"Getting Physical isn't quite what Zoe and Stephen had in Mind, but Plan to Enjoy the Ride!"
Reviewed by Tonya Callihan
Posted September 14, 2009
Romance Erotica Sensual
When savvy business student Zoe crosses paths with sexy
international businessman Stephen—a Tantric master—she's
about to get a transcendent learning experience!
The sex is incredible, mind-blowing, life changing!
Unfortunately, it also comes with a time limit. Because
Stephen's home is on the other side of the world.
Still, Zoe's going to enjoy every moment with her skillful,
exotic lover. But it isn't long before she realizes she'll
have to choose. Does she want to hold on to the life she
has...or have a lifetime of feeling his body move against
hers?
Like there's a choice...
Jade Lee is a new author for me and I am so happy and
honored to be a fan! This story is truly amazing. The
characters, the plot is all captivating. I started reading
the book and finished it in a matter of hours. The
characters get physical and it's really hot, Ms. Lee really
heats up the pages. I can't wait to see what other great
stories she brings our way.
SUMMARY
Tantric Sex Rules:
#1 - Think about sex!
When savvy business student Zoe crosses paths
with sexy international businessman Stephen—
a Tantric master—she’s about to get a transcendent
learning experience!
#2 - Start touching!
The sex is incredible, mind-blowing, life changing!
Unfortunately, it also comes with a time limit.
Because Stephen’s home is on the other side
of the world.
#3 - Full sexual contact!
Still, Zoe’s going to enjoy every moment with her
skillful, exotic lover. But it isn’t long before she
realizes she’ll have to choose. Does she want to
hold on to the life she has...or have a lifetime
of feeling his body move against hers?
Like there’s a choice...
ExcerptChapter 1
Stephen Chu banged his fist heavily against the
apartment door. The force of his blows wasn't out of anger
but exhaustion. After almost two days of travel from Hong
Kong, he was dropping with fatigue. He'd already passed
through three Herculean trials. Impatience–an endless
wait for the first flight out of Hong Kong.
Poverty–expensive in-flight phone calls to rescue his
father's business legacy. And then Bureaucracy–that
God-awful line at Customs. He would not now be stopped by a
locked door. He wouldn't. He banged again.
"He's not there," said a female voice behind him.
Stephen spun around, his fist tensing around his garment
bag handle. It was unwieldy, but could still be used to buy
time in a fight. Then he blinked, his brain catching up to
reality. The voice had been female and friendly. And coming
from deeper down the hall.
A blonde waif emerged from the shadows. She looked about
sixteen years old, but from the backpack on her shoulder,
she was probably a college student. She was staring at him
with that wide-eyed awe that plagued his social life.
He relaxed his grip on the bag and resorted to his
second line of defense: charm. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you
there. You say Mr. Gao isn't at home?"
She dropped her backpack on the ground and slid to the
floor. "He's late. Pull up a chair. We can wait together."
He blinked and looked up and down the hall. There wasn't
a chair in sight.
She snorted. "It was a joke. Sit on the garment bag if
the floor's too gross." Then she watched him, humor dancing
in her blue eyes as she waited for his decision.
He looked at the floor. In truth, it was
clean–about a two star hotel quality. He'd stayed in
much worse. But he very much feared that if he sat, he'd
never stand up again. "Actually, I'm not looking for Mr.
Gao, but Miss Tracy Williams. Do you know where she might
be?"
"She's with Nathan, of course."
The waif smiled, and in that instant Nathan noticed two
things. First, she was older than he'd first thought. There
was a maturity in her eyes that came out when the rest of
her dimpled in humor. It didn't make sense, but when her
face smiled, her eyes remained remote. It was a sadness in
her, he thought, one that only came from experience. And
second, he saw that she was very beautiful. How had he
missed that before?
Meanwhile, the girl continued to chat about Nathan and
Tracy. "They're still in that ecstatically engaged stage
where they're inseparable."
"Yes, I know they're friends. That's why I'm
here–" His mind lurched. Fatigue was making it too
damn slow. "Did you say engaged?"
"Yup. Tracy and Nathan are going to be married.
