If someone knocks on my door tonight, the inn better be on fire.
Knowing Daji, though, she probably put more than a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. Who in their right mind would even dare to bother us. For what? If we run out of ice, one of these gods can probably make a whole freezer full of it. Or they can drop an iceberg on the lawn.
I lower my mouth to her torso, lapping up the champagne from her skin. Now, the peach scent hits me. Like peach champagne. And her skin tastes so salty and sweet at the same time. It's addictive.
She growls sexily. "Oh yes. Your lips are perfect, lover. Drink your fill, and when you're done with that, drink from my wellspring, my tender river."
I'm suddenly impatient, and I finish every drop of champagne before doing what she asks. Making her moan and melt stokes my pride in myself as someone who can satisfy his woman. Especially if that woman happens to be an immortal who's lived centuries.
Her gasps and pants and cries urge me onward, driving me wild. I want to be inside her in the worst way, but I keep going. An eager servant, I'm as patient as the Cowherd and the Maid in ancient Chinese poetry. Those two were kept apart by the Heavenly Queen, who used the Milky Way to divide them, and only let them meet once a year at the celestial Magpie Bridge.
I never read that poem. Why do I know it? Why is it in my brain while Daji lies shuddering in my arms, sobbing from her release?
"That was good." Her hands tangle in my hair while I sprawl on top of her. "Next time, I want you to be even more commanding. Take what you want from me."
"I wanted to please you."
I feel like a teenager after his first make-out session on his parents' couch or in the back seat of a car.
Daji's body feels cool underneath me, and I slow my breathing. Panting and gasping for breath can't be alluring.
"You made me burn like the phoenix," she says "You made me open like flowers. You made me happy. But you're going to be the consort of a goddess. Take what you want from me. Indulge your desires."
"Take what I want, huh?"
She cups my face in her hands, and her black eyes see right through to my soul. "Yes."
I rise up, straddling her, lining up with her heavenly gates. "I plan to take you right now."
She reclines, hands behind her head, radiating satisfaction. "We're not Niulang and Zhinu, or Altair and Vega as you know them. We don't meet once a year, separated by the Miky Way by a tyrannical mother. I never could stand that woman."
It should be a major red flag that she mentions the literal star-crossed lovers I'm thinking of. The old me would run, suspecting manipulation, mind control, anything.
Instead, all I want to do is bury myself inside her gorgeous golden body.
She continues. "I want you. I want you to take what's yours. Enjoy what I have to offer. This is the first of many, many nights together."
I guide myself through her gates.
Oh Goddess.
My Goddess.
Like silk and velvet around me. She fits me as if someone made her just for me.
I throw back my head, and a primal moan bursts out of me. "So good. So d*mn good."
I begin to move on her. My hands go everywhere, seizing the flesh beneath me. Her nails dig into my tush. "Yessss," she purrs. "Ride me, lover. I'll take you places you've never dreamed of. The palace of the Jade Emperor. The Sacred Kunlun Mountains. The Three Mystical Islands of the East. I'll take you everywhere."
She's chatty during sex. This doesn't surprise me. She weaves a spell right out of myth and legend with her words. "Right now, all I want is this bed and to be inside you. Your jade palace," I murmur, nipping her on the shoulder.
She rolls her eyes. "Mortal men. No imagination."
"Oh, I've got plenty of that. You have no idea." I lick her ear and nibble on it. "If it's the first of many nights, I'm going to make you wait. I'm going to stretch out the pleasure."
She laughs, a rippling silvery laugh. "That's not been my experience with mortals—but you … well … you're an unusual case."
"Been seducing selfish jerks, have you?" I suck on her nipple for a bit while rolling my hips, driving within her, trying to find the spots that light her up like a new computer right out of the box. "Men who don't care about pleasing you?"
I believe it. Of course, if the stories are true, those men would be complete basket cases by the time she was done with them.
"I've already forgotten all of them." She clamps her hands on my head, fox claws digging into my scalp. "Yes. Just like that. Taste me like that."
I move to her other breast. God. It's a nice handful. It fits perfectly, and tastes even better. She moans. "Yes, yes, like that."
As good as my word, I spend lots of time prolonging the pleasure, making her melt over and over again. She becomes untamed. Her smell, her touch, her taste, the way she quickens and convulses around me … I'm close to the edge.
Her nails scrape my back. "I hate martyrs. Why are you holding back? Why don't you take your pleasure from me?"
"I want to see you explode like fireworks over Hong Kong."
Suddenly, her suggestion makes me impatient. I want to lose control completely. In fact, I'll probably explode if I don't. Her silky raven hair caresses me, and my nose is lost in her soft, pillowy breasts. My body trembles so hard my bones rattle. I've got to let go. I want us to let go together.
"Come for me, foxy mama," I whisper. "Let me hear you. Let me feel you."
Daji explodes, screaming and growling. I follow her.
I nearly pass out, and everything goes white.
But in a heartbeat, I come back to myself, and my body feels heavy, like I'm crushing my beautiful fox spirit. Gasping, I feel like I'll never breathe normally again.
And my neck is on fire. I touch my fingers to it and can't believe what I find there.
"DAJI! You said you wouldn't mark me!"
She looks unbothered by my angry outburst. "You passed the 'test drive.' I tried you. Now, I've bought you. You're mine."