Donovans 02 - Jade Island

clammy fingers around her stomach. As she picked up the next jade, she hoped that the rest of the pieces Seng was trading to the Tangs weren’t as lackluster as the batch she had already seen.
    “Soochow,” she said instantly. Then, under her breath: “Damn.”
    “Something wrong?”
    “The older a piece is, the less likely it is to actually be jade,” Lianne said. “Historically, the Chinese categorized stones based on their color rather than on the chemical composition of the stone itself. A lot of green stones were called jade, from soapstone to serpentine.”
    “They’re easier to carve than jade,” Kyle pointed out. “A whole bunch easier, in the case of soapstone.”
    “And the carvings don’t last as long. Time softens the edges, the designs, until not much is left. Like wax left in the sun. Especially with soapstone. And nothing takes a polish like true jade.”
    “Is that jade you’re holding?”
    “After a fashion. It’s called Soochow jade. Do you know the difference?”
    “Soochow jade is serpentine, not nephrite,” Kyle said. “Serpentine is softer than nephrite, has a lower specific gravity, and is more fragile.”
    “Should I assume that you understand the distinction between nephrite and jadeite?”
    “Nephrite is a silicate of calcium, magnesium, and iron. Also known as a tremolite-actinolite. Jadeite is a different kind of silicate. Aluminum, sodium, and iron. Also known as a pyroxene. When it is emerald colored and highly translucent, it’s called Burmese jade, imperial jade, jadeite, or fei-ts’yu . Does that cover the high points?”
    “And some of the low ones as well. Why are you hanging around me?”
    “I was a geologist before I got interested in jade. Chemistry is great for some things, but it lacks a sense of history. Chinese jade, no matter what its internal chemistry, is a condensation of Chinese history. In other words, I’m following you so I can find out how you know the woman in the sculpture you’re holding is a bride rather than a prostitute.”
    “Look at the designs on the stand.”
    Kyle moved closer, so close that he could sense the warmth of Lianne’s body. “Looks like carved, polished mahogany to me, the usual base for a Chinese jade sculpture.”
    “The wood is shaped to suggest a sleeping pallet. There are stylized bats on the ends—symbol of happiness as well as night—and her robe is etched with peonies, which symbolize renewal, spring, love, and happiness.”
    “Wedding stuff.”
    “Stuff? Spoken like a true Western bachelor,” Lianne said, laughing. “To the Chinese, weddings were a weaving together of families, villages, dynasties, and destinies. Weddings were the point where the past flowed through man into woman and created the future.”
    Kyle bent down to look more closely at the palm-sized sculpture Lianne held. The bride’s face was blank, barely differentiated from the stone. Beneath her hands, her robes divided just below her navel and rippled down the outside of her spread thighs. She wore no underclothes to conceal what awaited her bridegroom. The tightly folded vulva was much more detailed than anything else about the woman.
    “She’s ready for the future, all right,” Kyle said.
    “Or something. Again, the carver’s skill wasn’t up to the complex symbols and resonance of the culture. This is merely a woman with her legs spread.” Lianne set down the sculpture and moved on.
    “You know of a more, um, delicate variation of that theme?” Kyle asked.
    “The Tangs have a carving that is identical in size and subject,” Lianne said absently, studying the next jade. “The effect is quite different. The girl obviously won the marital sweepstakes and got a man who cared about her pleasure. I call the sculpture Bride Dreaming, although I’m certain from her expression that the consummation has already occurred.”
    “How?”
    “What do you mean, how?” Lianne looked up at Kyle blankly. “The usual way, I suppose. Penetration followed by ejaculation.”
    He did a double take, then laughed in delight while red climbed her cheeks.
    “I figured out the mechanics shortly after kindergarten,” he said, stroking the back of his hand down her hot cheek. “What I meant was, how can you tell it was after rather than before?”
    Trying to act as though she wasn’t blushing like a bride or a first grader, Lianne leaned over the table and stared hard at another piece of jade. “It just…well, it just looked like