The Collector's Edition Volume 1 (9 page)

T
HE
stroke of gentle fingers softly raking her hair away from her face brought Jayne out of her deep slumber. She opened her eyes to bright morning light and to Dan sitting on the edge of her bed, freshly shaved, fully dressed, his dark gaze keenly watchful.

‘Do you want to sleep on or do you want to come to work with me?’ he asked.

She frowned at her bedside clock, realising it must be later than her usual rising time.

‘I switched off the alarm,’ Dan explained. ‘Chunz has packed a breakfast for you. You can eat it in the truck on the way. All you have to do is wash and dress. Or stay in bed if you don’t feel up to it.’

‘No. I’m fine.’

She sat bolt upright to prove it. His hand trailed away. She caught it, her heart pumping a self-conscious flush over her skin as she remembered the intimate confidences of last night and his compassionate responses.

‘Dan…’ She quickly searched his eyes, feeling intensely vulnerable. ‘Thank you for…for being so generous.’

He shook his head as he rose to his feet. He looked down at the hand still holding his and slowly rubbed his thumb over the knuckle where she had once worn his rings. ‘Penance for my sins, Jayne,’ he said sardonically.

‘Please don’t think like that. I can’t blame you for the way I am,’ she said earnestly, squeezing his hand in a flood of warm feeling for the wonderful person he was.

His gaze lifted to hers, darkly passionate. ‘I blame myself for not seeing it.’

‘You don’t have to,’ she cried, hating the sense of having burdened him with guilt. She scrambled to her knees in urgent appeal, inadvertently pinning the thin cotton of her nightie. The neckline pulled down, cutting across the swell of her breasts. ‘Oh, damn!’ she muttered, struggling to free the tangle of cloth around her legs.

Before she could loosen the garment, Dan caught her around the waist and swung her up from the bed and onto her feet, facing him. ‘There’s one thing I need to know,’ he said, his eyes hotly purposeful.

‘What?’ she asked breathlessly, the warm grasp of his hands making her feel acutely fragile as far as any defences went.

‘Whether the fire is still there for me?’

There was no mistaking his intention to kiss her. He gave her fair warning, bending his head slowly, his gaze dropping from hers, fastening on her mouth. Confusion reigned in Jayne’s mind,
caution warring against the impulse to give, as Dan had given to her last night.

His lips tingled over hers, sending disruptive electric impulses through her brain. Jayne was literally incapable of making any move. It was as though all her life-force was focused on the exquisite sensations streaming from his mouth to hers. She’d been starved of any kissing for so long and Dan did it beautifully with soft, lingering pressures, tantalising flicks of his tongue, seductive little nibbles. She couldn’t resist tasting him again.

She slipped her tongue into his mouth, searching for and stroking the sensitive spots she knew were there. He responded with a burst of passionate action, sweeping her body against his in a crushing embrace, kissing her with a hunger so intense he shook with it. It stirred an answering hunger in her, a wild craving for all the unfed love of two long years.

Her arms wound around his neck, fingers weaving through the dark springy curls to close around his head and hold him to her. They kissed and kissed again and it wasn’t enough. The heat of desire ran helter-skelter through her body, every pulse point throbbing with urgent excitement. She swayed, instinctively seeking the friction that would satisfy the heightened sensitivity of her barely clad flesh.

His hands slid down the curve of her spine and closed around the soft mounds of her buttocks,
intensely possessive as he lifted them, straining her closer to the thrusting hardness of his aroused manhood. A groan tore from his throat as his mouth broke from hers, leaving Jayne dizzily intoxicated with wanting him.

He arched his neck as though desperate to gulp in air. She felt his body ripple with tensing muscles. Then he lowered his head and his eyes were a dark blaze of searing purpose.

‘Say you want me, Jayne,’ he commanded.

How could she deny what was so starkly evident—her lips kiss-swollen from her need of him, the sweet agony of desire throbbing between them?

‘I want you, Dan,’ she whispered, her eyes the open windows to a truth that was impossible to hide.

His chest expanded and the breath left his lungs and hissed through his teeth. He rela ed his grip on her, lifting a hand to her face, one finger slowly tracing the contours of her mouth. His eyes softened to dark velvet.

‘There’s no time now for all that I want to feel with you, Jayne. Promise me that tonight will be for us.’

Time…of course! The schedule was set. It had to be kept. She struggled to get her brain in sensible order. A horde of primitive instincts screamed to fling caution to the winds.

There had only ever been Dan for her. What harm could it do to renew the intimacy they had
known, even if it was only for a while? When it came time to go their separate ways…she shied away from that thought, her mind and heart intent on seizing the here and now.

‘Yes. Tonight,’ she promised him.

Another deep breath, sifting through a dazzling smile. ‘I’ll go and check on Anya. I left her with Chunz.’ He gently released her and stepped away. ‘You won’t take long to get ready?’

‘Ten minutes.’

He nodded and left her, striding swiftly to the door. A very special man. More special than she had known before. If they could forge a new, deeper dimension of togetherness, working beside each other…Jayne’s mind whirled with feverish hope as she raced to the wardrobe for her clothes.

Wait and see
…

It didn’t mean nothing could be changed during the
waiting.
When it came to the
seeing,
maybe they would both come to a deeper appreciation of how their lives might fit together.
If
Dan was really prepared to take up Monty’s offer.
If
the offer remained open. If, if, if…Maybe she was fooling herself, but suddenly it seemed utterly essential not to shut the door on possibilities.

