“Meiling. Weren’t you going to say hello to me after all the trouble I went to for you?”
The voice was smooth. Polished. Very masculine and used to getting his way. The speaker was also very attracted to Lotus Blossom.
“I had no idea you were here, Etienne.”
Gedeon didn’t like the way her voice lit up. At least he knew her real name—unless she had lied to Etienne as well. He doubted it. They sounded close. Affectionate. There was a brief silence, as if they might be hugging—or kissing.
“You’re going to allow one of my men to ditch your Jeep?”
“Yes. But he must make sure he does it properly. I don’t want this to come back and bite me in the butt. No one knows I was anywhere around here.”
“He’ll do it properly or answer to me. Meiling, what is this man to you? I had to see his picture in order to make the necessary papers for you. Do you have any idea who he is?”
Gedeon stiffened. He told himself his reactions to his Lotus Blossom and her answers were because of his dependency on her, not because for the first time in his life he could remember being intrigued by another human being.
“Of course I know who he is.”
“He’s a very dangerous man.”
Her laughter was dark. “Etienne, you’re a dangerous man.”
Gedeon was uncomfortable with the entire situation. His leopard continuously clawed for freedom. That didn’t help. He had always been the one in control. Always. Others deferred to him. They were on edge because he was in close proximity to them. Now he felt like a little child, relegated to the back seat, told to be quiet while in the presence of adults. It was bullshit. He wasn’t emotional. That was an emotional reaction and he refused to allow emotions into his life. Whoever his lotus blossom was, she had turned his life upside down in just a few short hours.
“Tell me why you’re doing this.”
Gedeon wanted that answer as well. He remained very still, willing her to answer.
“You know I won’t. It’s personal.”
“A debt, then. I’ll pay it. Any amount.”
“Then I would owe you. I don’t think so, but thank you, Etienne. This is a matter of honor. The debt is nearly paid.”
“You know to come to me first if you need anything.”
There was another long silence and she got in the car with Gedeon. Sliding in behind his head, her fingers in his hair. His leopard subsided, and that went a long way to calm the strange rage in him. Ordinarily, if a woman put her hands on him so intimately, he would have knocked them off and rebuked her. He found Lotus Blossom’s touch soothing. He closed his eyes and drifted off on a sea of pain, fighting nightmares, images of planes, terrible jostling and her comforting voice telling him it was going to be all right.
3
MEILING became aware of unfamiliar sounds first. The creak of old wood as if the house was settling around her. Someone was breathing in and out quietly, but rhythmically. She smelled juniper and, faintly, the jungle, a feral predatory scent that was a little alarming. Three sensations registered simultaneously: a heavy leg was thrown over her thighs, pinning her down; a very heavy arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her securely to a man’s body; and fingers drifted idly in her hair.
Her heart went crazy before she could control it. She didn’t remember falling into bed with anyone. Certainly not with him. Gedeon Volkov. What in the world had possessed her to crawl in bed with him? He could have murdered her so easily. He still could. She had to extract herself out from under him before he woke up. He was leopard. She doubted that was going to happen. One could be lucky only so many times.
She shifted her weight subtly on the bed, trying to ease out from under him. He came awake instantly, the hand buried under the pillow coming up and out with a gun in it.
“I’m just getting up.” She tried to be matter-of-fact, as if she slept with men every day. “It’s still early, you should just sleep as much as you can. I’ve got quite a bit to do.”
“Such as?”
Gedeon had a note of masculine amusement in his voice that made her want to hit him over the head with a flowerpot. Or the Ming vase that couldn’t possibly be authentic. He hadn’t moved. Not the leg or the arm, or even the fingers playing with her hair. She had spent an inordinate amount of time while on the plane researching him. The information she found about him was just a little bit terrifying. He was also a player. Big time. Way, way, way out of her league.
“Setting up care for you until you’re back on your feet. Arranging for meals to be brought in. Arranging for my disappearance so it won’t be easy for you to find me.”