Apparently it happened right in the middle of a drug bust or
something. I heard about it from 2B who heard it from..."
Her voice trailed away. "But you don't really care about
that, do you? So why do you want Tracy?"
"She is... She was to be..." He swallowed, unsettled not
by the information but because he couldn't think. "Jet lag,"
he groused. "Engaged? To Nathan? But why?"
The waif released another unladylike snort. "Because
they're in love? That is the usual reason."
He heard bitterness in her voice and he silently echoed
it. His parents had been in "love" once too, or so he was
told. It wasn't real, it wasn't even pretty, or it hadn't
been during his very lonely childhood. He wondered if that
were the cause of the darkness in this girl's eyes. She
really was extraordinarily beautiful. Her eyes were so large
and a crystalline blue. Like the sky over Mongolia, except
with the shadow of...what?
He blinked, abruptly realizing he had lost himself in
staring at the girl's eyes. What was he doing here? Oh yes.
Tracy. Tigress training. "She's with Nathan?" he murmured
out loud. "But we were to be partners. Why would she choose
him?"
The girl stared at him, and he realized that she had
lost all the awe in her gaze. "Once again, I say, love. They
love each other."
He shook his head, unable to process the most basic of
information. He had to repeat it out loud just to push it
through his foggy brain. "Tracy chose Nathan. Not me."
The girl arched a brow at him. "Full of ourselves,
much?"
Stephen frowned, not understanding her slang. "As my
partner, we would have attained the heights of Tantric
ecstasy together. Nathan is not a dragon master. He can't
give her what I can."
She stared at him, her head tilted to one side. "Maybe
he could give her something else. Like love."
He just shook his head. If Tracy had chosen the Earthly
path with Nathan then it would do no good to argue. Fools
would be fools no matter what riches were offered. And yet,
he was here. He could at least talk to her, maybe try to
change her mind. "She did not seem stupid," he murmured.
"Wow, you are really not helping herself here."
He frowned, his jet-lagged mind struggling to follow her
strange words. "I have always done my ancestors great honor.
I am named after my great grandfather who was a pig farmer.
Every day I light incense to honor his legacy."
She waved a hand at his rumpled designer suit and
expensive Italian loafers. "Pig farming must do really well
in China."
He frowned. She didn't understand what he was saying.
"My family no longer raises pigs. We package, ship, and
export it. I meant only that I honor his legacy." As he
spoke, his vision blurred into gray. He blinked rapidly and
within moments normal sight returned, but he was still
startled by it. He was too young to be this tired.
Meanwhile, the blonde girl released a roll of laughter
that filled the air. It was light and musical, and it felt
like a fresh breeze in the gloomy hallway. "I'm sure Great
Granddad is filled with pride."
He stared at her, his mind struggling to keep up. There
had been power in the girl's laugh. Yin power that had
shivered through his spine and into his groin. Who was this
girl? "I need to speak with Nathan. My cell phone doesn't
work in the United States."
"Are you that big dragon teacher who was supposed to
partner Tracy?"
He nodded. Tracy and he had been matched on all levels
of body, personality, and expertise. Together, they would
spend many days and nights in pursuit of a mystical
experience. It would begin with physical stimulation, but it
would lead to so much more. They were just about to begin
their practice when she suddenly disappeared. He had chased
her all the way from Hong Kong to here, the University of
Illinois. "I am Stephen Chu, lead dragon at the Tigress
Temple."
"Your great grandfather's name was Stephen?" Her lips
quirked at the edges, and he noticed for the first time how
nicely formed her mouth was. He was so lost in admiration of
the curve and color of her lips that he nearly missed her
next words. "Your Chinese grandfather?"
She looked at him. He looked back. His English was
excellent, but when he was this tired, he tended to lag a
couple sentences behind. "What? No. His name was Xin Tian.
Stephen is my English name."
"Okey-dokey. Welcome to the US, Mr. Stephen Chu. My name
is Zoe Lewis, and I'm one of Nathan's students." She smiled,
dimpling prettily at him. "And since Tracy is off the
potential partner list, are you interested in anyone else?"
