Skeleton Women (18 page)
Gao shook his crew-cut head and smiled. I didn’t even try to guess what he was thinking.
Just then, like another ghost soundlessly approaching us, Jinying appeared.
“What are you two doing here?” the young master asked, giving us a bitter once-over.
I was the first to speak. “Young Master, I just came to see if Master Lung is awake. I have a question to ask him.”
He cast a suspicious look at Gao, then me. “What question?”
“Nothing important. Master Lung told me to dress my best. So I want to ask if he wants me to look like a China doll or a Western one.”
Gao chimed in. “Master Lung is about to wake up from a nap. That’s why Miss Camilla is waiting here.”
“Then I’ll wait, too,” Jinying said with a child’s stubbornness.
With the boss’s son’s intrusion, the atmosphere had drastically changed. I could feel animosity Ping-Ponging between the two men who now engulfed me with their hopeless, suffocating love.
What a deliciously complicated moment.
At eight in the evening, my slender frame wrapped in a red, low-cut, Western dress, my feet in matching high heels, and my gloved arm around Lung’s, I walked with the gangster to the ship’s casino. Zhu, Gao, and the three other bodyguards trailed behind with bulging pants pockets—guns, knives, daggers, or other lethal devices.
Inside the gambling den, low-hanging chandeliers cast light on the numerous tables crowded with rich customers. Laughter, heated whispers, and lamenting exclamations were emitted here and there as one person won and others lost. Golden curtains and mirrored pillars reflected the light from the chandelier’s many crystals, turning the whole place into one huge glittering diamond.
Despite my training not to become emotional under any circumstances, in this setting I felt an artificially induced excitement, even a fleeting moment of happiness.
Lung and I approached a table surrounded by a small group of richly attired couples, all clutching cards, chatting, drinking, and smoking.
Spotting us, the white-shirted and black-vested dealer asked the other guests to make room for us to sit down at the best
fengshui
place, facing the entrance. He smiled obsequiously as he held out the cards for Lung to cut. When the dealer’s eyes met mine, his smile faded by half. For him, I, like the other beautiful women accompanying their important-looking men, was but decoration—like the big diamond ring on the hand of the lady next to me, or the gold and diamond Rolex watch sparkling on her patron’s wrist. Women like us are commodities; we come and go like a merry-go-round. No reason for the dealer to waste any effort pleasing us, when next time it would be a different woman next to the high roller. That was just as well. So long as I seemed a mere adornment, no one would guess my deadly mission.
fengshui
place, facing the entrance. He smiled obsequiously as he held out the cards for Lung to cut. When the dealer’s eyes met mine, his smile faded by half. For him, I, like the other beautiful women accompanying their important-looking men, was but decoration—like the big diamond ring on the hand of the lady next to me, or the gold and diamond Rolex watch sparkling on her patron’s wrist. Women like us are commodities; we come and go like a merry-go-round. No reason for the dealer to waste any effort pleasing us, when next time it would be a different woman next to the high roller. That was just as well. So long as I seemed a mere adornment, no one would guess my deadly mission.
Over the next hour, Lung won two thousand dollars, a small sum for him, but gave a tip of fifty, a big sum for the dealer. The money meant nothing to Lung, but the good luck did—brought by me, since I was sitting next to him the whole time.
He pinched my bottom and whispered into my ear as a licentious smile bloomed on his broken-browed face. “Tonight, since I won all this good-luck money, I’ll have a good-luck fuck.”
His
good-luck fuck
meant to have sex with me in yet another odd position.
good-luck fuck
meant to have sex with me in yet another odd position.
I didn’t answer directly but instead asked, “Where’s the young master? Isn’t he your
fengshui
son?”
fengshui
son?”
The old man spat a bitter chuckle. “Ha! You know my son. He disapproves of gambling and refused to come. ‘To assist in doing evil?’ he said. Ha! If he was not my son ...”
He turned to Zhu, who had been content sitting at his boss’s side, refilling drinks and lighting cigarettes. “Zhu, where’s my son?”
His right-hand man said, “In the concert hall, listening to his favorite Western classical music.”
Lung laughed out loud. “Ha! Classical? To me, it’s absolutely nonsensical!”
A few guests at our gambling table smiled at Lung, then at me.
