Chapter
12
CHINATOWN
Bright lights.
Crowded streets.
The spicy sweet-sour smell of food.
A restaurant painted red with a gold dragon on the door.
“Let us out here. We will walk the rest of the way.” Hu Chang paid the driver and got out of the cab. “Come along. It’s not far. It will give my friend time to prepare for us.”
Catherine watched the driver negotiate his way through the busy traffic. “And the name of your friend?”
“Celia Mekong.” He was making a telephone call. “Ah, Celia. I have guests and perhaps a few problems. May I bring them to you? You have no commitments?” He smiled at her answer. “We will be there within twenty minutes.” He hung up. “She is bored and delighted to have our company.” He started down the street. “However, she must get rid of one of her commitments and prepare for us. So we will stroll slowly and enjoy people watching. The Chinatowns of America are like no others.”
Luke and Erin were already walking ahead and looking into shop windows.
“Commitment?” Catherine asked.
“Celia is a courtesan.”
Catherine’s eyes widened. “She’s a prostitute?”
“No, a courtesan. There is a vast difference. You will understand once you meet her.”
“I don’t have to understand. All I have to know is that Erin is safe with her.”
“As safe as the circumstances permit. Until Cameron takes care of the root of the matter.”
“Kadmus.” She said, “I’m not sure Cameron is going to take care of him. He told me that was on the forbidden list.”
“He may have changed his mind. I received that indication.”
“Well, I can’t rely on him. I have to be ready for Kadmus when he comes.” She gazed directly into his eyes. “Or his men come, as they did tonight. Why did we have to go on the run? Tell me what happened at the airport, Hu Chang.”
“What you’ve probably deduced, but I’ll fill in the details.”
She listened quietly, and when he’d finished, she didn’t speak for a moment. “And we don’t know if Jack Sen is alive or dead.”
“He didn’t have to confront Kadmus’s men. I told him that I believed Cameron was going to address the problem.”
“Would that have been good enough for you? It was his mother who was murdered, for God’s sake. It wouldn’t have been good enough for me.” She paused. “I need to know if there’s anything I can do for Sen.”
“I will contact the airport and local hospitals and try to find out where he was taken. Or I will have Celia call a few people she knows, and they will be able to tell her.” He smiled. “People are always eager to do favors for Celia.”
“Good.” She was silent. “Cameron said he was on his way?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know if I want him to come. I thought we might be done with him. He … disturbs me.”
“I know. Then you must decide if you’re willing to tolerate the disturbance for his help in keeping Erin safe.”
“I don’t need his help. All I need is a little time to work things out for her.”
“Kadmus isn’t going to give us time. And you have both Erin and Luke to protect. Help would not come amiss.”
“You want Cameron to come?”
“I want you to come to terms with him. Take what you need, give what you wish. But do not hide from him.”
“I’m not hiding.” Or perhaps she was. And perhaps Hu Chang was right. Confront Cameron and take what she needed.
What she needed …
Tingling heat.
She pulled her gaze away. “I’ll think about it.”
“I know you will.” He nodded up ahead. “There is Celia’s house on the corner.”
“That store?” She could see a plate-glass window displaying exquisite Chinese statues on ivory pedestals and beside it a finely carved mahogany door. “It’s not what I was expecting.”
“Once you get beyond that door, you will see a house that would rival any mansion in the city. The interior is absolutely stunning. But Celia’s clientele quite often would prefer to be seen going into a store that can be explained rather than a luxury apartment. One of her main attractions is that she always protects the customer.” He corrected himself. “Well, not main attraction, that is the product itself.”
“How did you come to know her?”
“Several years ago, she was being held in a bordello in Calcutta by Li Pradka, a criminal who was scum of the Earth. She was his pride and joy. A prize he only let be sampled by special friends and clients. Celia was superbly talented, and it was considered a rare treat if she came to your bed.” He smiled. “But Li Pradka annoyed me, and I decided he had to be punished. So I arranged to take Celia from him and give her a life of her own.”
“Did she want to go?”
“Oh, yes, she told me later that she was only waiting for the opportunity to kill him and flee the city. It was not a life that she would have chosen for herself. She’d grown up in Greece and been kidnapped by one of the sex-slave traffickers. Li Pradka had bought her from them.”
“Poor woman.”
“She never pitied herself.”
“Yet evidently she felt she had to go back to prostitution.”
