WHISPER had been very quiet—too quiet. Meiling didn’t trust her, not when it came to work. She didn’t want to chance being in the middle of a business meeting and having her young leopard suddenly decide now was the time to leap to the surface. Whisper smoldered with heat. Was fiery hot. Sultry. Flirtatious. She rose fast, wreaked havoc on anyone close and then retreated just as fast, leaving Meiling in a terrible state of arousal.
The swamp was alive with dark swirls of purple and light lavender creeping through cypress trees. The moon was out, illuminating the veils of moss hanging from branches to dip into the water’s edge, turning the moss a pale, silvery blue. The crimson sunset mixed with blue to make up the rare purple. Splashes of deep red and blue slashed through the trees to pour into the duckweed-carpeted water below.
Gedeon guided their boat through the swamp with the assurance of a man who knew his way, even in the waning light. Movement was all around them, in the water, above them in the air and through the trees. It wasn’t quiet; the swamp had its own music at night. At times the bellow of an alligator signaled the resident male proclaiming his territory.
“Hell of a way to keep from being followed,” Gedeon said, flashing her a grin.
The night was warm and humid with few clouds. Ordinarily Meiling loved coming out in the swamp and did so at every opportunity, but she felt the wild setting would only encourage Whisper to rise more often when she wasn’t ready to fully emerge. It was nerve-racking. She had come to believe she didn’t have a leopard, so she had never given the Han Vol Dan of her kind much thought. She wasn’t prepared for the constant state of arousal. The heat of her skin. The burning between her legs. The relentless drive she found so hard to ignore. Now she was nervous around Gedeon, which was silly.
Gedeon stayed very close to Meiling, more protective than she’d ever imagined he could be, but always the same on the outside—that dangerous, stone-faced man others stepped aside for. He needed to stay close to her. She wanted him to, because she was terrified of Whisper rising without Gedeon right there to help her when she needed him the most. Or when Whisper needed Slayer.
Whisper seemed to sleep now that she’d been officially claimed. That didn’t seem to bother either Gedeon or Slayer the way it did Meiling. They seemed to take it in stride that her leopard would just curl up and take a long nap, making everyone wait for her.
“Are you still upset because Whisper isn’t showing herself?” Gedeon asked.
He was driving the boat slowly through the duckweed, maneuvering around a few floating logs, including two that were alligators, not logs.
“Clearly, she’s a drama queen. A little diva,” Meiling said with a hint of disgust.
Gedeon laughed. Meiling couldn’t help but love the sound since it was so rare. Gedeon just didn’t laugh. Never when around others. He kept that sound mostly for her.
She gave him a look from under her lashes. “It isn’t really that funny, Gedeon,” although with him laughing it was. “Slayer’s going to have a little entitled brat on his hands. I don’t even know how she got that way.” Total exasperation.
“Lotus.”
The way he said his chosen nickname for her always sent a shiver of heat down her spine. “Don’t make excuses for her. She drives me right up the wall. I used to be even-tempered. Now I’m totally unpredictable. I don’t know what I’m going to do or say from one minute to the next.”
“I hate to be the one to let you in on reality, baby, but you’ve always been unpredictable.”
Meiling assessed his demeanor. He didn’t look or sound as if he was joking. She tilted her chin at him, daring him to be serious. “I am always the calm, reasonable one in every situation and you’re the powder keg. Look at how you were at the meeting with Guy Hawkins. If I hadn’t been there, you might have killed him.”
“But then he most likely deserves killing. I have amazing judgment in these circumstances. Ordinarily, you’re all about compassion, other than your atrocious temper, which, don’t worry, Lotus, I’m more than willing to overlook.”
His gaze had switched from her face to the water, as the boat chugged very slowly around the “bony knees” that were broken roots of cypress trees left in the shallow water. He took them down a channel that cut between two long strips of land before taking them out to the main flowing river.
Gedeon could make her laugh no matter if he was serious or not. That arrogant assurance of his had always appealed to her from the moment she’d first encountered him.
“Why haven’t you insisted on me moving in with you?” She blurted the question that had been bothering her the most since they’d returned to New Orleans.
