She shrugged. “I will be excited. Everyone will be.”
“Not excited in that way. You must be aroused, so to make him equally aroused.”
She had no idea what he meant. She could not even begin to ask.
He shook his head. “You do not know any of this, do you? Have you even thought of men and what happens in the bedroom?”
She bristled at the implied lack. She was not a woman who lacked for anything. But the moment her pride surged hot, logic held it back. What she lacked was knowledge, and that was the exact reason she was here.
“I thought of you last night,” she said. “And the emperor always.”
He leaned forward before she could frame an answer about the bedroom. “I know you had not kissed a man before. Did you like it?”
She’d liked it so much that she wanted to kiss him again. She wanted to feel all of his muscles touching her body once more. All that power surrounding her again.
The idea was thrilling.
“I have seen lovers,” she finally said. “From the other place on the wall where I first saw you. Sometimes I sit there and watch the street. And sometimes late at night, I see things.”
“Couples in an embrace?”
“Yes.” She smiled and felt her lips tingle. Now she knew what that felt like. Now she knew the tangle of tongues, the rapid beat of her heart, and the liquid heat down low in her belly.
“Ah,” he said, his tone back to that throaty purr. “You are thinking about it. You are remembering last night?” There was a satisfied note in his words.
She ignored it. Let him think that he was an amazingly skilled lover. He was probably terrible. It was only that she had no way of knowing any different. Meanwhile, she had to keep to her purpose.
“You are saying that I should remember our kiss. When I meet the emperor, I should think on that?”
“Angel, that is only the beginning of what you must remember. You must know it all.”
“All?” That sounded dangerous.
“Arousal, Ling Xin. From the beginning to the sweet end.”
She shook her head. That made no sense. “How can there be an end?”
He dropped back onto his haunches. “Think, Ling Xin. If you are who you say you are, then apply your mind to the act. You saw my release last night. Tonight, you must experience your own.”
She pulled back, alarmed. “I will not lose my virginity to you!”
He held out a hand as if to stop her, but it was his chuckle that froze her in place. “I will not touch your virginity, I swear. But this is the next lesson. And to experience it, you must surrender to me.”
“No.” She was not about to surrender to anyone.
“Come into my bedroom, Ling Xin. Master Gao snores, so we will know when he wakes. I will not take anything from you save what is given in release.”
Now she swung her legs over to her side of the wall, preparing to leave. He was clearly a cad who wanted the same thing all men wanted. “Do you take me for an idiot? I will not go into your bedroom!”
He shrugged. “Then experience it here, as I did last night.” His eyes were serious. “I meant to make it more comfortable for you, that is all.”
She did not trust him. She should run away. But before she leaped down, she remembered just what was at stake. She had no other option. He was the only one who could teach her. What if he was right? What if this was the next step?
She didn’t know, and she silently damned her parents for not giving her the information she needed. How could they expect her to win over the emperor without giving her the training she needed to do it?
He clearly saw her indecision. And as she hesitated, he pointed to a perch in the tree. “I will make it safe for you. I will lean back there. You will sit between my legs.”
“Between your legs! But—”