Surrender (THE DRAGONFLY CHRONICLES) (5 page)

She crossed her arms over her lap and turned back to the lightening sky. “Do you ever speak the truth, Mr. Black, if that is indeed your name?” She turned her gaze to him when she heard a chuckle.

“Do you ever speak without a wasp on your tongue, Miss Whitaker, or should I call you Dr. Whitaker?”

Kailin stared at the cowboy. He made her anxious, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him. “You irritate me more than most, Mr. Black.” She tilted her head to examine him. “You invade my personal space, not just physically like in the corridor but my”—she swirled her finger near her head—“emotional space.” She nodded, satisfied with her description, happy to slap a label on it so it could be cataloged away like other common human responses.

“And Dr. Whitaker,” she continued, “though accurate, causes more trouble than it’s worth in this culture. Miss Whitaker is fine although you have a tendency to hedge on the scandalous side of propriety by calling me by my given name seemingly whenever you please. Again, quite irritating.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but she held up her hand. “And I am very aware that you answered my question with a question, thereby trying to change the subject.”

Kailin crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

Jackson raised one eyebrow. “Yes.” His gaze traced her features and heat crept upward from Kailin’s neckline.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I do speak the truth, when a lie is unnecessary. And yes, my name is Jackson Black.”

“So you have deemed it unnecessary to lie about your name,” Kailin parried and felt a tug at her lips as if a smile threatened to escape.

He laughed, a short chuckle that held the warmth of his gaze, and Kailin’s heart took off like a spooked horse. Her fingers pressed against her breast bone as if to keep the wild steed inside her chest. Irritating. And
invigorating
, a small voice inside cried. Ridiculous!

She looked back out over the rail. “We are north of Thebes and Karnak, are we not?”

Jackson stood up and the glow of the rising sun broke over the edge of the far off dunes, flooding him with an orange-yellow light. It was as if he reflected the unleashed solar power of the pharaoh’s sun god himself. He walked to the rail and Kailin admired the way his rugged pants fit his hindquarters and muscular thighs like wavy sand over a landscape. He turned and for the briefest of heartbeats she stared at his groin before her gaze flew up his chest to his…grin.

Kailin’s face flamed with the sun. Long fingers caught in her skirts as she tried to force the blush to recede, but it continued along with Jackson’s teasing look. She didn’t notice anything except the heat in her cheeks until Jackson pivoted to lean out over the rail.

“Kailin!” he yelled. She swallowed hard over the sound of thrashing and splashing. Kailin leapt up from the chaise lounge and ran across the deck. Birds, reptiles, even some fish jumped from the water. Two crocodiles clawed their way up the steep bank on the opposite side of the small boat. Bubbles popped and boiled along the surface of the Nile. Heat steamed up from the surface. Jackson turned to her, a whispered order already on his lips. “Kailin, stop! The river…it’s bloody boiling!”

Air churned somewhere between her lungs and her lips, stuck. She forced a breath out. “Touch me, Mr. Black.”

Jackson’s eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t argue. He clasped her upper arms, yanking her into his chest. It was an embrace, and to anyone looking it would seem the rough embrace of lovers. Kailin’s face flamed more.

“Don’t let go of me,” she whispered. He shook his head as he stared at her. As if he knew that her blush had caused the Nile to boil. His command to stop…He…did know. Kailin swallowed and stared into his face.

After a few minutes the splashing died away and Kailin felt her cheeks cool. She focused on the small scar just under the indent of his chin, just visible beneath his unshaven shadow. He cleared his throat, but she didn’t meet his eyes.

“So…Miss Whitaker, for future reference. Do you embarrass easily?”

The easy drawl sounded like a tease. His lips, full and inviting, turned upward. Kailin tilted her head backward, forcing herself to brave his gaze. “I’m just asking,” he continued without releasing her, “for when I take a bath. I’m prone to cleanliness so my chances of being caught in a boiling cauldron could be rather high.”

He was teasing her, wasn’t he? She didn’t have any experience with teasing men, or women for that matter. Anthony and Bruce had sheltered her, even after she’d learned to control herself, for the most part.

“I…I don’t know,” she stuttered, totally at a loss as to what to say. His hands slid up to her shoulders and down her back across her rigid shoulder blades. “I don’t ever do anything to be particularly embarrassed about. Usually.”