Gedeon had made every effort to ensure that all details in their lives were back to normal. They took their walk to the Café Du Monde together in the morning and at night. They worked the three open cases together during the day. He didn’t go to the club at night, but he did send Rene to gather information. That was when she realized how vital the nightclub was to their business. It hadn’t been just a place for him to acquire women. It was also the place where he attained vast amounts of information. The one thing he didn’t do was invite her to his bedroom.
She knew remodeling was going on because the workmen were there continually. She could smell paint. He came to her room at night, but he always asked. Always. He had the ability to get in. He had the code to her suite, but he didn’t use it. He asked if he could come to her room, and she couldn’t help herself—she said yes.
Gedeon would lie on the bed with her just as he had done in his room, talking about nothing and everything. Making her laugh when she was tense. She would find herself relaxing, her fingers massaging his scalp just as she did when they were in his room. Whisper would remain quiet, and they would drift off to sleep together. Slayer seemed satisfied, leaving Gedeon in peace.
“You have moved in with me, Meiling.”
Gedeon’s voice was gentle. When he spoke in that tone, he melted her heart. She couldn’t look away from him, even when he was dividing his attention, maneuvering the shallow channel and avoiding the hazards in their way.
“I want you to be happy and to feel safe in your own home. More than anything, I want you to know you’re always safe with me. Whisper will rise when she has no choice. Slayer is going to warn me when she’s making serious progress. The little stops and starts she’s making now are just her hormones waking her up and telling her she’s coming into her own. You made a commitment to me, and you honor your commitments so there’s no need to push you, Lotus. We know we have chemistry together. When you’re ready emotionally, and you trust that your heart and soul are safe with me, we can move in together. Or if Whisper rises before we have the chance to cement our relationship fully, we’ll continue as we are after her heat.”
Meiling was grateful the boat swept around the tip of the strip of land and into open river water so Gedeon could accelerate. It was much harder to hear with the boat going faster, bumping over the choppy surface heading for the rendezvous point.
She was in love with Gedeon, and every time she thought she couldn’t love him more, he would say something she found intensely beautiful and she fell even harder. He was the toughest man to understand. He really was. She’d spent an entire year with him. Technically, she did live with him. She witnessed him with others. Had she simply observed him, an outsider watching him, she would have thought he was a psychopath, incapable of caring for anyone. He never showed his emotions to others. His eyes, so alive with tenderness or laughter for her, were cold and hard, devoid of all emotion around others.
Meiling looked around her at the swamp as the night was closing in. The trees gave refuge to so many birds. Colors changed with the sinking of the sun. The bright crimson shooting through the trees had already given way to orange. The purple and lavender effects were gone, leaving the color spectrum quite different in just a short time. That was the swamp, ever-changing and yet the same.
The incessant drone of insects could be heard above the engine. Looking up, she could see bats wheeling and dipping in a dance as they dove to catch flying bugs. Some skimmed the water close to the shore. She spotted nests high in the branches of a cypress tree. A raccoon family stopped moving to stare at them as they skimmed past.
Gedeon cut the lights on the boat just before choosing the left fork in the river. Once again, he slowed their speed significantly. She gave a little jump.
“We’re okay, Lotus.” His voice was steady.
He always knew when she was nervous. They were that connected. She pressed her palm over her heart.
“I’m good,” she assured him. “Are we close?”
“We should be. The strip of land is right around the next bend. There should be a pier we can tie up to.”
He turned the lights on again as they rounded the next strip of land, and there was the pier. A boat was already tied up there. Two men waited. Meiling recognized both. Drake Donovan owned the most well-known international security company in the world. He had a reputation for getting the job done. His people were well trained, the best at what they did. They worked in every country, entering stealthily when necessary, striking hard and getting out fast with whomever they had gone in after. Donovan was a shifter and head of one of the local lairs. She’d heard he’d had to clean up a huge mess when he’d taken over. The lair appeared to be thriving now.
The second man was Remy Boudreaux, the homicide detective and Drake Donovan’s brother-in-law. Married to Bijou Breaux, a famous singer and owner of Blue’s Club in New Orleans, Remy was an extremely intelligent man. He had an eye for details and an ear for lies. It would be difficult to get anything over on him.