“She was not forced to do anything. I set her up here in the city with enough money for schooling and living expenses.”
“Then why—”
“Ask her yourself.” He motioned to Erin and Luke, who were looking at the Chinese artifacts in the window. He moved to the door and frowned as he looked at the digital-numbered lock. “I know the code for this lock, but Celia gives very few people the code. I believe we’ll not use it. We must respect her privacy.” He knocked on the door. “And she will not be shy about answering.”
“Hu Chang!” The door was thrown open, and the woman who stood there took Hu Chang’s hand and drew him into the house. “Why can’t you give me notice? Do you think I wait around for you to come visit me? I’m a busy woman.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Actually, I do wait for you. I have no other friends that I value as much.” She turned to Catherine. “And who are you?”
“Catherine Ling.”
The woman was stunning. Shining red hair, green eyes, and golden skin that seemed to shimmer in the light. Her features were beautifully symmetrical and her body graceful and sexual at the same time. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit and looked sleek and sensual as a cat. Celia Mekong might be somewhere in her thirties, but it was difficult to determine. You were only aware of the dazzling total and just wanted to keep on looking.
“Thank you for allowing us to come here.” Catherine gestured to Erin. “Erin Sullivan. And this is my son, Luke.”
“I’m happy to have you.” Her white teeth flashed as she smiled. “Hu Chang always brings me wonderful surprises.” Her brow knitted as she stared at Erin. “I’ve seen you before. Or perhaps a photo?”
“Perhaps,” Erin said. “I’m a journalist, but in this day and age, the journalist is sometimes part of the story. It shouldn’t be that way, but that’s the way it is.”
Celia turned to Luke. “And you’re such a handsome young man. But you’re also probably much more complex and interesting since Hu Chang brought you. Welcome.”
“Thank you.” Luke was smiling awkwardly, and he was looking at Celia with a bedazzled expression.
Catherine stared at him in bemusement. Good God, even boys as young and cool as Luke fell under Celia’s spell.
“We’ve had a long trip, Celia,” Hu Chang said. “I’d be grateful if you could furnish us with rooms and hot showers.”
“Of course.” She gestured toward the exquisite wrought-iron staircase. “There are several bedrooms on the upper floor. I assume you’ll wish to be close together if there are difficulties. You take the room I usually give you, Hu Chang. Perhaps Ms. Sullivan and Catherine Ling could share the second suite. There are two queen beds in that apartment. And let young Luke take the next room down the hall.” She waved a hand. “You know where everything is, Hu Chang. Why don’t you take Ms. Sullivan and Luke up and get them settled?” She smiled at Catherine. “Will you come to the kitchen and help me make a pot of tea? We can take it up to them.”
Catherine nodded. “If you like.”
“I do like.” Celia whirled and headed down the hall. “Come along.”
Catherine glanced at Hu Chang and shrugged. “I’ll see you later. I guess I’m on kitchen duty.”
“I expected that Celia wouldn’t let you disappear right away.” He gestured for Luke and Erin to go before him up the stairs. “Did I mention that she’s very curious?”
He didn’t wait for an answer before he started up the stairs.
Catherine gazed after him for a moment before turning and heading after Celia.
The kitchen was all stainless steel and exotic granites, beautiful woods and soft lights glowing in crystal chandeliers.
Celia was already pouring water into a huge brass carafe. “You don’t mind helping me, do you? If you’re tired, I can do it myself.”
“You seem to be doing it yourself anyway. Why am I here?”
“You’re very blunt.” Celia looked up and smiled. “Because I can’t resist getting to know you. I’ve heard of you for many years.”
“From Hu Chang?”
“Yes, he doesn’t come to see me often, but when he does, there is usually a mention of Catherine. He regards you as his dear friend. Hu Chang does not make many friends.” She set the tea to brewing. “And I decided I must make sure you’re worthy of his friendship.”
Catherine smiled. She was finding the woman’s frankness appealing. “And how am I to prove it to you?”
“Tell me what you feel for him.” Celia looked her directly in the eye. “I will know if you lie. I have great experience with liars.”
“What do I feel for him?” Catherine was silent, thinking. “I think he’s part of me, but it’s a part that I may never know completely. He’s my friend who will never leave me, who will never let me know loneliness, who can finish my sentences almost before I begin them. He came to me when I was just struggling to stay alive and taught me why staying alive was important. How to reach out and grasp the joy of every moment. I’ve put my life on the line to save him, and I would do it again tomorrow.” She ended simply, “Because I would not want to live in a world that held no Hu Chang.”
