Bride of the Moso Prince by Lucy Yam Page B

whispered to her ear.
                  The warm breath sent a shiver down her spine. Oh yes, she could imagine the soft bites he was capable of... 
                  She took a deep breath to stifle the tinkling sensation growing under her skin and gave him a stern look, “You know what? You’re a flirt!”
                  “A flirt ? Well I like it better than my other two nicknames!” He laughed and poured her a cup of salted tea.
    When she took the cup from his hand her fingers touched his. Her hand trembled and some tea spilled.
                  “Ouch!” She cried. It was scorching.
                  “Are you OK?” he looked solicitous as he passed her some napkins.
                  “Yes,” she said quickly as she wiped the tea from the back of her hand. Red marks burned on her delicate skin but she pretended not to notice them.
                  He took her hand gently and blew cold air onto it. It soothed the pain on her hand but the tingling sensation spread quickly to other parts of her body.
    Her cheeks flamed as she withdrew her hand quickly. “Thanks, I’m ok.”
    They were both silent after that. Sharon took up the
    teacup carefully, blew on the tea to cool it before tasting. Although both her parents couldn’t live a day without tea, she never really cared for it because of the bitterness. T he one she was holding looked pretty austere. It was a kind of red tea, dark red with intense fragrance, and she imagined it would be very bitter and pungent. Gingerly she took a small sip and was surprised by the soft touch on her tongue. Sharon raised her eyebrows: she loved it.
                  Soon she gulped down the whole cup. When Nobul refilled her cup she asked, “What kind of tea is it? Is it Yunnan Red Tea? My mom had it in the house before, but it smelt differently.”
                  “Well it’s a kind or red tea grew in Yunnan, but it isn’t the Yunnan Red that’s commonly known. It’s our specialty here. We never exported it. It doesn’t have a name. but the tourists call it Moso Tea.”
                  “It’s very good. Strong but not sharp.”
                  Nobul was delighted that she liked the tea, and began to boast, “You’re pretty good at tea-tasting. How could it be less than good? It’s grown four thousand meters above sea level, and it’s been dried under the plateau sun, next to a rain forest where micro- organisms thrive, thus ideal for both aerobic and anaerobic fermentation . Many tourists would purchase it by pounds. Someone actually wanted to make deals with us. ”
                  “Wow!” Sharon smiled and nodded, although she had no idea of what was aerobic or anaerobic fermentation. And since he was compliment ing on her ‘tea-tasting’ ability and he seemed to enjoyed talking about tea making , she emptied her cup quickly and asked for another refill.
                  “Is everything all right? Are you resting well here?” Nobul asked suddenly after he was done talking about tea.
                  Sharon nodded. “Yes, thank you for asking.”
                  “Good. I know Charlene isn’t feeling well, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have a vacation. We don’t have much entertainment here, but it’s a great place for you to relax.”
                  “I know.” Sharon nodded , “It would be even better if I could swim every d ay.. .” She stopped abruptly. W hy did she mention the word swim ? She looked down right away and pretended to drink tea, hoping Nobul wouldn’t notice her embarrassment.
                  But Nobul looked at her with a naughty smile and said, “You wouldn’t give up, would you? All right, you can swim, b ut you must be accompanied by me.”
                  Sharon rolled her eyes, “Forget