Donovan had chosen the meeting location. Gedeon had been careful to explain that it was imperative they not be seen together. By giving Donovan the choice of where to meet, Gedeon had given him a huge advantage. There was no doubt in Meiling’s mind there was a shooter concealed somewhere watching them just in case they wanted to harm Donovan. In some circles Drake Donovan had a price on his head. Gedeon was known to be a man who might collect that hefty price tag.
Meiling had excellent night vision and she took her time carefully studying their surroundings. The pier looked new, as did the landing leading up to the land jutting out to meet the water lapping at it. Fragrant smells mixed with the more natural scents of the swamp. Even the strange and intriguing aromas couldn’t distract her from locating Donovan’s sniper.
The swamp had been cut back, baring more land on the east side and giving those coming from the river to the Mercier property room to walk easily over to the west side, where there was a large section set up for picnics amid fields of wildflowers.
Meiling studied the trees in the swamp where the Spanish moss hung like long lacy bluish-gray veils. The shooter would need a clear view not only to the pier, but also to the picnic area, where they would have their discussion with Donovan. The sniper couldn’t risk changing locations. That meant there were only so many trees he could be in.
Gedeon guided their boat in slowly.
I need a couple of minutes, she advised, not risking talking aloud. Both Gedeon and she could read lips. There was always the possibility the sniper could as well.
Gedeon bent down and began fiddling with something on the floor of the boat as she sat waiting, seemingly patiently. It was natural for her to look around at her surroundings. Mostly she appeared to be looking at the field of gorgeous flowers, but she’d already narrowed her suspect trees down to three. One of the three, the only real sturdy branch that would hold a sniper, would make the angle awkward—not impossible, just awkward. She dismissed it.
The second tree was dead center between the other two and seemed the likeliest choice. She flicked it another quick glance, storing the details quickly before switching her gaze back to the field of wildflowers. In her mind, she went over the specifics of the trees, every little aspect. The tree seemed so perfect, the branches offering up the perfect crotch for a sniper to lie in and set up his weapon. Lacy moss hung down to give him plenty of cover. It would be difficult for anyone to spot him. At the same time, he had a good field of vision for the picnic area and part of the pier. What he didn’t have was vision on the river itself or where the boats would be tying up, at least not that Meiling could see.
Best guess, sniper is in the tree to the left of the extremely tall cypress, second row back. A gum tree, behind the row of cypress trees.
Gedeon climbed out of the boat onto the pier and took a deliberate look around before tying up and then holding out his hand to her. I spotted him. He’s good. Looks like part of the tree. I wouldn’t have seen him if you hadn’t told me he was there. You wear that vest like I told you?
She smiled at him. Even when he spoke telepathically to her, he could sound bossy. She inclined her head and stepped up to his side, walking with him to meet Drake Donovan and Remy Boudreaux. Both stood waiting at the other end of the pier. Meiling resisted smiling, knowing she was correct and the sniper hadn’t been able to cover them where Gedeon was tying up his boat. Had he been able to see them, Donovan would have used his good manners and come to greet them.
“Gedeon, it’s been a long time,” Drake said, extending his hand. “Meiling. Finally in person. Seeing you in passing has been frustrating. We’re always too busy to visit.”
“Midnight rendezvous in the middle of the swamp are always so intriguing,” Meiling replied. She couldn’t resist laughing at Remy’s expression. “You have to admit, it got you both out here. Thank you for coming. I imagine your wives weren’t so happy giving you up this late. It isn’t midnight but it is the dinner hour.”
Gedeon put a proprietorial hand on Meiling’s lower back as they followed Drake to a picnic table. Drake waved them to the bench, just as Meiling knew he would. Instead of sitting down, she went over to the very edge of the field of wildflowers. The wind was blowing gently, causing a ripple effect much like the wave of an ocean among the flowers. She knelt to tighten the cord on her high boot while still looking out over the fluttering petals and long stems with their various shades of green leaves.
It was easy enough to transfer her gun from her boot to her inside jacket pocket. She could shoot the wings off a butterfly with this gun at the required distance. It wasn’t a rifle, but it didn’t need to be. It just needed to be that accurate and have the range.
“These flowers not only are gorgeous, but they smell unbelievable,” she said as she rose. She looked around her again. “Gedeon, have you been out here before?”