“Very eloquent,” Celia said slowly. Then a warm smile lit her face. “But truthful, I think. I believe Hu Chang is safe with you.”
“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”
“Not entirely. Do you sleep with him?”
Catherine blinked. “No, I told you, he’s my friend.”
She shrugged. “Friends sometimes make the very best lovers. They care about your pleasure. That’s very important. You have a son. Was your relationship with your husband very close? Was he your friend as well as your lover?”
“You have no right to ask me that.”
“But the fact that you don’t want to answer indicates that he might have been one but not the other,” Celia said shrewdly. “I will make my own guess which it is.”
“Terry was a wonderful man, older, but a good lover. He was my mentor when I first became an agent with the CIA. We wanted the same things, a home, a child, a normal life.”
“He was a friend,” Celia said triumphantly. “I knew it.”
“How nice that you can make a judgment on my marriage from only a few words,” Catherine said dryly.
“I’m very clever about reading people. I’ve had to be. My life has been filled with men who lie and cheat to get what they want. I’ve learned to know how to keep them from getting it,” Celia said. “Ask Hu Chang.”
“I’d rather ask you,” Catherine said boldly. “You’ve had no compunction about asking me personal things. Now it’s my turn.”
Celia’s brows rose. “You think I’ll object? Not now that I know that Hu Chang has reason to trust you. I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done in my life. Go ahead, ask me.”
“Did you sleep with Hu Chang?”
She threw back her head and laughed. “I knew that was coming. You’re as curious about me and I am about you. No, I did not. Though I did offer and was refused. I think that, in spite of the fact that he’s very worldly and the wisest man I’ve ever known, he’s burdened by a conscience. I couldn’t convince him that I wasn’t offering out of gratitude.”
“Why did you offer?”
“He’s exciting, like a mystery that has no end. He’d be a very good lover. I wanted to try him…” She shrugged. “But it’s probably better that I didn’t. I have a tendency to try to control men. That wouldn’t work with Hu Chang. And if it did, he would no longer be my friend.”
“I don’t think you’d need to worry. Hu Chang can’t be controlled.”
“I don’t think so either. But sex is everything, sex rules the world. I’ve only met two men since I discovered that truth who I wasn’t able to control with sex.” She grinned. “It was a devastating blow to my ego, but I recovered.”
“Who were they?”
Celia shook her head. “I don’t reveal names. All my clients are confidential. They can trust me.”
Catherine was silent a moment.
“Ask it,” Celia said softly. “It always comes down to this question. Ask it.”
“Why are you doing this? You’re obviously very bright. Hu Chang gave you money. You could have gone to school and become anything you wished.”
“This is what I wish,” Celia said quietly. “When Hu Chang took me away from that bordello in Calcutta, I was very grateful, but not for the reason you would think. I didn’t consider myself a victim whose body was raped and ravaged, a helpless sex slave. Yes, I felt that way when I was sold to Li Pradka. The first month was hell. But then I discovered something that I hadn’t known about myself. I didn’t hate what was being done to me anymore. I was liking it … I was loving it.”
“What?”
“You’re shocked. I can’t help that I don’t think like you. I’m intensely sexual. I need sex. I learned to divorce myself from the individual and just enjoy the act. The only thing I hated was that I had to take, not give.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I had to submit and respond. I don’t like submission. I wanted to be the one in control. I wanted to be so good at what I was doing that my partner would do anything to keep me from stopping. So I took another step and began to learn how to be that good. I talked to prostitutes at the bordello, I experimented, I read books. From the Kama Sutra to Marquis De Sade. I studied sexual pleasure in all forms. Some I liked, some I didn’t. But I learned them all, and in the end, I made them my own.” She got a tray down from the cabinet. “I wasn’t a victim by the time Hu Chang decided to rescue me. Any man who went to bed with me played by my rules because he knew the rewards. He was eager to let me guide the play. Occasionally, I was sent someone who was so twisted that I had a few problems, but I found a way to keep him subdued.” Her tone was without emotion. “But it pointed out that I had to get away from Li Pradka. I was very grateful when Hu Chang took me away from Calcutta.” She took out an exquisite teapot of Chinese origin. “Isn’t this lovely? It was a gift from a sheik from Kuwait. I usually don’t accept gifts. A sum is just paid into my bank account for a designated period. Additional gifts sometime makes the client feel that he’s the giver. But this pot is very old, priceless, and it pleased me.”
