The Frenchman's Revenge (32 page)

They drank wine f
rom
their vineyard and nibbled on elegant food, teasing each other by hiding pieces of fruit in outrageous places
,
then
nibbling on the found treasures
.

Knowing that she was about to
doze off
, Bai
asked
the question that had been
troubling hi
m
. He
knew
that he was possessive of her,
perhaps
to a fault
. He didn’t deny it or try to hide it;
it was beyond his control.

“Elena, how did
you
know… where did you learn
…
to touch me the way you did
…
where you did
?”

She rose up
off the pillow
,
surprised at his question
,
and then a wicked smile tugged at her lips.

“Hmm.
Let me think. Oh yes.
Dr. Oleong taught me. Why do you ask?”

Bai sat straight up
,
pushing her off of him and said with a growl, “What the hell do you mean, Oleong taught you?
How?
What did he do to you?
What did you do to him?
”

“For
G
od’s sake, Bai. I’m studying anatomy. He’s my
professor
. And, well, the more I read about prostates, the more intrigued I became. I decided I wanted to learn a little more on my own – outside of class.
And seeing how you responded to my
field
research, I’m glad I did.”

Thinking about the stern little five foot doctor with the enormous pot belly
,
and more hair in his nostrils than on his head
,
Bai couldn’t deny the ridiculousness of his concern
. T
he beginning of a smile quirked his lips.

Elena burst out laughing, tears running down her face.

“Oh my God, Bai!
Did you think Dr. Oleong …? Oh
,
yuck!”

B
ai grinned
,
then joined in Elena’s laughter.

“Still, I don’t want you to touch any man’s ass except mine, do you understand?”

“Darling, I’m studying to be a healer
,
not a temptress.
I
f it bothers you
,
I will defer to my male colleagues when certain parts of our male patients need to be examined.”

Bai was embarrassed at his request
,
but couldn’t bear the thought of Elena
being intimate
with another man
,
even in a professional setting.

“
My apologies
,
cherie
.
I know I am unreasonable
,
but…”

“It’s all right, darling.
As long as you let me explore you any
way, anywhere I want.
You can be my male laboratory, my living textbook.
Agreed?”

He grinned.

“If what you did tonight is any example,
cherie
, all I can say is,
h
ave at it! I’m all yours.”

Elena grinned back at him
,
then tossed her head
w
ith a sly smile, “So I can tell Dr. Oleong his ass is safe with me?”

Bai
growled
. He
jerked her
nightgow
n over her hips
and
pulled her bare bottom across his lap.

“His ass may be safe
,
but yours sure as hell isn’t, you
naughty
little tease!”

The s
ounds of a hard smack followed by another blended with shrieks of pretend outrage and soon gave way to groans of pleasure and
another round of
heated lovemaking.

Chapter 1
4

The next morning, Wyatt and Nianzu met with Bai to discuss their upcoming meeting with Jeng Ming.

“You remember her, don’t you, Bai?
She is that beautiful girl you spoke to at Madam Torrento’s – the one who
could stare daggers through a steel plate?
Christ
,
I
thought for a minute
she was going to refuse to help us get the girls out
,
but she came around,”
Nianzu said
,
shaking his head at the memory.

“I do remember her, Nianzu.
She is a stunningly beautiful girl.
I don’t know how she managed to maintain her composure
,
given what she has been through
. I
t
’s
clear she is a survivor
.
”

Wyatt took a cigar from the humidor on Bai’s desk and took his time lighting it.

“Lei said that she was captured
by Aldo
Marcello and somehow escaped.
God knows how she made it
from New York
to San Francisco.
Apparently
,
Marcello had a whole team of men looking for her. They
tracked her across the country
and found her outside of Madam Torrento’s
.
That crazy asshole Marcello must have wanted her bad to go to all that trouble.”

Nianzu
said,
“Elena
told me
the same thing, Wyatt
,
Elena’s convinced that Jeng Ming knows a
lot
about Aldo Marcello and can be a terrific resource for us. But
E
lena
warned
that she is closemouthed,
guarded. She
will respond to direct questions
,
but
just
barely.
”

He added with a sigh, “
She is also
extremely
hostile to men.”

