Page 3 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

“Right, yes. That’s me.” I try to hold in my cringe, but I’m not sure it’s successful. Sage, I think her name is, covers her smile with a dainty hand. I clear my throat and continue. “I’m sorry, but I think you all have the wrong room. Zumba is further down the hall in the bigger dance room.”

“Oh, no,” Siobhan says, bouncing on her feet. “We’re here for your tai chi class! We signed up yesterday, see?” She holds her phone up, and sure enough, the confirmation email proves her right.

I stare at it and my mind races. They signed up for my class, on purpose?

“Are we good? Did I do it wrong?” Siobhan frowns at her phone, her scent turning spicier as she skims the email.

“No! No,” I rush to confirm. “You’re good, thank you for signing up. That is, I’m glad you’re here. I mean…” I trail off and my cheeks heat. I hope the bronze undertones from my southern Chinese background masks the blush that feels like flames across my face.

The other two omegas giggle, and Siobhan waves a hand at them distractedly.

“Good,” she says, grinning. “I can’t wait.”

I dip my chin to them again and back away, not knowing what else to say and feeling entirely overwhelmed by the stunning omega whose scent is seeping under my skin. I palm the back of my neck and retreat to fiddle with the sound system. This is going to be the most challenging class I’ve ever had to teach. I hope I don’t make a fool of myself in front of her.

Over the next few minutes, a few others trickle into the room. Familiar faces from around town smile as they enter, and I greet the sweet but nosy grannies who never miss a class.

“Ah po. Welcome back.” I dip my head to the leader of the bunch, and she pinches my cheek, then pokes my stomach.

“Have you eaten? You’re too skinny. You need more gow ji.”

I pinch my lips, knowing it’s useless to contradict her as it’ll only pull the rest of them in. “I’ll eat more, ah po.”

She eyes me, but shuffles off to her usual place front and center. I only have a moment to mentally prepare myself to have Siobhan’s eyes on me for the next hour, and then it’s time to get started.

“Alright,” I project my voice over the soft background music and gesture everyone forward. “Please line up facing the mirror. We’ll begin with introductions, then go into some history and warm up stretching, ending with learning a few forms.”

Nods all around, and then everyone is lined up and waiting for me to begin.

I can feel Siobhan’s gaze fixed to me throughout the lesson, and it’s all I can do not to stare back at her as she listens, following every instruction so perfectly it makes me want to fall at her feet in worship.

Chapter Three

Siobhan

Good gracious. Aury is so hot. All tawny brown skin with a single, silver chain necklace hanging against his chest that glimmers under the bright lights of the dance room. He’s been talking for probably five minutes now, but I haven’t heard a single word. The soothing sound of his voice as he goes over the history of tai chi nearly lulls me into a stupor, it’s so relaxing.

Next thing I know, Wren is nudging me with an overly wide smile on her face. I blink and look around, startling when I see everyone slowly walking around, smiling at each other. Then Aury’s soft words filter in.

“Warm up your cheek muscles. Smile, say hi to those around you.” He nods and smiles, weaving his way between all of us. “Gentle walking, gentle breathing.”

My breath stalls in my chest when his rich brown eyes land on me and he blinks slowly, his smile never slipping and steps never faltering as he dips his chin respectfully in my direction. The only thing that falls out of place is a lock of hair that flips onto his forehead, giving him a playful, devilishly sexy look. My lungs scream at me, reminding me to breathe, and I end up gasping in a breath like a dying fish out of water.

Real smooth, Siobhan.

“Good. Now,” Aury says, stopping at the front again and turning to face us. “We will start with stretching the joints. Shoulders, spine, hips, knees, ankles.”

He takes us through the movements, one intentional shift at a time. The graceful way his body moves as he glides across the floor, muscles rippling and flowing under the cut-off cotton tee and loose shorts he’s wearing, has me focusing more on not perfuming than on following his movements. I lick my lips and force myself to focus.

“Steady flow,” he says, twisting his upper body and arms to one side, then the other, before moving one arm up so his palm is to the ceiling and the other is by his hip. “Imagine your spine stretching.”

He never stops moving, and it baffles me how he can make this look so effortless. My arms are already tired from holding them up for so long, and we haven’t even started yet. We’re still on the warm up stretches.

“Easy movements, deep breathing,” his calm voice reminds us, and I suck in a deep breath. “Now, gentle punch forward with opposite knee.”

He lulls me into the most relaxed state I’ve been in years, and the lesson is over before I know it. It feels like I blinked and we went from smiling at each other to packing up our bags.

“Remember,” Aury says as Sage, Wren and I take sips from our water bottles. “Practice at home so you can do the movements by memory. If you can remember the forms, you can internalize it and use it anywhere, anytime.”