“It’s amazing.” And so was Celia. Her frankness was only matched by her cheerful matter-of-factness. “And did the sheik please you?”
She chuckled. “When I schooled him a little. One of the reasons I enjoy the first time is that it stimulates my mind as well as gives me release. By the second time, I know to what lengths of excess I can drive him that will make him mine.”
“You speak as if your clients are stallions.”
“They all think they are. And if I can make them go away believing that they’re the greatest stallion in the barn, then I’ve done my job.”
“And you actually don’t mind being—”
“A whore?”
“Hu Chang calls you a courtesan. But I’m having trouble distinguishing the differences.”
“Most people do. Economically, it means that I’m paid enormous amounts of money. I can demand a price for a night or two that would buy an apartment building. For a week, the price is enough to enrich my investment portfolio to the tune of over a million. I’ve slept with some of the richest and most influential men in the world.” She poured water over the tea leaves. “The difference for me is that I have a vocation and a skill and that I enjoy my life. I enjoy sex.” She paused. “And I can’t do without it. I need it frequently and varied. I tried to slack off for a while after I came to San Francisco. I even went to a therapy group. But they were all too gloomy and troubled. I wasn’t either. So I figured I could make a better life without them. And I did. I’m doing very well. I hired a private investigator, who is also my agent. At first it went slowly, but then word spread.” She made a face. “Don’t let anyone tell you that men don’t talk if they’ve found a fantastic lay. I made sure it was discreet, and my investigator checked out every client to make sure that I wouldn’t run into something I couldn’t handle.”
“Which doesn’t appear to be likely.”
“It wasn’t. After these last years, I have a fat stock-market portfolio that assures me security and I’m very, very wealthy.”
“But still not tempted to retire.”
“Why should I? I told you, it’s my vocation … and my pleasure. I love every minute of the sex act. It’s hard to explain to you—” She searched for words. “I’m … superb. You can’t imagine the power. There’s no one better at what I do. Sex means everything to men. It’s like being a queen.”
“Just so you don’t abuse that power.”
“I’ve never been tempted. I don’t need to play those games.” She set lemon, cream, and sugar on the tray. “I’ll take the tray. You get the door.” She glanced at Catherine as she picked up the tray. “How do you feel about me now after our little chat?”
“What do you mean?”
“Pity? Disgust? Threatened? Some women feel antagonistic toward my profession.”
“I don’t feel any of those emotions. I still don’t understand, but I’m trying. My mother was a whore, and I grew up on the docks where she and her friends plied their trade. All I knew was despair and drugs and men who hurt my mother. The life killed her when I was a little girl. She was a true victim. I’ve never run across anyone on the other end of the scale.”
“I’m sorry,” Celia said gently. “I know that was hard for you. I’ve been there. It tends to scar…” She moved toward the staircase. “Do you have trouble with sex now? I’ll help if you like.”
Catherine blinked. “What?”
“You saw only the women around you as sex slaves. I’ll teach you a few tricks and moves that will ensure that will never happen to you.”
Catherine chuckled. “A queen, not a slave?”
“Exactly. It won’t take long. You won’t be anywhere near as expert as I am, but you’ll be extraordinary.”
“Thank you for the offer,” she said solemnly. “But I believe I’ll pass.”
“If you change your mind…” She started up the stairs. “I was troubled that your husband was a friend, not lover. I thought that there might be a problem. I know Hu Chang wishes only the best for you. I thought I might help give it to you.”
“If I decide I need to be queen of the bedroom, I’ll let you know.” She was silent, then said, “I’m truly not unappreciative. You have a good heart, Celia.”
“That’s true,” Celia said. “And I think you may, too. We will become good friends and give each other many gifts.”
“But you don’t accept gifts.”
“Only from friends. Knock on that first door. We will let Hu Chang set up this tray and call Erin Sullivan and your Luke. We have labored enough.”
“But I’m certain you took your reward,” Hu Chang said as he opened the door. “Is your curiosity satisfied?”
“Yes, but it didn’t go only one way.” She handed him the tray. “Catherine was also curious. But now all is well, we’re on our way to friendship, and we both know that you’re safe.”