He took her arm and led her back to the picnic table. She subtly pressed toward his left so she could take the seat she needed to cover them. She was incredibly fast. She knew she could leap over the table and be in the field while getting off several shots at the sniper. At the same time, Gedeon could kill both Drake and Remy before Meiling needed to provide him with covering fire.
“Came out here a few years ago. Charisse asked me to do a little work for her.”
“What can I help you with?” Drake asked.
“And why all the cloak and dagger?” Remy demanded.
Meiling couldn’t help laughing again. Remy sounded a little disgruntled. “I should have brought snacks. You sound like you could have low blood sugar.”
“He’s always like that, Meiling,” Drake said. “Ignore his bad temper. Why is it we had to meet here rather than at the inn or the club?”
“Or the police station,” Remy added.
“I would much have preferred the Café Du Monde,” Meiling said. “I do love that place.”
“You assured me that anything I say to you will be held in confidence,” Gedeon said. “I need to know Boudreaux agrees to the same or we’ll have to pass on the meet.”
“I wouldn’t have come if I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, Gedeon,” Remy said. “I’m giving you a bad time, but I know you wouldn’t have dragged us out here if it wasn’t important.”
Meiling kept her gaze fixed on both men, although she did her best to sweep the area around them often. She wanted to take in as many of their gestures as possible or catch any subtle signs between them. She was very good at picking up small, nearly imperceptible signals others might miss.
“Guy Hawkins asked us to find his wife, Laverne, he claims has gone missing. He had hired a bodyguard to watch over her. She’s bipolar, and when she goes off her medication, she apparently does all kinds of out-of-character things. He’s worried about what she might do.”
Gedeon relayed the information in a noncommittal tone.
“You don’t believe him,” Drake said.
Gedeon shook his head. “No, I think he’s full of shit. Laverne is bipolar, that much is true, but she’s careful to keep it under control. Hawkins hired a bodyguard. That man’s name is Edge Wilson. He’s been in the business over twenty-five years and has a stellar reputation. He isn’t the kind of man to run off with a client on a whim believing he’d never get caught—especially when she’s the famous wife of an even more famous music producer. Wilson is intelligent. Doesn’t do drugs and I doubt he suddenly started. I could be wrong, but this feels more like a planned escape than a sudden bipolar episode. Oh, and incidentally, just in case you don’t recognize the name, Wilson works for your security company.”
Remy sank down on the tabletop. Meiling allowed her gaze to sweep along the swamp and the line of cedar and gum trees. The sniper was easing back at Remy’s signal. That didn’t make her less watchful, but it did give her an opportunity to take a closer look at the field of wildflowers that seemed to stretch for miles behind the picnic area. She’d never seen so many brightly colored flowers in various shades of red, yellow and orange giving way to blues, purples, pinks and greens in one place.
Gedeon continued with his explanation. “Hawkins was adamant that Laverne be found immediately. It was his bad luck to hire us. We dig deep and we don’t stop until we complete the case we take on. In this instance, the moment we became concerned that Laverne had a reason for leaving and that she was afraid of her husband, we took a good look at Hawkins.”
Drake sat down as well, absorbed in the conversation. “Guy has approached me on several occasions requesting security for his wife and himself around town and when they attend specific events, such as fundraisers. He’s always appeared to be very much concerned over his wife’s safety. He speaks with great pride about her accomplishments.”
Remy nodded in agreement. “He approached Bijou and asked if she would highlight a new band he’s backing. Bijou listened to them and agreed they’re very good. They’ve opened in the club and have been a big hit. Most of the bands or singers Hawkins collaborates with or backs are amazing. Bijou thinks this band is going to go far.”
“There’s no doubt Hawkins has a good mind for business, and it’s served him well. On the other hand, he isn’t quite as astute in his relationships,” Gedeon said. “He’s had a string of lovers, most didn’t last long and few lived with him.”
“Until Laverne,” Drake pointed out. “When he found her, even though there was an age gap, everyone was very happy for him.”
“No one kept track of his lovers,” Gedeon said. “They weren’t famous and newsworthy. He didn’t take them to the openings of shows or push them into the spotlight. Once in a while the paparazzi would catch him coming out of a club with a woman on his arm. I believe that photograph appearing in a magazine saved her life.”
