?

  Except his fingers didn’t climb higher. He just kept stroking, caressing with possessive intent. Like he aimed to unnerve her.

  Success.

  Her uncle had asked her a question. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to come up with a noncommittal response. Sheng twisted toward her, a wicked glint in his eyes. Oh, yeah. This was payback for the way she’d fondled his abs on the bike yesterday.

  “I…ah.” Damn, her voice came out breathy. Xiaodan wouldn’t guess what Sheng was up to under the table, would he?

  “I’d be happy to show Lucy around the island today.” Sheng grinned, one brow cocked in victory.

  She bristled at his arrogance and answered her uncle. “No, really. I’m fine on my own. I wouldn’t want to cause Sheng any inconvenience.”

  “Ah, yes, indeed,” her uncle agreed, bobbing his head.

  “No worries.” The pads of Sheng’s fingers inched higher. “It would be my pleasure.”

  She held her breath as his mouth purred the word. The power play between her uncle and Sheng left her mystified, and where she fit in remained the greatest perplexity.

  Xiaodan didn’t care for her to be involved with Sheng, and the alpha male beside her seemed intent on doing just that.

  His fingers continued to stroke her skin as though his simple touch would coax her compliance. What arrogance.

  She hopped to her feet, effectively jerking his hand from her thigh. “Thank you for the offer.” She let the curtness in her tone seep through. “But I’m a little tired. I’ll stay in today.” Strolling around Sheng to embrace her uncle, she ignored the pounding of her heart. “Shūshu, thank you for lunch.” Refusing Sheng’s request set her nerves on edge, but shooting him down had been a necessary move.

  “Of course, sayang. I have business to attend to in the city, but my car will take you home.”

  She kissed his cheek and spun toward the restaurant’s front doors.

  Sheng whipped out his hand and clasped her arm, rising next to her as she passed him. “Allow me to escort you, then.”

  She cast off his hand. “I’m fine on my own, thank you. If I require your assistance, I have your card.” After tilting her chin at him in dismissal, she headed for the door.

  ***

  Sheng stared at those curvy hips swaying back and forth, the tight pink lace hugging everywhere his hands yearned to be.

  Damn, she got under his skin. Bad. He ought to let her walk away.

  Yet that would be letting her win.

  He cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders. This match wasn’t over, because he hadn’t yet won. Rabbit might be enjoying this dance, but the spirit would submit. They always did. Tiger was stronger. His Kongsi knew it. Lucy must sense it.

  Just a matter of time. Hopefully, he wouldn’t run out of that commodity.

  Tiger leapt out at Xiaodan, taking pleasure in his squirming. “Tell your driver to wait.”

  Withdrawing his phone from his jacket pocket, Xiaodan complied.

  Sheng pounced on him the second Lucy’s uncle finished texting. “A Dragon, eh? Who do you think you’re fucking with?”

  The old man’s eyes widened in genuine shock. “What do you mean?”

  Sheng clenched his jaw, grating, “Lucy doesn’t carry the Dragon. She’s the damn Rabbit.”

  Xiaodan’s mouth opened and closed like a fish thrown out of water. The prick fingered the collar of his starched shirt while he sputtered, “I assumed, well…that is, I believed—”

  “Yeah, save it.” He leaned forward and glared, permitting Tiger’s glinting eyes to peek through. “For the Council.” He cast Xiaodan a sneer before striding to the exit. Aside from Sheng’s disappointment, this dumbass’s blunder was the Council’s problem, not his.

  Outside, he waved at the driver of Lucy’s car to unlock the doors, opened the back door opposite hers, and plopped down beside her.

  “What are you doing?” Her immediate accusation didn’t mask the bright flush of pink tingeing her cheeks.

  He lifted a shoulder. “We live in the same building. I’m hitching a ride.”

  “Shouldn’t you be in the driver’s seat, then?” One elegant brow slanted at him as if in assessment. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be? A job, perhaps?”

  “I’m working right now.” He leaned back and smirked.

  “Really? What line of work are you in besides smuggling? Stalking newcomers?” Her sarcastic tone made the chase that much sweeter. Tiger paced to the edge of Sheng’s control.

  “Nah.” He winked. “Just you.”

  She frowned. “Did my uncle hire you as my bodyguard?

  “Your uncle might not like it, but he doesn’t have a choice. You’re mine, Lucy.”

  Her eyelids fluttered. “I’m not—”

  He pressed a finger to those soft lips, cutting her off. “Think this is his car? His condominium? He wouldn’t have anything if not for me, for our Kongsi. Mostly, if not for you.” Gently, he lifted his finger from her lips, fighting the urge to lick off her taste.

  “I don’t understand.”

  He shifted forward, opened the partition, and gave the driver new directions. After sliding the partition shut, he reclined and studied Lucy. She had no idea of the world she’d stepped into. Of her role in it.

  “Are you going to elaborate or just leave me hanging?”

  “You’ll see soon enough.” He smiled at the scowl on her face. “Patience, xiǎo tùzi guāi guāi.”

  She glared at him, clearly interpreting his reference to the nursery rhyme “Well-behaved Little Rabbit.” Crossing her arms, she faced the window, giving him a fine view of her bare back.