He chuckled low and Kailin watched the golden sun glint along the blond highlights shooting through his tawny hair. “Where is the fun in that?” he teased again. His fingers stroked her back and she stiffened as voices came around the corner.

Kailin drew back, latching onto her anger to re-chill her composure. Eventually Jackson released his hold and she leveraged some distance between them. “The alternative, Mr. Black, is rather unpleasant for those around me.”

He stared hard at her as if examining a new specimen of animal. She pursed her lips. “Perhaps you may find it too worrisome to be in my company. Most do.”

“I think I’ll take my chances.”

“Really, Mr. Black.” Kailin shook her head and glanced at the points of her boots. “You seem to bring out the worst in me. It may not be healthy for you.”

A little snort mixed with a chuckle. “I just won’t bathe.”

Her gaze shot back to his. “Oh, please do.” She turned on her heel. “It would not be right to make all of Luxor suffer for your cowardice.”

She grinned slightly as she walked away. This verbal parrying was admittedly fun.

“And then there’s the interesting fact that I’m immune to your…temper.” His voice wafted across the deck to her and her grin faded on an inhale. “Perhaps for the safety of Luxor I should touch you more, Miss Whitaker.”

The warmth tried to surface in Kailin’s cheeks but she was prepared this time. The taunts of others who whispered about her differences were something she’d learned to deal with early on. Like a steel cage descending around her, she cleaved through the words.
At least enough to keep the fish of the Nile swimming.
She grabbed her reticule and made her way to the cabin for a momentary refreshing.

Jackson watched Kailin descend the stairs with slow, steady steps, her head held high. “What are you?” he murmured. He’d heard all the rumors about the Ice Princess Whitaker, but had categorized them as exaggerated excuses for no one being brave enough to talk to the highly-intelligent, strawberry-blond beauty. Doctor Kailin Whitaker was indeed as stunning as described. Long wavy hair he’d glimpsed on her balcony that first night, coiled against her slender neck where it had fallen from her bun during the night. Sharp blue eyes had met his gaze with infallible courage. They held intelligence and poise but also sadness, loneliness, regret. Almost to match his own. Warm luscious lips, just the perfect shade of natural pink to match the healthy color in her high cheekbones, turned upward when she watched her strange pet soar. Then there were the hills and valleys of her body. Even under the current fashionable costume, Jackson could easily follow the slim line of her waist, a soft valley between her curved hips and her ample breasts.

Kailin Whitaker, so much more than the doctor of archeology, so much more than the frigid, breathtaking beauty, so much more than a devious parlor illusionist.

Jackson had felt the tremor of magic before. After hunting for over a decade through curse-infested tunnels in the desert hills, he’d encountered his share of unexplained presence, the tingling pressure of power. Kailin Whitaker certainly possessed power of the magical kind. So much so that she seemed at times unable to control it. She wasn’t the type to purposely boil placid animals in their own river.

No, that had been a slip of control. She’d been blushing. He’d caught her perusal and she’d been embarrassed. Jackson’s frown smoothed into a cocky grin. She’d been watching him. Jackson chuckled, grabbed a long-poled net, and strode back to the rail. Perhaps he’d catch some perfectly poached tilapia or perch for breakfast.

****

Kailin concentrated on her balance as she stepped down the center of the thin plank of wood separating her from the murky harbor water. Parasol in one gloved hand, her small valise in the other, she blended into the milling crowd at the end of the pier. She stopped and breathed, trying not to wrinkle her nose at the tang of unwashed humanity and tainted water.

“Kailin, Miss Whitaker, wait.” She heard Jackson’s command and ignored it. Her lips pursed tight as her heart skipped along in an annoying canter at the velvet twang of his voice. She’d had enough of Jackson Black and his bizarre influence on her control. He touched her and her magic disappeared. He gazed at her and her magic shot off like blind artillery trying to take out as many bystanders as possible. She’d find some other assistant to crawl through the tomb after the orb. Although finding a trustworthy one may be difficult. Then again, Jackson Black was not truthful himself.

Kailin wove through the throng. She’d made arrangements for her one small trunk to be delivered to Hotel Moudira, a reputable inn with open air balconies overlooking a central garden. It was Anthony’s residence while on expedition in Luxor. She planned to survey his room as well.

