Tempted Tigress (42 page)

It was more potent than any drug, more wonderful than any simple contraction of muscle and body; his soul leapt out of his eyes to join her. She felt a rush of warmth, a total immersion in love, and then a wonderful soaring. She was a bird in flight—except the bird was them together, expanding over oceans and soaring through clouds into sunlight.

She was dimly aware of her inner muscles contracting, of his repeated thrusting, even his abrupt roar of power as he released his seed. She knew these things, and yet only as an echo of the more powerful dance of souls. They were merged together in glory. And in the expansive sky, she felt love—total and abundant love.

* * *

"Did it work?" Anna struggled to form words. Her body was completely satiated, her mind still floating, but she had to know if his experiment worked, even if she could only do so without opening her eyes. "Did you talk to the angels?"

He didn't answer. He had collapsed beside her, and she felt his body as a boneless mass half covering her, half motionless. She felt his furnacelike heat and the slow, nearly imperceptible movement of his chest as he breathed.

She raised her hand and blindly stroked her fingers across his back. She couldn't reach much of him, not without lifting more than just her hand, but it was enough just to touch him, to remember and adore him with her fingertips.

"Did it work?" she asked again, finally opening her eyes.

It was dark in the room, well into the deepest part of the night. She could see little of Zhi-Gang except a vague outline of his body, the shadowy gray reflection of his skin and the movement of his lashes as he blinked. He was awake, and they were once again locking gazes. "Did you see an angel?"

He nodded, the movement felt more than seen. "Really?" she whispered, stunned. Yet, was she truly surprised? The experience had been extraordinary for her as well. "Did you ask your question? Where is your path?"

She felt him inhale, a deep breath that shifted his entire body. His hips adjusted a little more to the side, then most of his legs followed, sliding to the mattress. She welcomed the lessening of weight on her body, but mourned the separation.

She raised her arm, tightening her hold to try and keep them together, but she hadn't the strength and in the end he was fully on the mattress. She adjusted herself to rest on her side and look directly at him.

"Zhi-Gang," she whispered. "What is your path?" He smiled, the expression both tender and mocking. "You don't understand," he said, his voice raspy with exhaustion. He blinked, momentarily breaking their connection.

She squinted, wishing there was more light. "What—"

"I saw
you.
The whole time. Only you."

From Anna Marie Thompson's journal

December 9, 18
99

I saw him again. The Emperor's Enforcer. He's becoming very well known in the northern villages. I saw him kill. I saw him cut open Governor Wan without so much as a blink or a twitch in
his expression. He killed the governor's eldest son too, because he was an addict.

And he killed other men because they were too drugged to move out of the way. He walked into the house and killed them all.

I saw it. I was watching from the women's room where he didn't come. He could have, but he has a softness for crying women, and so we are alive.

He cut the men's throats. He called them indolent wastrels and said their wives were better off without them smoking away their money. He killed them, I think, because he knew they were all distributors—like the governor
—
or runners like me. He just didn't want to believe a woman could be part of such unholy commerce.

I could have laughed at that. Women have always been the lifeblood of this unholy commerce. Some by choice, some forced into the life.

I hate it. I hate it. I hate it!

I couldn't quit. I didn't have the strength. I had the hate, but not the strength.

But I can now, and for the silliest reasons. I saw him. I saw the Emperor's Enforcer cut out the heart of the governor. The threat wasn't in the man's hands—that's where everyone watched: the two deer-horn blades he wields—but that's not where the danger is.

It's in his eyes. It's the darkness in his eyes.

I can't escape them. Every time I reach for opium or the pipe or the flame—anytime I even think of it—I remember his eyes.

He is the angel of death to any who deal opium. As long as I remember his eyes, I can quit.

It's already been a week and I haven't touched a drop. My hands shake, my belly twists and burns, but I haven't touched it. And I won't ever again.

Because of the Enforcer's eyes.

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread,

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise.

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

from "Kubla Khan: or, A Vision in a Dream. A Fragment"

Chapter 18

"So, this is my new son-in-law."

Zhi-Gang bolted upright in bed. Beneath him Anna gasped as well, the sound ending on a shortened squeal of alarm.

Where were his knives?

He blinked even as he kicked a leg out of bed. Then he froze, his vision clearing into a fuzzy and unfortunate tableau. It was morning. He and Anna were naked. And standing around the bed were, in order, a large Chinese man holding both of Zhi-Gang's deer-horn knives, a middle-aged white man with a long salt-and-pepper moustache, and a wiry Chinese man holding a pistol in lax hands. How had he not heard them enter? And where were his glasses?

Zhi-Gang sized up the nearest man, who smiled and taunted him with his own knives. The bastard was pretending not to know how to hold or manage the blades, but his fingers betrayed him. Though his grip was off center, his fingertips were settled in just the right way to quickly readjust. Zhi-Gang suppressed a grimace of frustration. The man knew how to wield the knives and would not be disarmed easily.

"So, what number wife are you, Anna?" the white man drawled. "Six? Seven?"

In his peripheral vision, he saw Anna lift her chin. "I am his only woman," she said. Zhi-Gang winced. That wasn't exactly true, but he didn't have time to explain. Meanwhile, her adopted father—Samuel—barked a mocking laugh.

"I doubt that, daughter. I most sincerely doubt that."

Zhi-Gang pushed up, ignoring his nakedness. Though he was tall for a Chinese, he only matched the white man's height, and he was clearly shorter than the man with his knives. "You will leave our bedchamber," he said with the arrogance he'd learned from the Emperor himself. Then he grabbed a corner of the blanket and threw it over Anna. She wrapped it tightly around her torso, covering herself but leaving her arms free.

Odd, how the sight warmed him. When other women might be screaming in hysterics, his wife did not act the fool. She was already shifting her legs beneath her, readying herself to fight. Except, there would be no fight. Zhi-Gang stepped forward to eye the white man. He was now close enough to focus. Now he could see signs of age: wrinkles around the mouth, a slight stoop to the shoulders. That was something.

"You will wait outside while we dress," Zhi-Gang ordered. "Call for tea and dumplings."

Samuel leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms over his massive chest. "I assure you, my daughter is well used to men in her bedchamber."

"That's not true!" Anna cried, though her cheeks flushed with shame.

Zhi-Gang waved his hand in dismissal. "I care not for the past," he said. "What concerns me is the present. And the future." His voice dropped to a lower register. "Leave now, or I will take my business elsewhere despite my wife's urging."

Samuel's lips curved in a sneer. "Or I could kill you for killing Halfy."

"Halfy was—," Anna began, but Zhi-Gang cut her off.

"The idiot touched my wife," he said, real fury darkening his tone. "And if you cared for his life, I would already be dead." He folded his arms, echoing Samuel's posture. "Leave now or never see your daughter—and my business—again."

Samuel's eyes darted around before finally coming to rest on Anna's face. "This is not new business. I already control Jiangsu province."

"Bai is dead!" Anna snapped. "Killed because of gambling debts." She jerked her head at Zhi-Gang. "He is the new governor. You must negotiate a new deal with him."

Samuel took an angry step forward. "You dare challenge me? After disappearing with an entire shipment?"

Anna swallowed and nodded, clearly anxious. "I had to run. The Enforcer was coming."

Samuel cursed and spit onto the floor.

"But I would never return to you empty handed," she continued. "You know that." Her voice dropped to an almost inaudible whisper. "I know that."

Samuel pursed his lips. "A husband with a new province. Hmph. We shall see." His gaze flicked back to Zhi-Gang. "I'll be in the office. Don't make me wait." Then, with a clenching of his thick jaw, he turned and walked out. His men followed, the one with the knives leaving last.