  Lace was the worst possible fabric she could have chosen. Tiger urged him to seize the delicate threadwork between his teeth and tear it to pieces. Sheng smothered the urge with a cough into his fist and regarded the view from his window instead.

  Within a few minutes, they arrived at the Hai San Kongsi. In the reflection of Lucy’s window, her lips parted as she peered at the carved out mountainside.

  Kek Lok Si had once been a Buddhist temple, bursting with commercial shops and tourists. Two decades ago, the Hai San had set up residency here—pouring half a billion dollars into restorations and improvements—and now the temple housed their private association. Over a century and a half old, the plethora of temple structures rose out of the mountainside, combining every style of pagoda from Chinese to Thai to Burmese.

  To the world, Kek Lok Si used to be one of the largest Buddhist temples.

  To him, this was home.

  After the Matchmaker had scraped his sorry ass off the streets, this temple had become his sanctuary. For the first time in his life, he’d not just survived, he’d lived. She’d given his shitty existence a purpose—to seek out and train the other Chosen. His new family.

  During his teen years, he’d practiced here as a monk. As it happened, he wasn’t cut out for a life of abstinence…from anything. Tiger had just begun to reveal itself and denial wasn’t in the beast’s nature.

  A constant conflict waged between them. Whenever Sheng sought to rise above, Tiger dragged him down to his baser instincts.


  The worst test so far was Lucy, and not because he and Tiger disagreed.

  But because both of them desired her.

  “Where are we?” She pressed the fingertips of one hand against the glass.

  Leaning forward, he peered around her, desperate to observe her reaction. The condo was a ruse. The apartment—a maneuver for him to get close to her.

  This was his home.

  Her future.

  What if she didn’t like it? Anxiety burned through his chest, until he tilted far enough forward to spot why she’d become so quiet. So still.

  Her eyes were lit up like bright stars on a pitch-dark night. Her breath misted the glass from where her mouth parted in an expression of awe.

  Her other hand joined the first to press against the window as she craned her neck to survey more of the mountainside.

  This was good.

  And he was about to make it even better.

  Sheng’s door slammed, jolting Lucy. She surveyed the empty seats. Where were they and why had he left her in the car? Before she worked up a true huff, her door popped open and he extended a hand.

  Oh. Who would have guessed? Sheng was a gentleman.

  She slipped her hand into his, shivering at the magnetic pull of her body toward his. Effortlessly, he plucked her to her feet, gliding one steadying hand around her waist.

  Not that she wobbled or anything.

  The blast of humid air settled around her like a welcoming caress, waging war against the searing heat of Sheng’s presence. She eased out of his grasp to stop from snuggling against him.

  “Welcome to Kek Lok Si.” His black brows shot upward and he tipped his head in the direction of the temple. His expression exposed an earnest concern as though her opinion mattered to him.

  Odd.

  She inhaled the sweet, floral perfume of the mountainside and smiled. “It’s lovely.”

  In fact, her father had spoken to her of this place. Tenderness had coated his every word. The impulse to experience what he had, to seize one tie to her past, flared inside her chest.

  “Shall we?” Sheng jerked his chin at the elaborate entranceway.

  After she cast him a wide smile, she focused on the extensively decorated tunneled pathways. Her neck twisted back and forth as she struggled to survey her surroundings while keeping pace with his long strides.

  He paused at the end of the corridor. “These walls used to be crammed with vendors, selling everything from ice cream to cheap t-shirts for tourists.” He sighed as he pressed his hand against the stone. “One of my first memories is coming here as a child.”

  Just when she concluded she had him figured out, he went and unveiled another side of himself. She chewed her bottom lip, unsure of what to make of this enigmatic man.

  “Come on.” Suddenly, he winked at her and ensnared her arm with his, dragging her forward.

  They darted under passageways, wound through twisting tunnels, and popped out into a clearing. He didn’t give her a moment to catch her breath as he snatched her hand and tugged her over to a large pond.

  A large, wriggling pond.

  She squinted. The rippling effect didn’t come from any motion of water, but from hundreds of squirming turtles. “Aww… They’re so cute.”

  “Cute?” he scoffed. “They’re a symbol of longevity, strength, endurance. The turtle is a wise and—”

  “Okay, I get it.” She shoved her elbow into his side to stop his turtle rant and laughed at the slashes of his brows. “Turtles are great. You’ve sold me.” She strolled to the edge of the pond, peering over the railing.

  He strode up behind her, clasped one hand on top of each of hers, blocking her in with his large frame.

  “We call this the Sacred Turtle Pond or Liberation Pond.” His deep, rough voice smoothed over her. The hint of a British accent, like her mother’s, tugged at her heart. “Each of these turtles was released into this pond as a symbol of spiritual liberation. Here.” He reached into a bucket beside them and produced a long, leafy stalk. “Want to feed them?”

  She laughed as she accepted the stalk and dangled it in front of the clamoring turtles. “Hmm.” She studied the grouping until a smaller one off to the side caught her eye. To divert the attention of the bigger turtles, she broke off a portion of the leaf and flung it across the pond while tossing most of the stalk in front of the little guy.

