Single Girl Abroad (Mills & Boon M&B) (Mills & Boon Special Releases) (20 page)

The hotel doorman greeted them with alacrity as they stepped from the car. A lurking press photographer took a happy snap of them as they walked through the foyer and then whipped out a tiny handheld computer gadget and asked for their names. Jianne Xang-Bennett and Jacob Bennett clearly didn’t ring any bells for the photographer but maybe something would come of it. Jianne didn’t much care either way, except that the photograph defined them as a couple and that it might aid in her endeavour to get Zhi Fu to leave her alone. She never had been one to delight in the attentions of the press.

‘How many people do you think you’ll know here tonight?’ murmured Jacob as a doorman took their tickets and they stepped into the glittering Raffles ballroom.

‘Including you, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins?’ she said lightly. ‘Five. Five is an auspicious number. I’m feeling very hopeful.’

‘Six if Zhi Fu’s here,’ said Jaccob and worry shot through Jianne. Jacob didn’t look as if he aimed to make friends with anyone here tonight. He was all about quiet, lethal confrontation.

‘You will be careful when we meet Zhi Fu, yes? He’s not a man you want for an enemy.’

‘It’s too late for that, Jianne. He wants you. I have you. I really don’t think we’re going to be friends.’

‘I know, but just don’t …’

‘Kill him?’ suggested Jacob. ‘Not a problem. This is a hospital fundraiser. It wouldn’t be appropriate. Besides, I’m all about restraint.’

‘You weren’t last night,’ she murmured and Jacob countered with a glare.

‘Can we
not
talk about last night’s restraint?’ he muttered. ‘Or lack of it?’

Jianne favoured him with a wicked little smile. ‘Of course, if you
do
find your restraint slipping over the course of the evening, you’ll let me know, right?’

‘You really think you can contain me?’

‘I’m pretty sure handcuffs would help,’ she murmured.

‘You’d have to get them on me first.’

‘You don’t think I could?’

He shot her a glittering glance just chock-full of dark promises. ‘Well, you could
try
.’

‘Maybe I won’t use force,’ she said. ‘Maybe I’ll use stealth. I could distract you.’

‘You already do.’ Jake looked around the room. ‘Is Zhi Fu here?’

‘I don’t see him.’ Not that she’d done much looking. ‘Although I do see my aunt and one of my cousins way down the front. That must be our table.’

Jacob sighed. He hoped the steak was plentiful, because conversation was sure as hell likely to be awkward.

The conversation was not awkward.

Elena Yi was an accomplished social hostess, her sons were welcoming, and Bruce Yi was a man Jacob could probably come to like and respect. Quietly commanding, razor sharp, and the lynchpin of a billion-dollar business, Bruce Yi seemed to have no qualms whatsoever about linking the Yi family name to Jacob’s. Plenty of power in such an endorsement. Plenty of responsibility when it came to living up to the faith the older man was placing in him.

Wealth and influence. Jake had never courted the first and he used the second sparingly. This wasn’t his world. It was Jianne’s world, and if there was common ground to be had here Jake sure as hell couldn’t see it.

And then Jianne came up beside him and put her hand on Jake’s sleeve and just for a second Jake
could
see how a man could put up with polite society on occasion if it meant keeping the woman he loved at his side.

‘Jianne looks radiant this evening, does she not?’ said Bruce, shooting his niece an affectionate smile. ‘Your new living arrangements obviously suit you.’

Jianne smiled. ‘Jacob’s worried that I’m having to make
do,’ she said. ‘And maybe he’s right and it’s not what I’m used to.’ But dojo living had brought with it moments of unexpected joy and quiet pleasure and Jianne knew the value of those things. She knew how hard they could be to find. ‘But I like it, nonetheless.’

‘Liar,’ murmured Jacob.

‘No lie,’ she said.

But Bruce Yi seemed distracted, and not by something pleasant. He stepped back to widen their circle, creating space between him and Jacob and absolutely no space beside Jianne. Moments later a tough-hewn man with impeccable grooming and eyes as hard as agates stepped into the breach.

Jianne kept her smile in place and her hand on Jake’s arm. Not for a moment did she betray any fear. ‘Zhi Fu,’ she said quietly. ‘Small world.’

‘Yes, it is,’ said the man, a smiling urbane serpent. ‘I’m enjoying Singapore immensely. You?’

‘Yes.’

