Burning Tigress by Jade Lee

yang. She wished to give him her fluids, and he needed to take them. Any other thought had no place in his spirit.
    As if summoned by the thought, Miss Charlotte slipped into his room. He heard the rustle of her skirts, her futile effort to lock the door, and her gasp of surprise when she saw him kneeling on the floor.
    Ken Jin's hands slipped down and away, closing off his access to Heaven. He opened his eyes, automatically seeking out his prey. She wore the same burnt-orange clothes as before, including that impossibly tight waist contraption overlain by a cotton dress with sleeves that made her shoulders look like big fat roosters. And yet, for all the ridiculousness of her attire, he could not help but be drawn to the sparkling delight in her eyes. She seemed to bounce with energy before him.
    He did not speak. There was no need as he understood her desires. So he occupied himself with pulling the needle out from his Sea of Vitality, twisting it back and forth as he did in order to gain the tiniest bit more stimulation.
    "Oh, don't stop," she cried, rushing forward a step. "That is part of what I have come here to learn."
    He looked at her, and he felt his entire being—body, energy, and spirit included—focus to a concentrated point, one that could be directed wherever his mind willed. "I am preparing to teach you," he said.
    "Ah," she replied, though she obviously did not understand. "So... does the foggy stuff come out of there?" She pointed at the needle.
    He paused as it slipped free. "The foggy stuff?"
    She nodded, her eyes on the tiny welling of blood that seeped free. "The mist," she said in Shanghai dialect. "The cloudlike thing on the scroll. In the pictures, it came from the man's... from his..." Her face flushed a dark scarlet. "Does it come from there? Do you always have to poke a hole for it to—"
    "You misunderstand," he snapped, startled by the break in his control. There was no need for him to explain, and yet he did not stop. "These needles stimulate and enhance. They also release evil energies." He switched into English, using terms her father employed. "Bad humors or sicknesses. But that was not my intention here."
    She giggled, the sound high and nervous as she dropped to her knees before him. "Well, some evil humor has gotten hold of you. Perhaps you did not stick the right location."
    He felt his jaw clench, and had to concentrate to relax. It took so long that his needles were carefully stowed back in his desk before he could speak again. "As I said, that was not my intention today." Then he sighed, his blood cold despite the recent acupuncture. "I gather that you are ready for your instruction?"
    She had watched him put away his kit, an interested sparkle in her eyes. At his words, her expression grew somber. "Yes," she said with a nod. "I am ready."
    He stalled, knowing the risks outweighed the benefit. "You understand that my lock does not work. We may be interrupted."
    She shook her head. "William is in a bath, and I have already arranged for him to eat dinner in the nursery. Mama is handing out pamphlets with the priest, and Papa..." She shrugged. "Well, you know that Papa is at his club drinking and will not return home."
    "Your father is at the docks checking on his investments," Ken Jin lied.
    "Yes, yes, I know you are supposed to say that, but this is me. I know the truth, I have for years."
    He doubted she knew the full truth. No woman who called yang emissions "foggy stuff" could truly understand her father's debauchery. But before Ken Jin came to work here, Mr. Wicks had often brought his women home whenever Mrs. Wicks spent a night at the mission. Miss Charlotte had been young then, but never stupid. She would have learned a great deal. Fortunately, Ken Jin was able to convince his employer to take his sexual adventures out of his home, but obviously the damage had been done. Charlotte—and the friends she socialized with—had an undeniable curiosity about sexual relations. It was