he was a dragon.
By every reasonable, logical thought process that she could imagine,
her feelings for Longwei were foolishly stupid. He was a foreign
national, in China of all places. He lived in a village that looked
like the total annual income was less than her salary working for the AER .
Oh, and he was seen as some sort of messianic figure by his village.
On
the other hand, he was kind, he was a very good leader of the
village, by what she had seen, and he was definitely the best lover
she had ever had. The sensations she had felt in her body, even with
his admitted inexperience, were greater than she had ever felt. Even
better, he was inexperienced in bed. She knew he wasn't some sort of
player, out just to notch a belt or have a few tales to swap with his
buddies down at the club (then again, the village didn't even have a
club).
Stretching
on the blanket, she realized that Longwei had gotten up earlier, and
cleaned up the small courtyard garden. She was almost cocooned in the
light blanket, and she smiled, still smelling the scent of him on the
fabric. The sun was just peeking over the temple wall, and she
checked underneath the blanket. She was still nude, but a glance to
her left showed that Longwei had considerately folded all of her
clothing within arm's reach. Reaching for her shirt, she pulled it
over her shoulders before wrapping the rest of the blanket around her
hips like a skirt. The temple was usually empty, and she figured
nobody would mind even if they did see her.
Making
her way quickly though the hallways, Joy darted into her room just as
she saw someone turn the corner of the corridor. Sliding the door
shut, she made her way over to the small dresser she had, pulled out
normal village work attire of trousers and a t-shirt, and got dressed
for the day. Her tennis shoes were dirty and scuffed, but they would
hold together a while longer.
Pulling
her hair back for work, she stopped when she heard a soft knock on
her door, eerily reminiscent of the night before and Longwei. She
turned, and felt her heart skip a beat when Longwei opened her
sliding door. "Good morning," he said with his normal soft
smile. "I'm sorry that I had to leave you on the grass, but
there was some work I had to complete before sunup. I didn't want to
lift you, you seemed so comfortable."
"Thank
you," she replied, coming over and wrapping her arms around his
neck. "Tell me, is there any major Chinese custom that says I
can't kiss you?"
"Well,
no more than an American one," Longwei said. "I'd avoid
doing it in front of the village's children, they tend to giggle and
tease."
"Then
we'll just have to avoid the children for a while," Joy said,
kissing Longwei tenderly. "But again, thank you."
"Would
you like some breakfast?" Longwei asked, pulling away slightly.
Joy chuckled as she saw the slight bulge in his trousers. While part
of her wondered if she could get him into bed with her now, she also
knew he had duties to perform.
"Okay.
While we eat, I'd like to talk about the upcoming months," Joy
said, following him out. "I was hoping to give Billy a call
today."
"Oh?
What for?"
Joy
sat down at the table, which already had rice and vegetables on it.
"Well, we talked a little about it yesterday, but I want to get
some things from my apartment, close up the place, stuff like that.
Also, I was thinking maybe I can use some of my money to get some
things for the children. I bet they would like some new DVD's."
Longwei
smiled as he scooped up a mouthful of rice. "Not necessary, but
I will not stop you," he replied. "Would you like me to
give you a list of what the children want most?"
"Maybe,"
she replied. "Let me talk to Billy first, see when he can come
out to pick me up. Then we can make further plans."
*****
The
road was dusty, but Joy was still glad to have a signal on her cell
phone. She reminded herself that she would have to bring back her
charger, if only so she could charge it in the school or doctor's
office if