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As the Russian submarine traversed the horizon, moving closer with each sweep, the tension on the boat became a calculated concern. The general consensus was the sub was using its extra sensitive sonar searching the bottom for the airplane since Lei Lu had been able to disrupt the voice and data recorder signals. They also figured that the sub was recharging batteries before it dove again. There was a certain degree of comfort knowing it was on top of the water and trepidation knowing that it was going to dive and they would lose track of it.
Doing nothing but laying in the sun, absorbing vitamin D through her pale skin, had never been Lei Lu’s favorite activity. She was damn bored. Multiple times she checked her dive watch, impatiently waiting for the sun to set. There was so much to do, yet they were unable to do anything except pretend to be a floating orgy. They were being watched by the Russian submarine.
Lei Lu decided to occupy her time trying to hack into the Russian communications. To stay out of the direct rays of the sun, she moved into the shade of the main deck control room. At least with the bright sunshine, her solar power pack could keep her computer running and charge the satellite phones at the same time.
“Have you caught up on sleep?” Shakespeare’s voice shot straight to her core and made her lady parts tingle. Wrong time. Wrong place. But maybe, possibly, he might be the right man...at least for right now.
She didn’t want to look up at him, afraid he might see the need in her eyes. “Yeah, I’m solid at five and a half hours out of twenty-four. I banked an hour on the way out here.”
“So, Captain L. Sorensen, U.S.A.F., what does the L stand for?” Shakespeare asked as he leaned that fine ass of his against the dashboard.
Lei Lu debated for a full thirty seconds. Should she tell him? Should she even bother to answer the question? Was his interruption a pain in the ass or a welcome reprieve? Keeping the computer open, the screen a physical barrier between them once again, she decided to grant his wish...kind of.
Looking up, she gifted him with a smile. “I’ll share if you will.”
His smile would have knocked her on her butt had she not already been sitting down. He looked so much younger than she’d originally thought. “All right, I’m game. I’ve already asked the first question.”
“My name is Lei Lu.” She spelled it out and quickly added, “It’s a family name. Lei doesn’t translate to English very well but vaguely means a band of foliage or flowers usually used for ornamental purposes. Think of a wreath. They are beautiful, and special.” She glanced down at the computer, embarrassed by the significance of her name. “Supposedly, those were the words my father said when he first saw me.”
Looking back up, she added, “Lu was my grandmother’s surname. It’s very common in the area of China where my mother was born and raised.” She shrugged. “Mom is traditional Chinese.” In more ways than Lei Lu wanted to admit. It had been the bane of her childhood.
She decided to turn the tables. “Since you know my real name, what’s yours?”
Shakespeare shook his head slowly. “I never tell women my real name.”
What the fuck? “Why not?” She blurted.
He glanced at the back of the boat where Oli seemed to be carrying on a serious and in-depth conversation with Katlin. She wondered if her friend had moved beyond codenames.
“Very few people know my real name.” He chuckled. “I’m not sure if anyone on the entire island of Grand Turk, other than Oli, knows it. Everyone calls me Shakespeare, or Spear.”
She shook her head. “You’re not going to get away with that. Not with me. You started this game. Tell me. Or leave.”
His inner debate played across his face. Finally, he said quietly, “Henry S. Morgan the fifth.”
“Like the pirate?” She didn’t bother to hold in her excitement. It was as though everything in this area interested her. “Are you a descendent of his?”
He burst out laughing. “No. If he was a relative, my side of the family wouldn’t admit to him.”
“Why? Because he was a pirate? He was also the Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. That was a pretty important position back in the sixteen hundreds.” Since Jamaica was relatively close, she wondered if he had some other connection to the Eastern Caribbean Islands.
“No. My family tree comes from a completely different forest.” One side of his mouth kicked up.
Damn. That half grin was one of the sexiest things Lei Lu had ever seen. It gave him kind of a bad boy, sexy surfer attitude. The fact that he was hiding something was very obvious. “Hmm. Henry Morgan,” she said his name just above a whisper as though saying it might trigger a memory. Suddenly, the old TV show popped into her mind. “Are you related to Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H? That character was played by Henry Morgan. Was he your grandfather?”
The full smile and belly laugh were back. “It’s my turn for a question, but I’ll answer yours first. But then I get two questions.”
Damn. He was right. It was his turn. She had wasted one of her questions. She nodded. “Agreed.”
“No. That Henry Morgan was not my father, or my grandfather. No relation whatsoever.” He tilted his head and touched his fingers to his chin as though thinking. “Did you pick your handle, Lady Kite, or was it assigned to you?”