“I knew that before.” Hu Chang looked at Catherine. “I called the local hospital and could get no information. So I called Venable and let him probe. Sen is at St. James Hospital. Two men are dead. Jack Sen is wounded but not badly.”
“Thank God. Though who knows what will happen to him once the police start questioning him.”
“Police?” Celia asked. “Serious trouble then, Hu Chang?”
“Very serious.”
“Don’t just leave it at that,” Catherine said impatiently. “She should know the danger.” She turned to Celia. “Jack Sen was our pilot. His mother was murdered when they questioned her about where he was bringing us. He could have avoided the people who did it, he chose revenge.” She added bluntly, “I can’t promise you they won’t come after you, too.”
“I’m glad you told me,” Celia said. “But it won’t change my decision. Running away from anything is always a form of submission. What can I do for you? Do you need a car, a jet, a boat? I have many clients who would be happy to make me happy.”
“I will let you know,” Hu Chang said. “There are decisions to be made. I’m content that you’re providing us with a place to rest and make those decisions. Now I will go and get Erin and Luke so that they can partake of your wonderful tea.” He paused at the door. “Venable said to tell you his own decision still stands, Catherine.” He gazed at her inquiringly. “And that decision was?”
“He wants to cut Erin loose.” She poured tea into a cup. “I won’t let him do it. I just have to figure out a way to force the issue.”
“Another decision to be made.” He moved silently down the hall. But the next moment, they heard him open a door, and call, “It is time for tea, Luke. You will enjoy it. Your hostess is expert at many, many wonderful skills, and that is one of them.”
“What else does she do?” Luke asked as he moved down the hall. “Besides tea, I mean.”
“She knows many exciting, intricate secrets. Perhaps, if you’re very polite and kind, she will show them to you someday.”
“Oh, Lord,” Catherine murmured.
“Not before eighteen.” Celia’s eyes were sparkling with mischief. She tilted her head consideringly. “Or maybe sixteen if he is ready…”
* * *
Catherine and Erin’s suite had been dark for nearly thirty minutes, but Catherine knew Erin wasn’t sleeping. She could hear the sound of her restless movements and light, shallow breathing in the next bed.
“Catherine?”
“I’m awake. But I hoped you’d give it up and go to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep. What are we going to do about Jack Sen?”
“We’ll think of something. His life could be ruined if the police arrest him, and he has to go through that nightmare. Venable can make people disappear if he needs it to happen. Maybe I can convince him that he needs Sen to be whisked off the scene.”
“Maybe.” Erin was silent. “I was really happy that I was away from that damned palace. I was almost giddy. But I’m coming down now. Death. Everywhere I turn, there’s death. And it’s all connected to me.”
“I won’t deny you’re the center, but I’d stake my life that you’re not responsible for one particle of it.”
“I am, you know.” Her voice was faint in the darkness. “I wore the necklace. Cameron told me not to wear it.”
Catherine stiffened. “He did?”
“He said to keep it safe and send it to him if I needed him or if I changed my mind.”
It was the first time that Erin had indicated that Catherine’s guesswork might have a basis in fact. Don’t push it. Keep everything low-key. “Changed your mind?”
“I wanted to change my mind. I really did. Such a beautiful dream. You’d think it was beautiful, too.”
“Would I?”
“But you can’t believe in dreams, can you? You’re afraid that they’ll interfere with your reality. I was like that once. Hell, I’m a journalist. I deal in facts. But since I’ve been working in Tibet, I’ve been changing. The life is so simple, it has a kind of purity. It lures you into thinking that all life should be clean and simple, with rules that everyone obeys. A world without men like Kadmus and countries that want to blow everyone to kingdom come.”
“That’s the way it should be,” Catherine said. “But you’re right, it’s only a beautiful dream.” She had to move slowly, carefully. “Why would Cameron tell you not to wear that necklace?”
“He was trying to protect me. He said that he couldn’t be sure that it would be safe for me.” She was silent a moment. “I know you want me to tell you everything, but I can’t do it. I don’t have that right. But you’ve risked your life for me. Your son’s at risk now, too. I can’t treat you as if you were a stranger. I trust you. I consider you my friend.”
“I am your friend.”
“And because you’re my friend, I can’t let you go on thinking that Cameron is totally ruthless. It’s not true.”
“I saw those wounds on your body. He could have stepped in and stopped it.”