  “Nicely done,” Sheng murmured in her ear. “Most people don’t think to distract the bigger ones.” He disengaged from her, spinning around to lean back against the railing, arms sprawled on either side of his big body.

  She almost detected the squeak of the wheels spinning in his mind as he regarded her.

  “How else is he going to eat?”

  “He isn’t.” Ice crept into his tone. “The weak ones die off. The strong survive.” A hardness clouded his features, and she gathered they weren’t speaking of turtles anymore.

  “You’re wrong.” At her challenge, intrigue sparked in his dark eyes. “Strength isn’t all a person needs.” Her explanation rushed from her mouth. “A clever mind can out-survive a strong body any day.”

  “Is that so?” Amusement curved his lips. “I’m going to enjoy enlightening you.”

  “Or maybe…” she quipped, bumping her hip against his, “you’re going to learn something from me.”

  ***

  Sheng scratched at the back of his neck as Lucy sauntered over the bridge to the other side of the pond. Learn from her? From Rabbit? Both he and Tiger took offense at the notion, rejecting it straight up. He’d spent years training for this role. She didn’t even fathom what she was. That didn’t mean his senses weren’t aflame, his body and mind titillated by whatever Lucy believed she could offer him.

  Fighting back the tightening in his balls, he stalked her movements. She’d climbed down to the pond’s edge and was attempting to pet one of the turtles.

  Pet him? He chuckled. The large, ancient turtle, Áo, groaned at the frivolous affection.

  “What?” She glared at Sheng, one hand on her hip, the other stroking the turtle’s shell.

  “Oh, nothing. By all means, pet the turtle.” He waved his hand toward the animal. “Let me ask you this, Lucy. What do you see when you look at him?”

  Her scrutiny darted between him and the turtle. “A turtle.”

  And… He’d just proven he was the master. She, the student. Only when she accepted the world she belonged to would she perceive the turtle’s true form. Smugness crept into his tone. “Let me know when that changes, okay?” He winked, chuckling again as she scowled.

  “Time to go. The others are waiting.” He paced a few steps back, then shot forward and leapt across the pond, landing in a crouch beside her.

  She gaped at him. “How did you do that?”

  Ignoring her question and those penetrating golden eyes, he rose and led the way through the next set of escalating tunnels. They stepped back out into daylight, onto the middle grounds of the temple. The stone walls echoed her gasp. He’d memorized every inch of this place, but viewing it again through her perspective renewed his appreciation for its beauty. The bright red rooftops of the dozens of connected buildings contrasted starkly against the pale stone. He smiled as Lucy strolled right through a narrow circular doorway while he had to duck.

  As she continued to swivel her head left and right, observing the enormous statues of Buddha and the myriad shrines, he lured her through one of the main prayer halls.

  “Fancy a ride?” He arched one brow and swept his arm toward the lift.

  “Um, is it safe?” She balked at the inclined lift, constructed of golden metal and glass, and more than a few decades old.

  “Well, we can take the stairs.” He pointed to the side of the small gauge train tracks. The steep stairway climbed beyond their view. At this altitude, it would be a difficult cardio workout for anyone not accustomed.

  “Yeah, no.” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she wrinkled her nose.

  “Y
ou’re safe with me.” Refusing to register the curling warmth inside his gut at his declaration, he nudged her onto the lift. He pressed a few buttons and the motor hummed for a minute. She cast him a tentative, quirked brow. The motor jerked, and she lost her balance, tumbling backward into his awaiting arms. Instead of releasing her, he drew her soft, warm body against his, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

  “Afraid of heights?”

  “A touch.”

  Using Tiger’s hearing, he picked up on the increase of her pulse. Did her heart rate accelerate because of him or this unstable contraption?

  Damn, he hoped it was him.

  To test his theory, he unwound his hands, sliding the flats of his palms down her torso, skimming the edges of her breasts and coming to rest below her waist, clamping onto her hips. He wanted to draw her farther back, to grind her lush ass against his front so she could feel the erection he was having a damn hard time beating back. Clenching his jaw, he awaited the perfect moment to do so.

  Her hands gripped the railing in front of them until they’d ascended about halfway.

  As she relaxed, he tested her boundaries further, massaging his thumbs into her soft curves.

  Come out, Little Rabbit.

  His senses prickled; Tiger paced to the edge. Damn, she had one stubborn spirit. Hell, he’d thought he’d had a rough time with Ox, who defined the word “stubborn.”

  He’d been wrong, so wrong.

  Did Rabbit hide because the spirit feared the predatory Tiger? Or had Lucy’s defensive skills combined with Rabbit’s, making them both tenacious as hell?

  The lift screeched to a halt, ending his experiment. He released her, climbed out first, and hoisted her onto the ground.

  They passed by another pond, but his destination this time was…well, set in stone.

  A familiar eagerness bristled his skin as he approached the Chinese Zodiac garden, cutting straight through to the life-size statue of a tiger. His Tiger spirit leapt forward, the cloaking extending from his fingers as he brushed them against the stone tiger’s neck.

  Easy, Tiger. He grinned and cocked his head to catch Lucy’s reaction.