“I picked it.” She nodded to her friends scattered around the boat. “When our team was first formed, we decided we wanted to be birds of prey. Lady Hawk announced hers first.” Lei Lu knew that the name had special meaning to their team leader. “There’s no denying that we’re women, so we decided to use Lady. The rest of us just followed. I picked Kite because it’s one of the smaller birds of prey. Small but mighty. Like me.” She smiled up at him. “Go ahead. You get another.”
“Family. Brothers? Sisters?” For people just meeting and getting to know each other, these were common questions.
Lei Lu rarely talked to anyone about her family, other than her teammates. But this conversation seemed natural. They were a man and a woman getting to know each other during hours of boredom. Before she entered the Joint All-Female Special Operations School, she’d been transferred to several different duty stations and had similar conversations with dozens of other men. During her SpecOps training, they warned them against telling anyone personal information.
When she looked into his face, eyes hidden behind expensive reflective sunglasses, Lei Lu realized that she had no idea what color his eyes were. Maybe that could be one of her questions. On the other hand, she wouldn’t waste a question on something she could find out so easily. A nearly white eyebrow raised above his sunglasses, as though he was waiting for her answer.
“Two older brothers, both married, five nieces and nephews between them.” And though she loved their children, she wasn’t ready to have a baby. She still had a lot of things she had to accomplish in her life before she was tied down with kids.
Now it was her turn to ask the question. She suddenly wanted to know so much more about this man. Glancing at his left hand, he wore no wedding ring, but lots of men these days didn’t. “Have you ever been married?”
Shakespeare chuckled. “Several women have tried, none have succeeded.”
“How about you? Have you ever tied the knot?” He stared at her.
“I’ve never had a serious relationship.” After a moment’s thought, she added, “I’m not sure I’ve had relations that lasted longer than a weekend.” She had to think long and hard. “At least not in the past five, no, make that six years.”
She’d been too busy, moving from one training base to another, before they were assigned temporarily to Homeland Security. Their schedule, or lack of one, had the Ladies of Black Swan being called out on a mission often with less than twelve hours’ notice. Like others in the SpecOps community, they were not allowed to tell anyone where they were going or when they might possibly return. Boyfriends didn’t like their girlfriend disappearing without a word.
“Most men wouldn’t put up with my job,” she explained.
“What exactly is your job?” Shakespeare asked.
“The same job you had when you were a SEAL.” Although, he had no idea how similar their missions were, Lei Lu doubted he’d believe her even if she told him. Instead, she gave him a familiar line. “I do whatever the fuck they tell me to do.” She gazed through the glass windscreen, over the bow of the boat to the horizon where the Russian submarine chugged along. “Today, I’m a dive instructor recovering boxes from a sunken airplane.”
“And before coming here?” He crossed his arms over his massive chest as though waiting for her to lie.
She grinned and shook her head slowly side to side. “That’s classified, and since you’re no longer active duty, I can get court-martialed for sharing any information with you. I like my job and intend to keep it.”
“Understood.” He conceded with a nod.
“Henry S. Morgan the fifth.” She grinned. “I totally get your Shakespeare handle. “I don’t have a middle name. Tell me, what does the S stand for?”
He gave her two rows of straight white teeth. “Spicy.” He stood and moved in front of her. “Want to taste?” He inched forward, capturing her knees between his strong thighs. He lowered his head so their noses were only a few inches apart. “Because I want to taste you,” he said just above a whisper. “Everywhere.”
Leaning down as though he were going to whisper something exciting in her ear, he kept going. Instead, he ran the tip of his tongue up the pulsing vein in her neck.
“Salty.” She barely heard the word over the pounding in her ears.
This man had her heart beating fast and he’d barely touched her. She wondered what he could do given more time and privacy. In that moment, she decided to find out. Another time. Another place. Definitely the right man.
“I don’t believe the S stands for spicy.” She leaned back on the stool. “Salacious probably.”
He laughed out loud as he took a step backwards. “More than one woman would agree with you on that. How about you find out for yourself when this is over? Let me take you out for a drink.”
Lei Lu glanced at the horizon where the submarine seemed even larger, probably because it was closer. “After this is over, we’re going to need more than one drink.” She let out a long, slow breath and suddenly felt tired. “I think I’ll take a nap before we have to dive tonight.”
“I’d love to join you.” He grinned. “I can think of a dozen ways to help us both relax, but this is just pretend.” He pointed to one of the side benches. “Why don’t you sleep there? It will stay in the shade until the sun goes down.” He reached out and ran his fingers from her shoulder to her elbow. “I wouldn’t want this beautiful skin to burn.”
She immediately stood, stepping away. That was so thoughtful of him. He really was a nice guy. “Thanks, I’ll do that.” As she headed to the padded bench he’d indicated, she looked over her shoulder at bronze skin pulled over defined muscles. “Saint. The S stands for Saint.”
Smiling, he shook his head. “I’m definitely no Saint.”