Remy leaned into Gedeon’s space. “What are you talking about? Do you think Hawkins is some kind of serial killer?”
“I think he might be, yes. Not your average hack-the-woman-to-pieces. I don’t think he does the killing himself. I think he has someone who does it for him. But he orders it. It must give him some kind of smug satisfaction to know he can order these women killed and no one has a clue.”
Meiling looked up at Gedeon. His voice changed subtly. There was growl in his voice, an underlying threat she knew was very real. A shiver went down her spine. He had a real problem with any man hurting women. The moment he had real proof that Guy Hawkins gave the order to murder his lovers, the man was going to die. Gedeon would see to it.
She looked at Remy, a homicide detective. A shifter. A man who obviously could hear lies. If Hawkins turned up dead, the first person he would suspect of killing him would be Gedeon. How could she cover for Gedeon? She was going to have to find a way because Remy Boudreaux wouldn’t be easy to fool.
“Why do you believe Hawkins ordered his former lovers killed?” Remy prompted.
Meiling couldn’t just sit there. She and Gedeon had talked this over, coming to Drake and Remy and disclosing what they knew and suspected of Hawkins. At the time she thought it was a good idea. Now she wasn’t so certain. She sent Gedeon a sign to be very cautious how he worded what he disclosed to Remy.
“It was obvious from the beginning that something wasn’t right with Laverne’s disappearance,” Gedeon began. He appeared relaxed, but then, he always did. Meiling knew better. Gedeon was convinced Hawkins had ordered several women killed. “If she had a bipolar episode, forgetting to take her medicine, she would have just taken off, not planned carefully for months, siphoning off money and stashing clothes away from her house. Her bodyguard wouldn’t have been on board unless he felt her life was at risk. When Meiling and I investigated Hawkins’s past affairs over the years, we found six women who had disappeared. No one has seen or heard from them. The only common tie is their relationship with Hawkins.”
“Why haven’t the police questioned him?” Remy asked.
“I’m sure they have at some point, although most likely only briefly. He broke up with these women and it might have been six months later that they disappeared. Maybe less time, maybe more.”
“No bodies found?” Remy pursued.
“No,” Gedeon conceded. “Part of the reason I insisted on meeting you where we wouldn’t be seen is that from the moment we left Hawkins’s office we’ve been followed. Meiling circled back and got detailed photographs of the man watching us. His name is McGregor Handler.”
Both Drake and Remy reacted, Remy with a swift intake of breath and narrowing of his eyes and Drake with a shake of his head.
“He’s in New Orleans?” Drake asked.
Gedeon nodded. “Chasing Meiling and me all over. I wouldn’t be too surprised if he’s dragged some poor guide out of his dinner and is trying to figure out where we are.”
“Does he have a tracking device on either one of you?” Remy asked.
“He tried to drop one on Meiling,” Gedeon said, a slight grin escaping at the memory. “Slid up next to her at the Café Du Monde and got in close. She never takes kindly to that sort of thing. When he tried to make the drop, she had already moved away from him and he nearly had his hand down some tourist’s pants.”
Remy laughed. “I’ll bet there was quite an uproar.”
“The woman was angry and quite loud in expressing her complaint. She called McGregor a pervert and told everyone he tried to grope her. He turned bright red and tried to say that he’d been pushed into her, but she wouldn’t stop yelling. The waiter tried to calm her down. McGregor escaped with his little tracking device. Meiling was already sitting on her bench by the river, so he didn’t have a clue she was aware of him.”
“The tourist is lucky he didn’t shove a knife into her,” Drake said. “Or that he didn’t follow her to wherever she was staying and do it later.”
“I should have checked on her afterward, but I was so worried about Laverne I didn’t think of it,” Gedeon admitted. “I was afraid we were too late and she was already dead. I thought McGregor was put in place to watch us just in case we were too close and found her body.”
“I didn’t hear of a woman murdered recently,” Remy assured. “Not like that.”
“I received a tip recently,” Gedeon continued, “which is why we’re here. I believe Edge Wilson is in San Antonio working on Jake Bannaconni’s ranch. It’s impossible to get near that ranch without a special invitation. I can go through the Amurovs, they’re friends with him, but that could take time as well. I need to talk to him. If I found him, McGregor can find him. If I’m right about all of this, it would be a death sentence for him.”