Lung burst out laughing in response. “Ha-ha! Let’s forget about him and profit some more from my good luck!”
That night, Lung won close to five thousand dollars. After we left the casino, drunk and dizzy with excitement, he dragged me all the way to his bedroom for even more good luck. However, though half-drunk, the gangster hadn’t lost any of his customary alertness. If I believed he would ever let his guard down, it was clear that I was wrong. Again, he asked Gao to search me. But of course I didn’t carry any arms; the Japanese couple were carrying them for me.
The luxury suite had a living room, bedroom, and two bathrooms. Lung asked Gao to search me in one bathroom, while he took a bath in the one inside the bedroom.
I never felt anything when Gao searched me, because we both knew it was simply a security routine. Besides, he was never rough to me or tried to hurt me. But this time, inside the small confines of the scented bathroom, he looked and acted differently. His face was flushed, and his lips were trembling. In the past, he had always asked me to take off my own clothes, for he feared having any physical contact with his master’s woman. I knew this was also to let me know he would not take advantage of me, even though we were “A single man and a solitary woman put in the same room,” which could end up like “dry firewood ablaze with raging flames,” Chinese sayings to describe the combustible situation when a man and woman are alone together.
Therefore, to my surprise, as I was about to unbutton my dress, Gao waved for me to stop. Then, with his trembling hands, he began to do my job for me. Slowly he peeled off my clothes, his gaze wandering over my gradually exposed body like a hungry wolf searching for prey. Then he unhooked my bra and let it slither to the floor like a mischievous animal. Abruptly, the bodyguard pulled me to him, buried his head between my breasts, and sobbed.
“Miss Camilla, excuse my imprudence. I can’t help it anymore. I’m madly in love with you. Just tell me, and I’ll do anything for you... .”
I touched his head, willing myself to keep my calm and focus, since he’d lost his. “Gao, please. You know you really shouldn’t... .”
“Let Master Lung kill me for my sin. I don’t care. I’d rather die a happy sinner than live without your love.”
It took me a few seconds to absorb this unexpected, shocking declaration. Gently I pushed him away and wiped the tears streaking his square-jawed face. “Gao, sober up. You’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Miss Camilla, have you not heard of the saying, ‘The truth comes out when a person is drunk’? Don’t you believe that I love you?”
Feeling my heart almost jumping out from my throat, I said gently, “Gao, please, gather yourself up. We’re right next to a tiger.”
Oblivious of what I said, Gao cupped my breast, kissing it as tenderly as he would a newborn, then sucking on my nipple as if he were the baby. Then his hand, like a giant spider, pulled down my panties with as much urgency as if they had just caught fire. With the same eager hands, he tore off his tie, shirt, unleashed his gun holster, then pulled down his pants and underpants.
I was shocked to see that his naked, muscular torso was covered with scars from old knife wounds and even bullets. If I thought my sufferings were as deep as the Huangpu River, then his must be as unfathomable as the Pacific Ocean. How could one man’s body withstand all these brutal assaults?
I felt an urge to give this man something, if not love, then at least warmth and affection. These feelings, unbeknownst to me before, surged inside me as my lips began to kiss his wounds.
The bodyguard touched my head and his manly voice rose in the air softly. “Don’t worry about me, Camilla, I’m fine, really. My only worry is you.”
Hearing this, the Chinese saying flashed in my mind: “Two forlorn people meet at the far corners of the earth.”
In a time of peace, maybe we would be happy lovers.
But unfortunately fate had its own inscrutable plans for us mortals.
As my lips glided over his scars I noticed that his
yang
instrument, big, powerful, and hardened like a stone tablet, seemed to stare at me, pleading with such aching desire that my hand involuntarily reached to relieve its suffering. Now its master moaned as if inflicted by extreme tortures—burned by cigarettes, pressed by smoldering coals, slashed by a nail-filled whip.
yang
instrument, big, powerful, and hardened like a stone tablet, seemed to stare at me, pleading with such aching desire that my hand involuntarily reached to relieve its suffering. Now its master moaned as if inflicted by extreme tortures—burned by cigarettes, pressed by smoldering coals, slashed by a nail-filled whip.