Kailin collapsed her parasol so Jackson would have a harder time following her. Oh, he’d probably find her. It was the way of irritatingly virulent men. But she wouldn’t be a bulls-eye on a shifting field of pale tourists in their gauzy ivory and tan dresses. Kailin blended in with the flow. Stately gentlemen and animated young socialites rhapsodized over the temples they’d toured that morning.

“Dr. Whitaker.” Jackson’s drawl flowed over the sea of heads. Rapid, risky decision, for anyone other than Kailin.

Kailin stepped off to the left and down a narrow alley between the close-packed sand mortar buildings. It was cool there where the shadows hid, and she untied the snug ribbon from beneath her chin. She worked her way between two low buildings, the steady murmur from the wharf and street muffled.

“There must be a back exit.” But none were visible, just a sharp turn to run down another building backing against the two on either side of her. She glanced up at the azure sky, a narrow ribbon between the buildings. “Good heavens.” The heaviness of her phobia rushed through her as she realized just how close the buildings stood. She glanced across the six-foot width to the other wall. Set into the hard packed earth and sand, the foundation could no more move than a mountain. Why then did it seem the two buildings were merging in on her?

Kailin inhaled the dry air. Even here in the shade of a dank alley, the arid breeze swept away any tidbit of mold, moss, or damp tang. Only sand and rock and a thin line of gold from the blazing noon sun above permeated the narrow path. Yet the air still felt sticky in Kailin’s shallow breaths. She rested her hand along one wall and glanced the way she had walked from the wharf. Perhaps Jackson had passed already, leaving it safe for her to exit back into the crowd. The smash of people was easier to deal with than the smash of hard walls. Even with the chasm of sky above, the buildings were entirely too close for comfort. With the way her control kept slipping, she’d hate to knock down the buildings in a panic. People could die.

Pebbles skittered as she pivoted back the way she’d come. Two quick steps. The glint of a knife flashed before her eyes before settling its cold line along her neck. The dank tang of an unwashed body engulfed her as a beefy arm yanked her against a solid chest.

“’E-llo, miss.”

Chapter Four

“Bloody foolish woman,” Jackson ground out as he shouldered through the press of shoppers and tourists along the wharf. Kailin might have the academic intelligence to baffle most people on the planet, but she surely didn’t have common sense if she thought striding without escort in a foreign port was safe for a lady. Apart from the everyday thieves, there were no doubt people watching for her arrival, people who were very capable of kidnapping. Although, Jackson had to admit, kidnapping Kailin may be more difficult than anticipated. Perhaps he should just watch for signs of fire.

A white lace parasol unfolded up ahead and Jackson surged forward toward the beacon. He grinned over the irony. A woman ridiculously unafraid of villains but worried about the sun speckling the bridge of her nose. Jackson cut over through the thinning crowd.

A giggle escaped the lowered lace. “He actually asked me to crawl through the pyramid with him, Letia. Imagine that.” Obviously not Kailin.

Jackson’s gaze moved upward, darting to every woman he could see. “Where are you?” he murmured and scanned the sand-brick squatty buildings. “You can’t have just disappeared.” Could she? That hadn’t been part of the rumors. Jackson’s gaze swept past the entrance to an alley. Would she duck down there to avoid him? The walls weren’t terribly high. Maybe her claustrophobia wouldn’t affect her there. With one more glance in every direction without seeing the pale tan traveling dress draped efficiently yet enticingly, Jackson jogged down the narrow corridor. Trash mixed with sand and pebbles along the sun-lightened path that looked empty. His stomach clenched and he turned to go back out.

A sharp flutter zipped past his eye. He pivoted once more toward the back of the alley and watched the iridescent bug hover and dive. Another dragonfly followed, and then another. They darted back to him, encircling, and then took off farther down the corridor. “Hell,” Jackson swore and jogged after the strange trio without thinking about the illogic of the direction. Too many times to count he’d relied on gut feeling to guide him. He wasn’t going to question it now.

He rounded the corner. In a flash of instinct tied directly to his gut, Jackson drew and cocked his Remington. The pistol was an extension of his hand and eye. The very spot he focused on would be shot through with one quiver of his finger. And right now he focused on the bent nose of the bastard holding a knife to Kailin’s lovely throat.