“You want me to call Jake and arrange a meeting with you and Edge on his ranch.”
“Yes. I want to make certain I’m right. I’d like to know Laverne is safe. I want you to ask Wilson to talk to us. And I’d like that meeting to happen on the Bannaconni ranch.”
Meiling thought it was significant that Remy and Drake exchanged a long look but neither asked Gedeon what his intentions were once he knew for certain.
“I’ll arrange the meeting with Jake. I agree it would be best to hold it at his ranch. If you fly into the San Antonio airport, he can arrange for a helicopter to pick you up and take you to his ranch. Even if McGregor manages to follow you to San Antonio, he won’t know where you’re going. As soon as Jake replies I’ll send you the thumbs-up,” Drake said.
“Thanks,” Gedeon said. “We won’t keep you from your families any longer.”
“You want to turn over any files to me so I can continue looking into the disappearances of those women?” Remy asked. “Their families must be looking for them.”
“Hawkins chose them carefully. They didn’t really have family who would look for them,” Gedeon said. “That’s the true tragedy. He essentially erased them.”
When they were working, they were careful to keep a distance from each other just in case they had to leap into action or become weapons. The unspoken rule didn’t stop her from wanting to fling her arms around his neck and hold him to her. He gave nothing away to the two men, but she felt the animosity eating at him.
Meiling had always been able to catch insights into his emotions. She knew him now after a year, and he could become very dangerous extremely fast when it came to anything to do with violence against women or children. She didn’t want to take chances that Remy or Drake might “read” him.
She flashed a quick smile to everyone and started back in the direction of the pier, wrapping her arms around her middle. “I’d love to have a tour of this place when I have loads of time. Right this moment, I’m always concerned my hussy of a leopard is going to start showing herself.” Deliberately, she shivered and turned a heated gaze on Gedeon.
Remy and Drake rose instantly. Gedeon followed her very closely.
“I had no idea you were contending with your leopard, Meiling,” Drake apologized. “Forgive me. I would have sped things up.”
“You’re handling it with amazin’ grace,” Remy added. “It isn’t easy.”
“That’s thanks to Gedeon.” Meiling poured confidence into her voice along with absolute trust. She sent him a look from under her lashes—one filled with love. She knew he didn’t like her to do anything personal when they were on a job because it was distracting, but right at that moment the love she felt for him was overwhelming and she had to show him. She told herself it was the way he always reacted when someone harmed a woman. Who wouldn’t fall in love with a man like that?
Knock it off, Lotus. You make me vulnerable. I can’t feel that way when we’re surrounded by the enemy.
He handed her into the boat, practically tossing her in, except he didn’t. He was gentle. He just felt as if he wanted to throw her in. Not so much when he untied the boat and stepped in himself. Lifting a hand to Drake and Remy, he started the engine. It didn’t dare give him any trouble but fired right up the very first time he pulled the rope.
He was silent as he took them through the open water and then cut through the shallow stream that would take them back to the next shortcut to their own pier.
“You can’t do that.” His voice was very low, and he didn’t look at her.
She did her best to keep a smile from her voice. “Do what, Gedeon?” Trying to sound innocent. Her freaking cat made her sound sultry. The humidity in the swamp seemed to go up a degree or two.
“You know damn well what you do to me, Lotus. One look like that from you and I can’t think straight. I’ve told you that before. When we’re conducting business, it has to stay business.”
She rubbed her palm along her upper thigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that at times you say things or do things that I find irresistible.”
He didn’t turn his head toward her but stared out over the shallow but fast-moving channel. She found herself fascinated by the way his fingers curled around the rudder as he steered the boat around any obstacle. The lights shone across the water, illuminating the branches caught and held by larger rocks. The channels were continually changing. Gedeon knew the swamp, but he still had to take care in the ever-changing waters.
Meiling turned her face up to look at the sky. Despite it being overcast, bats dipped and wheeled, performing their nightly dance. Insects droned and owls occasionally shrieked a disappointed cry as they missed their prey. Fingers of fog drifted through the scattered cedar trees. The light from the moon turned swaying moss to blue-gray and the fog added an extra layer of silver to the lacy veils.