‘Jacob, this is Sun Zhi Fu. Shanghai industrialist, family acquaintance, and new neighbour,’ said Jianne’s uncle. Acquaintance, the older man had said. Not friend. Bruce Yi knew how to deliver a slight with impeccable courtesy. ‘Sun Zhi Fu, meet Jacob Bennett, world champion karate master and teacher. Jacob owns a dojo here in Singapore. Of course, he’s also my niece’s husband, as I’m sure you know.’

Neither Jacob nor Zhi Fu extended their hand. ‘I’m curious,’ said Zhi Fu smoothly. ‘What kind of husband leaves his wife to her own devices for a dozen years and yet refuses to let her go? Surely not a loving one?’

‘Curious things, marriages,’ said Jake, with a tiger’s smile. ‘Just when you think they’re over, something comes along to tip the balance and all of a sudden they’re not. Tell me, Mr Sun, do you plan to stay in Singapore long?’

‘My plans are … fluid at the moment. It’s a matter of responding to the situation at hand. As I’m sure you teach your students, Mr Bennett.’ Zhi Fu’s gaze flickered to Jianne. ‘You haven’t replied to my house-warming invitation.’

‘I’m afraid we have other plans,’ she said quietly.

‘Some other time, then,’ said Zhi Fu. ‘For old times’ sake.’

‘No,’ said Jianne, her fingers digging into Jake’s jacket. ‘I don’t think that would work.’

Jake had played nice. He’d heard Jianne say no. It was time to add his not inconsiderable weight to that ‘no’.

He looked down at Jianne and gently disengaged her hand from his sleeve in order to slide the back of
his
hand up and over Jianne’s bare shoulder. She glanced at him, startled, and he sent her the hint of a smile, a smile just for her, as he settled his palm on the curve of her neck, with his fingers to one side of her neck and his thumb to the other in a gesture that was pure possession. Jianne’s lips parted and her eyes grew slumberous and knowing. She knew this game, she knew it well. Tension, and passion, and a darkly sensual challenge. They’d played it last night for passion. They played it now for emphasis.

When Jacob finally deemed it time to look back at Sun Zhi Fu, the other man’s eyes were flat with the most dangerous kind of fury. If Zhi Fu had been a martial arts opponent he’d be one that made seasoned fighters wary.
There would be no mistakes. There would be no rules. And win or lose there would only ever be one man left standing. ‘Goodbye, Mr Sun,’ said Jake softly.

Zhi Fu smiled coldly. ‘Oh, let’s not be so final, Mr Bennett. Goodbye’s not a word I like to use unless I’m speaking to the soon to be dead.’

‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ said Jake.

Zhi Fu’s gaze rested briefly on Jianne and whatever he saw in Jianne’s eyes turned his lips thin and cruel. He said something to her in a dialect Jake didn’t understand, and, with a curt nod for Bruce, Sun Zhi Fu was gone.

Jianne watched Zhi Fu’s retreating back until she could no longer see it. His parting words hadn’t been ones of acquiescence.

Jacob’s thumb brushed the sensitive skin behind her ear in a gesture both reassuring and erotic. ‘What did he say?’ he asked, looking from her to Bruce as if either would be able to tell him, but Jacob didn’t quite understand Zhi Fu’s cunning, or that the dialect he’d used would have been lost on her uncle as well as on Jake.

‘He asked me if I wanted you dead,’ she said quietly, and the hand rubbing circles at her neck stilled. ‘Jacob, I’m so sorry I got you into this. I know what Zhi’s like. I know how obsessed he gets about … things. I know how fixed he’s been on acquiring
me
. I
knew
I was putting you in an awkward position, I knew he was dangerous, and unpredictable, but I never
ever
thought he’d threaten your life. Please. You have to believe me.’

‘Shh.’ The thumb at her ear resumed its slow circles. ‘It’s all right, Ji. It’s okay. He’s trying to get you to walk
away from me. He thinks you’ll do it in some misguided attempt to keep me safe. And you’re going to ignore him.’

‘But—’

‘Shh.’ His lips were at her temple. ‘I knew he might choose this path, even if you didn’t. And I’m not complaining.’

Jianne whimpered. A public meltdown really wasn’t her style, but reaction had begun to settle in and her legs had turned to jelly. ‘I really need to sit down.’

‘We can do that,’ said Jacob gently, and moments later they were at the table and her uncle was pouring water into water glasses and table wine into wine glasses and handing them to her and Jacob.

Jacob smiled down at her, his eyes gently teasing. ‘If you want my opinion, I think our meeting with your unwanted admirer went rather well. I didn’t kill him. Always a bonus. And look on the bright side. Now that the battle lines are drawn we no longer have to attend his house party. Shall we send him a happy plant?’

