Heart Of The Tiger

“And if I don’t go? Will you still leave for Hong Kong without me?”

“Yes.”

“But you don’t know Chinese.”

“I’ll have to rely on British SI to help me.”

“And then?”

“And then I’ll wait for Kang to contact me.”

“That will be dangerous, Matt. No one approaches the pirates in ignorance. These men are straight out of the late eighteen-hundreds. They wield knives and axes instead of guns and attack ships grounded by typhoons on those little islands out in the China Sea. And when they swarm aboard those ships, they kill.” She took a deep, unsteady breath. “And they never show mercy. You aren’t any match for them.”

Matt heard the tremor of fear in her voice. “Look, I’m not going to try to talk you into coming, Layne. Personally, I don’t want you along. It could get very dangerous.” His voice lowered to an intimate level. “I’d rather go alone and try to survive so I can come back and get to know you better.”

Layne twisted the linen napkin in her lap. The aching honesty in his voice made her believe that he would want to renew their acquaintance without the pressures now surrounding them. He was drawn to her, as she was to him. Layne tried to separate her romantic feelings from the unfolding drama. She knew the Chinese mind. And she suspected Matt was unprepared for the way they dealt with outsiders such as himself. If she didn’t go along…Pictures of him dying from knife wounds made her pale.

“Layne?”

“It’s nothing.”

Matt’s eyes flared with disbelief as he watched her face whiten beneath her tan. “No lies, remember? What’s wrong?”

“They’ll kill you. You’ll never get close to the lao-pan and his cutthroat clan. If you aren’t one of them, they’ll never accept you.” Layne raised her chin, meeting his concerned gaze, then held out her hand, palm toward him. A thin white scar crossed the entire palm. “When I was looking for Kang, I was told by the junk people in Aberdeen Harbor that he hated all foreign devils. His youngest son had been killed by the British police on Kowloon. The only reason I’m considered part of Kang’s family is because I helped his eldest son get admitted to a university in California. It was hoped that by educating Kang’s son in the United States, the Dragon Clan might eventually stop their marauding as more of their people were enlightened.”

“I see,” Matt murmured. “And Kang’s way of showing his thanks was to take a dagger to your palm?”

“It’s a ritual among the Dragon Clan. Only the lao-pan may allow an outsider who isn’t born of the clan to become a member of it. It was his way of honoring me—instead of lopping off my head.” She grimaced. “I wasn’t ecstatic about the idea, believe me.” She gave him an embarrassed look. “When he cut my hand, I fainted. When I came to, his wife had placed healing herbs on my wound and bandaged it. I’ve shed my blood and mingled it with his. I can walk with safety among his people. If you don’t have this mark, you’ll be killed. They allow no outsiders to live to tell the rest of the world about their fortresses on the different islands.”

Matt stared at the scar on her slender, artistic hand for a long moment, his lips tightening. “Didn’t Brad go with you when you searched for Kang?”

Layne shook her head, slowly lowering her hand and tucking it back into her lap. “No. He stayed at the Princeton for that week. I went to Macao in search of the pirates without him.”

Matt swore softly, his entire body tensing. “He let you go by yourself?” What kind of idiot was Carson? Matt would never have allowed Layne to go into that nest of thieves by herself!

“Yes.”

Matt put a leash on his anger, but it still came out in his lowered voice. “Well, I’ll tell you something. If you were my wife, you wouldn’t be traipsing off on some adventure without me. You could have been raped. Didn’t you consider the risks? Kang could have killed you—or worse, made you a slave. We’ve got enough background data on the pirates for me to know that much.” He let out a shaky breath, staring across the table at her. “What the hell kind of husband did you have?”

Layne’s mouth pulled into a sad smile. “It’s a long story, Matt. And too depressing.” She leaned forward, urgently. “Just as you never would have let me go by myself to find the pirates, I can’t let you go alone, either. The lao-pan wants to talk with me. He won’t harm you as long as I’m there. He owes me a debt. If a lao-pan owes you, he must honor whatever you ask for—that’s the unwritten Chinese code. And now I’ll collect on it by asking him to help you in whatever way necessary.”

Matt reached across the table, pulling her hands into his. “You’re a special woman, kitten. Now listen to me carefully, I can’t tell you much about this mission. It’s all top secret. And it could become dangerous. I worry about you…I’m sorry, but you’re not agent material, and that makes you vulnerable to attack from every quarter.” His thoughts grew turbulent. It was like leading a lamb to slaughter. And yet single-handedly Layne had tracked down the pirates and met them on their own turf. There was a hidden streak of courage within her. His fingers tightened around her hands. His brother and the avionics were lost somewhere among the scattered islands ruled by the pirates of the South China Sea. And this woman with the childlike trust in her eyes was the only one who could help them enter that violent, bloody world to find Jim, his copilot and those black boxes. He knew that if they fell into the wrong hands, it could set the U.S. back ten years in electronic surveillance and defense systems.

“I trust you, Matt,” Layne began quietly. “I swore I’d never get involved with another agency man. But you’re different.” She wet her lips, aware of the emergence of feelings she’d thought had died. “You’ll protect me. I know you’ll do your best. And I feel safe with you. I’ll go. Just take me back to my apartment and I’ll pack….”

She was coming! Matt stared at her, then gave her fingers one more squeeze before releasing them. “All right, let’s go. I’ll have all the papers and passports in order and pick you up tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.” Numbly, Layne pushed back her chair. All she knew was that she had no choice. Matt needed her, and she was going.

