“I know you had orders to treat him gently. He’s hurt, in case that escaped you. If you can’t do the job you were paid to do, you put him very gently down and walk away. I’ll let the man who hired you deal with you.”
There was steel in Lotus Blossom. She had to be surrounded, but she refused to back down. She played her role so perfectly, as if she were in charge and those helping answered to her. He would give anything to have his sight back and be able to see her.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the man behind him mumbled. “I’ll be very careful.”
“Thank you.” She waited several minutes before speaking again. “I’ll just wait here with my brother until Etienne gets here. You boys seem a little antsy.”
He was carried very carefully to another vehicle and laid down on the back seat. They left the door open, and he was grateful, telling himself his little lotus blossom was coming with them. Sure enough, he caught a whiff of her fragrance. Her fingers were in his hair, featherlight. She started to climb into the vehicle and had one foot in when a voice stopped her.
“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’rea 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 tocalm 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
MEILINGbecame 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 withhim.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?”