A lump formed in her throat and tears burned behind her eyes. She didn’t know why she still was so unsure of Gedeon’s feelings for her. She knew Slayer was wild about Whisper. She knew Gedeon wanted her body. She just didn’t know if he was in love with her. He never said the words to her.
She told herself she didn’t need the words—after all, they were just words. Nothing special. People told their spouses they loved them and then cheated or tried to kill them, like Guy Hawkins. Words didn’t matter. Actions did. Gedeon had gutted his bedroom for her. She hadn’t asked him to. He’d just done it. She hadn’t asked him to wait to have sex with her. He’d done that too.
“Lotus, tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Uh-oh. Are we going to play twenty questions? Is this about Hawkins? McGregor? Or me? You’ve got your moody aura surrounding you, so I’m not certain which of us is being scrutinized.”
“I don’t have a moody aura.” She turned back to him, narrowing her eyes and trying to look intimidating.
Gedeon flashed a little grin and slowed the boat even more, so they were nearly stopped in the dark water. “Baby, you look so sweet you give me all sorts of bad ideas. Very bad. Indecent. In fact, downright dirty. That look you’re giving me right now turns me on.”
“Gedeon, drive the boat and stop looking at me. Do you not see those eyes staring at us? They’re converging on the boat, and we’re in such shallow water I think they could climb aboard and have a feast.”
“There’s that tone you use that makes me hard as a rock.” He rubbed the front of his jeans. “Why don’t you come over here and help me out?”
“I’m not coming over there. This boat is balanced just the way we are. If I’m over there with you, it throws the balance off and we could end up in the water with the alligators,” she pointed out. “Take a look around, Leopard Boy. There are red eyes staring at us from the banks on either side and they look hungry. I’m not even going to count the ones swimming toward us. Get us moving now.” She tried very hard not to encourage him with laughter.
Gedeon made a show of looking around them at the red eyes slowly going through the water right toward the boat. “They are getting a mite close.”
“You are so ridiculous,” Meiling said, covering her mouth with her fingers because it was impossible not to laugh. “Fire up the engine.”
He increased the speed just a little, going around a particularly large alligator. “That one is bigger than you are.”
“It wasn’t,” she denied. The alligator was longer than she was. Probably weighed more as well, but she wasn’t conceding that to him.
“I could get out and measure.”
“You would too, just to prove a point.” There was no hiding her laughter from him.
He looked pleased, his eyes lighting up. “I love the sound of your laughter, Meiling. It could be my favorite sound in the world. That or the way you say my name sometimes.”
There. He did it again. It wasn’t just his words. It was the way he said them. His tone. Velvet soft, like a caress. He wrapped her up in his casual statement that wasn’t casual at all. He could turn her inside out with the way he would suddenly, out of the blue, issue his declarations. Was that his way of telling her he was in love with her? She knew nothing of real relationships. She didn’t trust herself to know one way or another. She just knew she didn’t want to lose what she had with him.
She smiled at him, pretty certain her heart was in her eyes, so she looked away from him as he took the boat up the channel and back to the next fork heading home. He had such a great sense of direction in the swamp. In the dark of night, there weren’t any landmarks, and yet he always seemed to know exactly where each turn was, even if he was taking a shortcut.
There were sections of the river where he drove fast and others where he went slower and more cautiously. She paid little attention to the actual direction and more to the beauty of the night and his skill. The way he looked against silvery-black water or the backdrop of an abundance of trees took her breath. Gedeon always gave off a quiet confidence.
By the time they made it back to their pier, she couldn’t think of anything or anyone but Gedeon. When he tied up their boat, she noticed the smooth, fluid way his muscles rippled beneath his clothes as he crouched on the wooden pier and then stood to extend his hand to her. She stepped onto the wooden boards, and he tugged her to him easily. Meiling slid one arm around his ribs and leaned into him.
Gedeon cupped her chin and tipped her face up to his. “I want to show you the new master bedroom, Lotus. Will you come with me and at least look at it?”
There was seduction in the smooth velvet of his tone. In the glittering green of his eyes. There was no resisting, not with the way emotions were so overwhelming and the way her body reacted so physically to his. She nodded, unable to speak.