* * *

Even though she was expecting it, the knock at her apartment door made Layne start. She hefted the last bag into the living room and ran to answer the door. The last few hours she’d alternated between bouts of fear, doubt and hesitation. The opportunity to see Kang Ying again was exhilarating. But the ominous note surrounding Kang’s request left her with an icy feeling in her stomach. And then there was Matt Talbot, an operative. The sort of man she had sworn never to involve herself with again on any level. Yet she was drawn to him. Eagerly, Layne pulled open the door.

Matt stood there, leaning against the doorjamb. His smile said, Relax, everything will be all right. He was dressed in a pair of dark brown slacks, with a light blue shirt open at the collar. She liked the way his sport jacket accented his wide shoulders. Suddenly shy, she managed a smile, gesturing for him to enter.

“Come in, Major—”

“I think we’d better suspend the social formalities,” he suggested easily, halting among her three suitcases. “Call me Matt.”

Layne nodded nervously and shut the door. She wore a pair of designer jeans, low-heeled sandals and a sienna colored long-sleeved blouse that highlighted the color of her honey-brown eyes.

Matt gave her an appraising look that confirmed her choice of traveling clothes. “Scared?” he asked as he walked over to her.

“Yes. Does it show?”

“Just to me,” he soothed. “Everyone gets butterflies beforehand.” His mouth stretched into a softened smile. “I’ve got them, too.”

She gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him. “You look capable of handling virtually anything, Maj—I mean, Matt.”

He was aware of her lilac perfume enhancing the warm scent of her body as he stood mere inches from her. “Looks are deceiving,” he warned her. “Stand still.” He saw a brief flicker of fear in her eyes as he reached behind her, gently loosening the confining pins that held her blue-black hair in the chignon.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you looked the first time I saw you?” he whispered huskily as he loosened the neatly twisted hair. The silken mass tumbled through his fingers to settle in a cloud around her shoulders and breasts, and he drew in his breath, aware of her femininity, her vulnerability where he was concerned. She did trust him, allowing him to caress her magnificent hair. “There,” he said, his cobalt eyes dark with veiled desire. “That’s how I like my wife—winsome, carefree and beautiful.”

Layne trembled beneath his touch. Her knees were weak from the caress of his fingers coaxing her unruly hair across her shoulders. Closing her eyes momentarily, she felt a throbbing intimacy leap between them. When Layne reopened her eyes, she drowned in the flaring azure of his, losing her heart to this inscrutable man who touched her soul as surely as the sun kissed the uplifted face of each flower. At a loss for words, she took a step away from him.

“Remember,” Matt went on gruffly, himself shaken at the sudden flare of intimacy, “you’re my wife, and we’re newlyweds. Anyone watching us would expect us to be in very close contact with each other.” A glimmer came into his blue eyes. “This is the only part of the whole charade that I’m going to enjoy.”

“What? Pretending that we’re married?” she heard herself protest. But Matt’s touch was anything but fakery. And Layne’s instincts told her his feelings were genuine despite the circumstances. She realized she was becoming badly rattled. She didn’t want to be helplessly ensnared by his male magnetism and that special flame of tenderness that surfaced whenever they were together.

Matt’s brow wrinkled slightly, his eyes growing darker with concern as he reached over, gently brushing her flushed cheek. “Where does pretending end and reality begin?” he mused. “Sometimes they overlap to become the truth.” A disarming smile tipped the corners of his mouth. “I told you before, kitten, you’re the stuff dreams are made of…the kind every man wishes would come true.” His brows moved downward and he caught himself as he saw shock register in her eyes. What had Brad Carson done to make Layne react like this? Perhaps aboard the plane on the way to Hong Kong, he would have time to explore some of the more personal facets of this complex woman.

Layne’s heart was pounding, and she lifted her hand to her breast. “This whole thing is a nightmare to me,” she warned him.

“Even the idea of being married to me?”

“It’s merely part of the plan. Nothing more!”

“And you aren’t going to enjoy it?”

“Damn you, Talbot! You watch your step. Just because we have to pose as man and wife doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to take any liberties.”

Matt’s smile broadened as he watched her bluster, because he knew how deeply he had affected her. He could tell by the gold fire burning in the depths of her wide, heart-stealing brown eyes and by the delicate flush of rose across her cheeks.

He pulled a small, dark green box from the inner pocket of his suit coat. “Let’s make this charade a little bit more genuine and permanent then, shall we? According to the records, we were married two weeks ago in a civil ceremony that was held in Alexandria, Virginia.” Matt claimed the hand that was resting against her breast and slipped on the rings.

Layne looked down, a gasp escaping from her. The diamond engagement ring and wedding band were fashioned out of old gold; the diamond had to be at least three carats. “Oh, Matt! They look—”

He placed the green box in a nearby desk drawer. “They belonged to my grandmother,” he explained, carefully noting the sentimental expression that replaced her shock. “She told me that if I ever found a woman who made me lose my train of thought and was in my mind every waking and sleeping moment, that I should give her these rings. And I just found such a woman.” He pulled other essential papers from the left breast pocket of his suit.

Layne gave him a stricken look as she gazed down at the rings. A rush of joy suffused her heart for one heady second before it was replaced by fear. Brad had been just as smooth with his words before they’d gotten married. Was Matt the same? Was he, perhaps, lying to her for the sake of the mission? Yet Brad and Matt seemed as different as a glacier and a gentle, crystal-clear stream. Matt’s warmth and care radiated outward to surround her. Brad had never made her feel like that. How could an agent—how could anyone—produce that sort of feeling if he didn’t mean it? Her heart said he couldn’t. Matt Talbot was more sincere and emotionally honest with her than any man she’d ever known. But even as she felt it, five years of the glacial past froze her fleeting joy. “I couldn’t possibly wear these. I mean, what if—”