He swallowed, his mind rolling through the
possibilities. Zoe obviously had intriguing potential, but
nothing was ever simple in the pursuit of heaven. Neophytes
always wanted to partner with him because he was the
handsome, rich guy. They weren't interested in advancing
their spirit or attaining Heaven. They just wanted inside
his wallet. He might risk it with this woman, but then there
was the other problem: temple politics. He couldn't just
pick a girl because she was here. It wasn't the way things
were done in the Tigress Temple.
"Are you all right?"
He blinked, stunned to realize he'd been staring at her
again. And given her expression, he hadn't looked like he
was lost in her beauty. "I need to talk to Nathan."
"He'll be here in a minute. I'm waiting for him too, but
my guess is he's out of the teacher business. I can't
imagine an engaged man doing some of the things he talked
about. At least not with other students."
She pushed to her feet, and even this tired he could see
that her body had potential. She had high breasts and
well-formed legs beneath her faded jeans, though she seemed
a bit too muscular for a proper willow waist. With better
clothing, she could compare very well to other tigresses.
Better yet, she appeared much more adult now that she wasn't
sitting cross legged on the floor. He'd put her age in her
mid-twenties.
"So are you here to take on students?" she pressed. "If
so, we could figure out a lesson schedule now."
He shook her head. Clearly she didn't understand the
temple structure. "I am a dragon master. I do not take
students."
She frowned. "But you were going to take on Tracy, and
she started after me."
"The Tigress Mother assigned us to be partners."
She tilted her head and her wispy blonde hair slid from
her shoulder to fall like yellow silk across her shoulder.
If was a simple gesture, obviously not meant as a seduction,
and yet he found the sight mesmerizing.
"So how does one get assigned a partner?" she pressed.
"It is a complicated process," he said, irritated with
himself for being tempted. He had precious little time. His
business was falling down around his ears. The world
economic crisis had hit the pork industry too, which meant
the core of his corporation was on shaky ground. He'd slept
less than two hours in two days, and his right-hand man was
hoarse from screaming through the phone at him. He might
consider taking Zoe as a partner. She was certainly
interesting enough, but that would take time and delicate
handling to make the change. But first he had to be sure
things were finished with Tracy. "Did you hear her say it?
That she wishes to be married to Nathan?"
"No, I didn't," the girl returned, her voice growing
curt. Obviously he'd hurt her feelings, but he didn't have
the brainpower to smooth things over. "I got it from the
lady in 2B," she continued. "So you're here to beg Tracy to
pick you. Good luck with that." Her tone made it obvious
that he hadn't a prayer.
He sighed, his gaze drawn back to her despite his
intention. "She is deeply in love?" he pressed. Love was the
biggest pitfall for a tigress. And for most women, now that
he thought about it. Why did normally sane women fall for
such an obvious illusion?
Zoe was silent for a long time, her eyes flat and a
little pitying as she scanned him from head to toe. He
abruptly became aware of every wrinkle in his suit, every
smudge on his shoes. "Yeah," she drawled, "it'd take the
love of a lifetime to run screaming from you." He couldn't
miss the disdain in her tone.
"And you," he snapped back, "you are not a helpful
person."
Her eyes widened in surprise. He could see he had scored
a hit, and he was not quite sure why. He merely meant that
she was not being helpful to him. It was not a character
judgement, and yet she obviously took it as one. She squared
her shoulders and glared venom at him. "Well, sucks to be me
then. I guess I'll just have to study in silence." She
grabbed her textbook and slammed it open on her lap.
He frowned, trying to figure out how to make amends. He
did not casually hurt other people. "I am sorry," he said.
"It must be my English–"
"Your English is just fine, Mr. Chu. And ‘silence'
means you have to be quiet, too."
He opened his mouth to respond, but shut it again at her
glare. He was too exhausted to smooth over the situation
now. Maybe it was for the best. He didn't have time to take
on a partner now. He would go back to Hong Kong as soon as
he verified Tracy's plans. So he folded his arms across his
chest and leaned back against the wall with a huff. Ten
minutes later, his eyes drifted shut.