“He told me when he gave me the necklace that he couldn’t help me if I didn’t do what he told me.” She went on in a rush, “He’s not what you think. Oh, yes, he’s tough, and maybe he wants his own way. But if you could have seen him the way I did at the earthquake site at Qinghai, you’d know how wonderful he is.”
“He was at Qinghai?”
“Yes,” she said. “I was there with the monks trying to rescue the people buried under the ruins of the villages. We had little help from the Chinese soldiers because they had developed altitude sickness. The second day, we had to make our way down a trail that was almost nonexistent to reach a buried school. When we finally made it, I saw that a man was already there working with a pick to clear the rubble. I was stunned. I couldn’t imagine how he had gotten down there. But the monks weren’t surprised. It was Cameron, and they knew him. And during the next twelve hours, I got to know him, too. Though he never told me his name. It didn’t bother me, it wasn’t a time for names. It was a time to get those kids out. And I didn’t get over being stunned for that entire twelve hours. He started giving orders, telling us exactly where to dig. I knew later that he was mentally communicating with the children buried beneath that rubble. At the time, I thought he was either a domineering bastard or maybe that he was some kind of earthquake-retrieval specialist. But every time we dug where he told us to dig, we found a child. We kept digging. There were two dead in that school, but we were able to save eleven. Eleven who would have probably died if left much longer to the elements. We had to bring three up to the top on stretchers. Cameron worked as hard as we did to get those kids up that trail. No, harder. His energy was amazing. But when we got near the top, he stopped and said for us to go ahead and that he’d go back down and check out the school for any more survivors. That was the last I saw of him. We worked at that earthquake site for another three days, and I never ran into him.” She fell silent. “But I already knew the kind of man he was. During that time, he was tireless and smart and gentle with the children. He was larger-than-life, and that’s what we needed at Qinghai.”
“You must have impressed him, too.” She paused. “Because he looked you up and came after you, didn’t he?”
She didn’t speak for a moment. “Yes.”
The answer was so brief that Catherine knew there would be no elaboration. She had told her story about Cameron because she wanted Catherine to stop condemning him. But what had transpired later was too private for her to divulge. “I worked very hard trying to put the puzzle together. Will you tell me if I came close?”
Another silence. “You’re very clever, Catherine.” She turned over on her side. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
It was answer enough. Erin wasn’t about to go any further. So at least the bare bones of the answers she’d drawn had come close to the truth.
Maybe.
But she thought Erin was done with deception. She’d done all she could to protect Cameron and the people he represented, but she wouldn’t lie to Catherine. Complete disclosure was something else. She was still stubbornly silent.
Because Erin had been caught up in a dream, a beautiful dream …
* * *
“I need to know where Jack Sen is, Catherine.”
Cameron, she realized drowsily.
Then she came wide-awake. “I thought you were only to come visiting by invitation only, Cameron. You woke me.”
“I’ll make sure you go back to sleep. And I’m suspending that promise for the duration. Things are going to get very edgy during the next few days. Where is Jack Sen?”
“At St. James Hospital. Why didn’t you link with Hu Chang as you did before? He could have told you.”
“Because I wanted to be with you. And I’ve decided that it’s time I did what I wanted to do. I tried to get through to Sen, but they must have drugged him. I just knew he was hurt.”
“And he’s in trouble. I don’t know when the police will transfer him to county facilities.”
“I’ll take care of him. I just had to know his location.”
“What are you going to do?”
“At the moment, nothing except make a few plans and preparations. I’m in a jet over the Pacific and won’t arrive in San Francisco for another six hours.”
“You took a jet? I’m surprised you just don’t don your Superman cape and zoom faster than a speeding bullet. And what will you do when you finally arrive here?”
“I won’t let Jack Sen be punished anymore for doing a service for me. He’s already suffered enough.”
“I was going to ask Venable to do—”
“That’s not the way I operate. Keep Venable out of it. I’ll handle it.”
She stiffened. “I’ll do what I think best.”
He was silent. “I know you will. But don’t start a chain of actions I’ll have to dodge around.”
“You mean don’t get in your way.”
“That’s another way of putting it.” He smiled. “Any other time, I’d be delighted to have you in my way. It would be pure pleasure having to deal with you.”
“Deal? In what way?”