‘Are you completely insane?’ muttered Jianne.

‘A happy plant would be a most appropriate gift,’ said her uncle and both men nodded sagely.

‘And the death threat?’ muttered Jianne. ‘Is anyone besides me even
slightly
concerned about that?’

‘He asked you if you wanted me dead, correct?’

Jianne nodded unhappily.

‘Did you say yes?’

She didn’t think Jake’s question required an answer. A scathing glance would surely suffice.

‘See?’ he said with the beginnings of a smile. ‘Nothing to worry about.’

‘You
are
insane,’ she said. ‘Why do I always attract the insane ones?’

This time Jacob’s smile came out in full. ‘Do you really want me to answer that?’

Jake ate his steak and made sociable with a great deal more enjoyment than he’d thought possible. He phoned Luke towards the end of the evening and axed his brother’s offer to collect them but accepted Luke’s offer to keep Po overnight. He declined Bruce and Elena Yi’s offer to drop them home as well, knowing full well that his tiny dojo kitchen wasn’t up to the task of providing good coffee or anything else much by way of a nightcap and that even if he did do as politeness demanded and asked the Yis inside, there’d be nowhere for them to park their car anyway. A luxury taxi ride home would have to do.

Jianne didn’t complain. After her initial outburst regarding Zhi Fu’s threat she’d kept her thoughts very much to herself.

Coming back to the dojo was like stepping into another world. A world more squalid. Definitely more real—at least for Jacob. He looked around his cramped and ancient kitchen with new eyes tonight and then he looked back at Jianne standing in the doorway. The contrast didn’t amuse him.

Whatever they’d done last night … What he’d set in motion by allowing her to stay with him … Nothing good would come of it. Nothing but new memories to replace the old and an ache that never eased.

He headed for the kitchen sink and pulled a glass down
from the shelf. Scotch or water. Devil or saint. Which would it be tonight?

The water was closer.

‘You should go up,’ he said gruffly.

‘Come with me.’

He braced his hands on the bench and drew a ragged breath before turning to face her. ‘And then what? Do we go back to being married for real? The problems we faced before are still there, Jianne. Look around you. Take a really good look at what I have to offer.’

‘I am,’ she said, but her gaze didn’t leave his face. ‘And I do not feel deprived.’

She walked towards him, boxed him in. Watched his eyes darken before long lashes swept down to shade the expression in them. ‘You know what I see? A man who put his life on the line for me tonight. A man who filled me to perfection last night. A man whose bed I would share again tonight if he was willing.’ It wasn’t cheating to put her fingers to his lips and trace the perfect shape of them until he closed his eyes, parted his lips, and his hand covered hers. She sucked in a breath as he bent his head and his tongue traced a delicate path across her palm until he came to her wrist. There he lingered, setting nerve ends aflame and her eyes fluttering closed.

She slid her hand into his hair to urge him closer. She wanted his kisses on her mouth but he set his cheek to hers instead.

‘Tell me you want me,’ he whispered raggedly.

‘I want you.’ She nudged his cheek with hers and tilted her head to capture his lips but he wouldn’t give them.

‘Tell me you like what I do to you.’

‘You know I do.’

This time his mouth met hers willingly, his lips parted and his tongue gentle. Not the uncontrollable hunger that had driven them last night, this hunger went deeper and hit harder than that. Tonight wasn’t about fighting what they felt for each other. It was about surrender.

His lips teasing hers as he bunched up the skirt of her dress and slid it up her legs. Jake sinking into a chair and dragging her down on top of him, his jacket and shirt gone and his belt buckle undone. The straps of her dress making way for his lips, his lips at her breasts and her hands in his hair as she offered herself up to him and the sensual surrender he demanded.

So easy to become lost in him, in the feelings he created.

Fragile panties ripping because they were a barrier he didn’t want. Fragile folds parting to allow for a possession that filled her soul.

‘Take your hair down,’ he ordered. ‘Take it down for me.’

She did as commanded, pearl-tipped pins dropping to the floor as his teeth grazed her breasts and his hips moved in time with hers, slow and undulating. She arched back, relying on the strength of Jacob’s arms to keep her in place as her hair finally tumbled free.

Jake groaned and stilled inside her. Willing his beast back in its cage, willing himself to stay in control, just this once. Possession didn’t always have to be about dominance, though that was the need that rode him hardest.