“It means trust in your instincts and don’t overthink it.”
She seemed to take in his advice. Gradually, her breathing changed, deepening. Her lashes fluttered like butterfly wings as she relaxed. Her lips parted, and he envied the air that passed between that plump, rosy portal. Her tongue darted out, moistening the rim of her mouth and yanking back the curtain of his self-control.
In a flash, he was engulfed by his erotic dream. He saw her kneeling before him on the flower boat, peering at him with jade-and-sunshine eyes as he fisted his cock. Threading his fingers through her satiny curls, he brought her mouth toward the dripping tip.
“Lick me,” he said huskily.
Her gaze shining with ardent curiosity, she ran her tongue over his engorged dome, swirling fire over his senses. With a hum of approval, she parted her lips, and he thrust his cock into her welcoming kiss—
“Doing it this way feels different.”
Wei jerked, returning to the present. His blood was rushing through his veins…and one large vein in particular. He was shocked to discover that he was hard, his cock a visible ridge at the front of his trousers. Luckily, his pupil’s eyes were still closed. Wei’s fingers were unusually fumbling as he buttoned up his coat to hide his arousal.
“Pardon?” he managed.
“Breathing this way. I never realized how involved breathing is. How it affects different parts of one’s body.”
Tell me about it.
With each breath, Wei felt his erection throbbing, straining against his smalls. His lack of self-discipline bewildered him. While he could blame the element of surprise for his response to her at the flash house, now he had no excuse. He’d told her that he had no romantic interest in her, that they could only be friends. Hell, he’d come up with the plan to be her shifu to guard himself from temptation. Yet being in her presence tossed his honorable intentions out of the window like a bucket of dirty water.
Get control of yourself, man.
He inhaled and exhaled before speaking. “How does it affect your, er, various parts?”
His stones pulled up taut; talking about her parts was not helping his lust.
Tilting her head, she replied, “I hadn’t really thought of how deep a breath went.”
Do not go there. Do not think of how deep you could go.
He cleared his throat. “Go on.”
“Well, usually I’m aware of my breath here.” She placed a hand on her chest, on the bare skin below her collarbones. “But it goes farther than that. All the way down here to my belly”—she placed her other hand at the lowest point of her elongated bodice—“when I breathe fully.”
“You have made an important discovery.”
Pride joined desire, a jarring combination. She was as bright as she was beautiful, and he’d always enjoyed her intelligence. Respected the original workings of her mind.
“I have?” Her eyes flew open.
At the eager wonder in her gaze, his chest seized with a feeling that only she elicited in him. One that was foolhardy. That made him long for things that he could not have.
“Breathing is energy,” he replied. “When you can experience the fullness of your breath, you can learn to harness its power. To direct that energy to different parts of your body, to help you move in ways you have not before. Allow me to demonstrate.”
He scouted a route around the room that had multiple obstacles and took off in a light sprint. Engaging his breath and his muscles, he first leapt over the back of the sofa, then a wingchair. Next was a rosewood console holding a vase and other delicate objects. He soared over the table without disturbing a single object and landed noiselessly on the Aubusson.
Using the impact of landing to propel himself forward, he dashed toward the side of the pianoforte. He gauged the height of the propped lid, and at the precise distance, he powered himself off the ground. He flipped easily in the air above the gleaming wood panel. The somersault was a bit of showing off, but he couldn’t resist it.
“Zounds, that was incredible, Shifu!”
She raced toward him, clapping. She flashed her dimples at him, and his sudden breathlessness had nothing to do with his demonstration.
“I would like to learn how to do that straightaway,” she announced.
He laughed—couldn’t help it. He didn’t know why he found her impatience so damned endearing. Perhaps because it was part of her irrepressible zeal for life.
“One must walk before one runs,” he reminded her.