“Mentally or physically or both.” His voice was soft, infinitely sensual. “I’ve had quite a few hours on this plane to think about all the things I want to do to you. Would you like to see a few?”
Heat.
Her stomach clenched, and she found it hard to breathe.
“No.”
“I believe I’ll show you just a glimpse. I owe you for that Superman crack.”
“You should be used to it. I’m sure other people resent the—”
He was over her, his hand parting her thighs, his lips on her nipple. Then, with one plunge, he was inside, huge in her tightness, hot, moving, lifting her with each thrust.
Madness. Frantic need. Every nerve and muscle in her body convulsing as he moved.
The scene changed.
He was still inside her, but her wrists were cuffed above her head. She couldn’t move, but the erotic need was now even more intense. He was moving slowly, his fingers plucking, teasing, doing things to her that were indescribable. The muscles of her stomach were tensing, convulsing. Her very helplessness made the acts even more arousing. She wanted to move, take him, all of him. Draw him into her make him—
He was gone from her body.
And she was left panting and frustrated and wanting to kill him.
“You son of a bitch.”
“Which one did you like better?” He was smiling. “I was wondering about that exotic variation, but your response was pretty close to equal. Which makes me think that you’re going to be a magnificently diverse lover.”
“Not your lover.”
“You’re angry and indignant at the moment, but did I do anything you didn’t want, except stop? You’re still wanting it, and that isn’t me, it’s you.” He added, “And that was very close to how it’s going to feel, only better. I took as much of your physical sensory potential as I could gather to make it absolutely real and good for you.”
“Real? You said you were doing it to punish me.”
“I lied. I did it because I had to have you. I’ve wanted you from the beginning, and I had to show you what we’re like together.” He added softly, “I can’t wait to taste your breasts, to get inside you. You want that, too. We’re both hungry and a little wild with it. It has to happen soon, Catherine.” His eyes were glittering with that wildness, and she could feel the hot, sweeping lust melt deep within her. He saw it, felt it, and his voice hoarsened. “No force. No games. Your rules.”
She swallowed hard. Her heart was beating so hard, she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even argue that what he’d said wasn’t true. She was hot, shaking, her breasts still taut and aching.
She wanted him.
“Then that’s all I needed for now,” he said. “I want you to remember that I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want you. I think about you all the time. I don’t think it’s going to go away even after we have sex. It’s like a crazy, aching fever and not like me at all.” He leaned back in the chair, and his beautifully shaped, sensual lips were curved in a rueful half smile. “That’s a big admission for me. I regard it as a weakness. Enjoy it. I’ll see you soon.”
He was no longer with her.
And she wanted him back.
She wanted him in her body, she wanted his hands touching her, bringing her to the point of climax and past it. She wanted to stare at that beautiful, sensual face and watch his mouth, listen to the deep masculinity of his voice. Feel him, see him, taste him.
She drew a deep, uneven breath and forced her clenched hands to relax.
Block it. Block him. Though she didn’t believe that he had anything directly to do with what she was feeling at this moment. He had left her, dammit. It was a lingering aftereffect from that searing explosion of carnal need.
She tried to relax her muscles, but it wasn’t easy. Her entire body was ready for sex. She wanted to blame it on Cameron, but she knew it wasn’t entirely his fault. This had been coming from the moment she had seen him in that cozy library he had mentally created for her, looking so damn sexy that she had been immediately turned on. Which was completely uncharacteristic of her. He had said what he felt for her wasn’t at all like him. Well, this wasn’t like her either. She didn’t like it. She wouldn’t have it.
Only what could she do about it when she was unable to fight it? She didn’t even want the desire to go away, she just wanted it satisfied. Celia had said something like that, and she hadn’t understood.
Now she understood. Only Celia was enamored with the act itself, and Catherine was lost in a barbaric sexual fascination for one damnably difficult man.
Work on it. Take apart the physical response and try to make sense of it and then downplay it. Or go back to sleep and push it away. That would probably be the best solution. Then when she woke, she would be busy and not thinking of Cameron.
But he was on his way. He would be here soon. She would see him.
She felt an aching burning start between her thighs at the thought.
But she’d be surrounded by people, there would be a job to do. Neither of them would be concerned with anything but Kadmus and keeping Erin safe. It would be okay.
If she could just get to sleep. If she could keep her heart from beating so hard. If she could make her tense muscles relax. If she could forget the feel of him in her body.
It was going to be a long night.