# # #
Zoe looked up when the arrogant man started snoring.
She'd never seen anyone sleep standing up before, but there
he was–all wrinkled suit and sculpted
beauty–snoring like he was crashed out on silk sheets.
Her heart softened a little bit toward him. He really
did look wiped. As long as he didn't talk, she could pretend
he wasn't an asshole. He certainly was nice to look at:
rugged face, high cheekbones, and straight black hair that
was supposed to be slicked back. Right now it slipped
forward across his forehead in stylish disarray. His
shoulders were broad without being bulky, his hips lean, and
in his dark suit–black pants, gray shirt, black
tie–he looked like a movie star bad boy.
Zoe sighed. Why did all the cute ones end up being
jerks?
Her thoughts were cut off at the sounds of footsteps on
the stairs. Pushing to her feet, she made it to the stairway
railing and looked down. Three floors below, Nathan and
Tracy were wrapped arm in arm, their heads tucked close
together. Nathan chuckled softly, and Zoe felt her chest
tighten in envy. They were probably talking about grocery
shopping or something, but their intimacy was almost painful
to watch. Zoe didn't know whether to pity them the
disillusion to come or fervently pray for their
happily-ever-after. Someone somewhere ought to get real
love.
She had once believed in true love. She had gotten
married and was happily looking forward to her picket fence
and two or three kids. But her husband Marty ended up being
an idiot who lost all their money, her happily-ever-after
was a disaster, and children... Her heart twisted painfully
in her chest. Children just weren't in the cards for her. So
she ditched the Marty the Moron, went back to school, and
very soon she would graduate to begin her own
happily-ever-after completely free of stupid men.
But then, her housemate Janet had given her a gift of
Tantric classes with Nathan Gao. Zoe hadn't expected
anything Earth-shattering, but there was something in the
practice that appealed to her. It grounded her in her body
and released all her sexual hang-ups. It worked for her on a
level she couldn't begin to explain. And then, damn it, her
teacher fell in love with Tracy.
Rather than dwell on her back luck, Zoe gathered her
things and met the lovers halfway down the stairs. Action
was her new motto, and in this case, an easy bulwark against
loneliness.
"Hey lovebirds," she called, smiling when they hastily
broke apart. "You got a visitor upstairs. Stephen Chu."
Both Nathan and Tracy gasped–and wasn't that just
too cute–but apparently for entirely different
reasons.
"Zoe!" Nathan cried. "I completely forgot our lesson."
"Stephen!" Tracy grimaced. "What's he doing here?"
"Not a problem," Zoe answered Nathan. "I got some
homework done. And near as I can tell," she added to Tracy,
"he's here to seduce you." Thankfully, there wasn't a trace
of envy in her voice. But really, why did Tracy get two guys
desperate to have her?
"Oh crap," Tracy moaned. "I told him I wasn't
interested."
Zoe shrugged. "He doesn't seem like a guy who
understands the word ‘no.' Probably doesn't hear it
that often."
Meanwhile, Nathan was switching into teacher mode. "Did
you read the book I gave you? I'm afraid it'll be hard for
me to partner with you for the more advanced–"
"Don't worry," Zoe interrupted. "I read. I learned. And
I understand that engaged men really shouldn't be
‘polishing the mirror' with someone other than their
fiancees."
A male voice cut through from above them. "Polishing the
mirror is done between two female partners."
Everyone looked up to see Nathan standing like a god at
the top of the railing. From this angle, he looked tall and
imposing, but Zoe remembered the wrinkles in his suit and
the very human weariness on his features. "Thank you, Mr.
Webster, I'll make sure to use the phrase correctly in the
future." She didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he
just looked at her with that blank uncomprehending stare.
Meanwhile, Nathan mounted the stairs with surprising
speed. "Is something wrong at home? Is there–"
"No, no," Stephen answered as he rubbed a hand over his
face, further rumpling his hair. "Nothing wrong." Then he
blinked and slowly turned his focus to Tracy. He made a
visible effort to pull himself together, straightening his
shoulders, softening his gaze, and shifting his tones to
more cultured accents. "Hello, Tracy. You left the temple
too quickly for me to talk to you."