Eyes closed, I let his hands roam all over my body like horses galloping on a meadow, his tongue slide into my mouth like a snake slithering in the bush, his
yang
instrument swelling inside my small hand like a big fish struggling for water. Our tongues and limbs became entangled, groans escaping our kissing and sucking mouths.
yang
instrument swelling inside my small hand like a big fish struggling for water. Our tongues and limbs became entangled, groans escaping our kissing and sucking mouths.
“Oh, Camilla, please just take my life away... .”
I didn’t respond but focused on feeling the pleasure from this tough bodyguard’s unquenchable desire and impossible love. I forgot all my training so I could relish this tough man’s big hands and big chest, feeling so powerful yet vulnerable against my delicate body. Gently, he lifted me onto the sink, spread my legs like scissors, and slid his ballooning “fish” inside my watery gate.
Once inside, he engaged in a relentless game of digging until I felt my whole body on fire like a bomb about to explode. In “revenge,” my long fingernails dug deeply into his thick, sweaty back as my teeth bit into his muscular shoulder. But that didn’t stop the hammering, only encouraged it.
“Ahhhhh!” A loud scream shot out involuntarily from between my lips.
Gao immediately moved his hand to cover my mouth.
I couldn’t decide, didn’t care, if I was feeling pain, pleasure, or a mixture of the two. But then I heard, or at least I thought I heard, a sound from the master suite. Struck by a sudden rush of fear, I tried to push Gao away. But he must have thought the push was but a seduction in disguise, for he locked my arms with his and continued to thrust against me. From the mirror’s reflection, I was alarmed to see that he was no longer the calm, alert head bodyguard I knew but a beast hungrily devouring his helpless prey. Finally, his body shook more violently, and the thrusting ceased. His eyes closed, and he seemed now far, far away. I used all my strength to slap him hard on his face. It worked. He lifted his head to stare at me with his sad, puzzling eyes.
“Why, Camilla?” Before I could reply, he added, “You ... don’t like this? Did I ... hurt you?”
I said in a heated whisper, “Gao, I heard something... .”
Now he listened intently. “You mean ...”
I nodded.
It was the first time I had ever seen fear in this tough man’s face.
I already knew what he was going to say next, so I said it first. “Gao, don’t worry. I’ll never tell anyone about this.”
“Miss Camilla ... I ... I ...”
I put a finger across his lips. “Shh ... just don’t say anything.”
Next, we began to pull on our clothes. I was surprised that after our devilish lovemaking, and his having seen my body more times that I could count, now the bodyguard looked away to let me put on my dress.
When we had our clothes back on, he said, “Forgive me, Miss Camilla. Please go to Master Lung now.”
Of course he was not going to search me, for I had already bared myself to the last stitch. And if I’d hidden something inside my vagina, his little brother would have noticed or even been hurt.
Just then Lung’s alcohol-slurred voice streamed from the bedroom. “Camilla, what’s happening? You want me to wait till my balls drop off?!”
“Be right there, Master Lung!” I yelled back, smoothing my hair as I got out of the bathroom, leaving a completely crushed-looking Gao behind.
With a heavy heart and an exhausted body, I wiped as best I could between my sore legs and dragged myself into the master bedroom. Inside, I quickly took my clothes back off and crawled into bed and into the arms of my contortionist-sex-addicted patron.
The last thing I wanted right now was another man, especially Lung. But I was terrified lest he suspect something, and so when Lung was doing all sorts of gymnastics with my body, I screamed and moaned as loudly as I could. Aware that Gao was right outside in the same room, I could not help but imagine Gao’s tortured expression and his heart breaking into a thousand pieces for a love he’d die for but that had no future.
I felt a little ashamed that I actually did feel perversely satisfied after my encounters with the two men. But when the excitement was over, I had to think again about why I was here. I was starting to worry there would not be any opportunity to kill Lung, that this vacation would soon be over, and Lung would still be alive. But in the meantime I might as well enjoy the trip—movies, massage, dancing, gourmet food—and the admiration of both Lung’s bodyguard and his son. I had to admit that I had enjoyed Gao’s lovemaking even more than Jinying’s. It was more thrilling to see a tough, big, muscular man breaking down in front of a fragile woman like myself. As the Chinese say,
tiehan rouqing,
an iron man with tender sentiments.
tiehan rouqing,
an iron man with tender sentiments.
Thus thinking, I screamed and moaned more.
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