Bai
nodded
,
thinking about the beautiful girl and how best to crack through her protective shell
,
when there was a knock on the door
. H
e
looked up to see Elena and Lei
in the doorway.
Jeng Ming stood behind them
,
her face expressionless
,
her eyes
pointedly
staring at the floor.

Bai stood and nodded to Elena and Lei.

“Please, come in,” he said
,
as
he
walked to the door
. He
gave both Elena and Lei a kiss on the cheek and
held out his hand to Jeng Ming.

Jeng Ming looked up at
him
,
then looked back down at the floor
,
refusing to shake his hand.

Bai exchanged a look with Elena and Lei
, motioning them
to the chairs off to the side of his desk.

“Elena,
you and Lei can
sit in those chairs.
That way you can see Jeng Ming and she can see you.
”

He turned to Jeng Ming and said in Chinese, “I understand that you want Elena and Lei to stay with you while we talk, is that correct?”

She looked up at him and her face hardened with anger.
She hesitated and then said with a sneer, “You don’t have to speak Chinese to me.
I am not one of the stupid sluts who can’t speak English.”

Bai
ignored her outburst
.
“I understand that you speak a number of languages.
I do
,
as well.
Which language would you like to use to tell me your story – English, French,
Russian
, Spanish, Chinese?”

Jeng Ming looked up at him
with a
startled
frown
,
as though she hadn’t
agreed
to tell him her story,
and
said sullenly, “English.”

“Fine.
My English is good
,
although as Elena will tell you
,
I do tend to lapse occasionally into French
,
which is my native language.”

He motioned to the chair in front of his desk
positioned between Nianzu and Wyatt
.
Bai
knew
Jeng Ming was
antagonistic
to men
. He
took
the
chance that while she might at first resist Nianzu and Wyatt’s
presence
she would be comforted
that
strong men
surrounded
her.

“Please sit there.
You met Nianzu
the other night. Nianzu is my lieutenant.
Governor
McManus is Elena’s father, Lei’s husband
,
and my mentor and closest advisor.”

Both men
stood respectfully and
nodded to Jeng Ming
,
but neither spoke.

Jeng Ming looked up
at them
,
then quickly looked back at the floor
,
refusing to move
to the chair
.
S
eeing her resistance
, Bai waited for a minute
to see if she would change her mind
. He knew h
is biggest challenge was to
win her trust.
Only then would she tell
him her story.
F
irst he needed to establish boundaries.

He stood quietly for a moment and then said, “Jeng Ming, please look at me.”

She froze
,
then with a haughty
toss
of her
head
,
she looked up and glared at him.

He
motioned again to the empty chair.

“Please
,
sit down.”

She
hesitate
d
and stared back down at
the floor, indecision playing across her face. A full minute passed in silence.

Bai’s voice was soft, but the underlying command was clear.

“Jeng Ming, please sit down. NOW.”

W
ithout speaking
,
she moved to the chair and
plunked
down
. H
er body was rigid, her hands
clasped
tightly together in her lap
.

Bai walked back behind his desk
to a tea service Madam
Chin ha
d brought for them.

“Would you ladies like tea?” he asked with a pleasant smile. “No? How about brandy?”

Wyatt grinned
.

“Now, that’s more like it, Bai.”

Bai took out a tray of glasses and a decanter of brandy.
He looked over to Lei and Elena
,
who
demurred.
Without asking
,
he poured four glasses of brandy and handed one to Wyatt and
one to
Nianzu
,
then with a smile pushed
a glass
in front
of Jeng
Ming
.
He sat down in his chair and raised his glass to her and nodded when she accepted the libation and took a sip.

Bai took out a cigar and clipped the end with his wolf
’s
head clipper
. He
lit the cigar and drew on it.
When it was burning steadily
,
he leaned back in his chair and
nodded
to
Jeng Ming.

“Tell me about Aldo Marcello.”

Jeng Ming started
,
as though surprised at his direct question.
She took a large swallow of brandy and
asked
derisively,
“
What do you want to
know
?
How he kills people
? Or how
he fucks them
?”