Seduction Mode, and wow, was it potent. Liquid brown
eyes, bedroom voice, and enough handsome to grace a movie
marquis. No wonder the guy was arrogant. He probably had
women wetting themselves just for a minute of his direct
attention. Zoe wasn't immune, and she'd already decided the
guy was a jerk. Even Tracy who was desperately in love with
Nathan still blushed and looked away.
"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I told you I couldn't do
it."
Stephen sighed. "So you have chosen love." He sounded
like she'd chosen baloney over pate.
Tracy raised her eyes, meeting his with clear purpose.
"Yes and don't knock it," she said as her gaze on Nathan.
"You'd be surprised what partners in love can accomplish."
Stephen remained silent, clearly mulling over her words.
In the end, he just rubbed a hand over his face in defeat.
"Very well. Felicitations to you both." Then he turned and
grabbed his garment bag before heading down the stairs.
"Wait!" Nathan called. "Zoe is ready for her first
partner. I don't know how long you're staying, but if you
could manage a few session with her, I'd be grateful."
Stephen paused halfway down the steps. He looked down at
her, and Zoe damned herself for holding her breath in hope.
Sure he was an arrogant jerk, but he was also damned sexy.
Who wouldn't want a fling with a Chinese aristocrat? He was
dark and exotic, and she thought she caught a spark of
interest in his eyes.
But then he turned away, looking back over his shoulder
at Nathan. "I'm leaving on the next plane."
Zoe's chest tightened against the pain of his cold
words, but she still managed to give voice to her anger.
"You're an ass. I don't want you as a partner."
He turned back to her, his gaze catching hers and
holding. She lifted her chin, putting every ounce of bravado
she possessed into staring him down. Let him see what he was
missing! She waited. One heartbeat. Two. Three.
He shrugged, grabbed his garment bag and brushed past
her. It was the ultimate dismissal, and Zoe felt her soul
shrivel into nothing. She didn't really care that one exotic
man found her somehow lacking. It was that he was yet
another in a long line of men who couldn't be bothered with
her. Was something wrong with her that she could only
attract idiots like her ex? Her hand lifted to her
chest–to that spot right above her heart–and she
rubbed at the pain blossoming there.
"Oh God, Zoe. I'm sorry. He didn't meant that like it
seemed," Tracy babbled.
Nathan agreed. "He can be really cold, sometimes. His
crappy parents never taught him anything about being kind."
"Save it," Zoe said. "I don't care." Then she gathered
what dignity she could and turned to Nathan. "I don't think
this stuff is for me right now. Thanks anyway." Then she
turned and started down the steps.
"Zoe, wait–" Nathan called.
Zoe couldn't stop. If she did, she'd shatter, and she
didn't have the strength to glue herself back together
again. But Tracy wasn't to be deterred. She ran down the
stairs, catching up with Zoe on the second floor landing.
"Don't give up," she said. "We'll get you a teacher."
Zoe paused, wanting to brush off all this Tantric energy
stuff as unimportant. But her initial classes had taught her
something. She had felt something, and that hadn't
happened in so very long. She really did want to keep
learning, but not at the expense of everything else. And
then there was the other big problem. "Truthfully, I can't
afford it. My lessons were a gift from my housemate. I just
don't have the money."
"We'll work something out," Tracy pressed. "This stuff
is worth pursuing. Believe me, no one is more surprised than
me, but Zoe..." She swallowed, and her gaze momentarily
lifted up to Nathan. Love filled her expression making her
entire body seem to glow. "It's worth it, I swear. Just give
us some time to find you the right partner."
Zoe swallowed, startled by the flash of yearning in her
heart. At one time, she had thought Nathan was her right
partner. But then Tracy had burst into their class, and that
was it for anyone else. And now? She sighed trying to dredge
up some hope for herself. Did she really think she could
find something real in anything that involved a man? Her
heart said yes, but her mind said no. No man. No children.
These were the facts of her life.
"It's just not meant for me," she said softly, then
turned away.
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