The minutes flew by. When Jayne arrived in the kitchen, she was greeted by a beaming Chunz rocking Anya in her arms. ‘I am to mind the baby today. She will be very happy with me. I promise Mr. Drayton to take good care of her.’

Jayne couldn’t help smiling at the Chinese woman’s delight. ‘I’m sure you will, Chunz,’ she said warmly, the warmth extending to Dan for giving Chunz the pleasure of having the little girl to indulge with her motherly loving.

‘Ready?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

He scooped a packet off the table, blew a kiss to Anya, who smacked her lips in response, and gestured for Jayne to lead the way. ‘I’ll drive while you eat,’ he said, passing the packet to her as they headed for the door.

Jayne had the feeling of being cosseted, as well as having matters taken out of her hands. Once she was settled in the passenger seat of the truck, with Dan supposedly concentrating on the road, she had the definite sense of some shift having occurred in the atmosphere. The cabin seemed charged with energy, as though a host of positrons was zinging around.

Her gaze was drawn to Dan.

He caught her seraching look and grinned, emanating a sparkling vitality that made her heart dance. ‘Don’t even consider having second thoughts,’ he warned. ‘I’m a man with a mission.’

‘To blow up mountains?’ She laughed, suddenly bubbling with happiness.

‘And capture the Dragon Lady,’ he affirmed.

‘How will you keep her captive?’

He sliced her a sharply knowing look. ‘I never would. I have no intention of doing so.’

‘Then it’s merely a feat to be accomplished?’ she queried.

He shook his head. ‘The man who captures Dragon Lady can only win time with her, time she is willing to give. That is his reward.’

‘He wouldn’t take her away from her lair?’

‘Only if she wanted to spread her wings and fly with him. Dragon Lady must always be free to be where she wants to be or she will lose her fire.’

She couldn’t ask for anything fairer than that from Dan. Whether such an arrangement would satisfy them in practice, she didn’t know, but nothing was going to stop her from trying it. The understanding it conveyed, the respect and caring, filled her soul with joy.

She opened the packet he had handed her and found it contained the fried dough sticks that Chunz called
youzhagui
, meaning ‘fried devils’.

‘I have learned some things about China, Dan,’ she said impulsively, remembering his scorn at her ignorance about the Chang Er legend. ‘They have wonderful stories behind the names they give their food.’

She waved one of the dough sticks at him as she recited what Chunz had told her. ‘Once upon a time a general was so infuriated by his enemies, he made effigies of them in dough, which he fried and ate. That’s why these are called fried devils.’

He laughed, his eyes twinkling warm pleasure. ‘Reading a Chinese menu is sometimes like
reading a fairy tale. Monk Jumps Over The Wall is my favourite.’

‘How does that go?’

‘A meditating monk was distracted by a delicious smell wafting from the other side of a wall. It was dried seafood stewing in a pot. In the end, he couldn’t bear it any longer and jumped over the wall to ask for a bowl.’

‘I like the very fanciful ones like Red-Beaked Green Parrots On White Marble. You know what that is?’

‘No.’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘Spinach served with boiled bean curd.’

‘How about Ants Crawling Up A Tree?’ he retaliated.

The light-hearted swapping of food information formed a relaxed and companionable conversation as Jayne ate her breakfast. By that time, they were well on the way to the site of the new city of Denjing where all construction had ceased because of the threat of a destructive mudflow. Jayne’s thoughts turned to the serious work ahead of them. Only then did she realise what Anya would be missing by not being with them today.

‘Aren’t we scheduled to detonate?’ she asked.

‘Yes, we are. Lin Zhiyong will have the honour of pressing the button.’

‘Then why did you leave Anya with Chunz? You said she liked big booms.’

‘She won’t know she’s missing them, Jayne.’

‘Is it particularly dangerous today? Do you expect something to go wrong?’ she asked anxiously.

‘No. Not with the explosions.’

‘Then why leave her behind?’

He hesitated, then gave her a crooked smile. ‘I thought something might go wrong with you. I didn’t want to have to think of Anya, too. Not today.’

‘Oh!’

Jayne turned away, flushing at the realisation that Dan must feel very uncertain of his ground with her. Did she seem unstable to him? Did he feel he had to be on his toes to block any retreat from her decision to give him tonight?

‘I promised you, Dan,’ she said quietly.

There was a short, nerve-twanging silence before he replied, just as quietly, ‘Promises can be given in good faith, Jayne. Sometimes things happen. Circumstances change. What at first seems right turns out to be wrong. And promises get dropped.’

Jayne’s flush grew more painful.

Dan had always been a man of his word.

It was she who had broken her promises in walking away from their marriage. He might now understand why she had done so, but the bottom line fact was, she had not stayed true to the commitment she had given him.

Till death do us part.

She shivered, suddenly feeling very unworthy of the man beside her. He had every reason not to trust her word. But she would change that tonight. More words were meaningless. She had to show him with action. Very loving, very positive action.

She looked out at the mountains that were fast approaching. The skyline around the new city of Denjing would be different after today. She hoped a lot of things would be different after today.

There were five huge peaks ahead of them, thrust out of the crust of the earth at strange angles and reaching up to the heavens in a cluster that had moved Monty to christen them ‘The Hand of God’. That name would have no meaning once Dan’s explosives took their toll. It had to be done for the greater good of the people of China. Yet…

Jayne had an eerie sense of premonition.

Please…she found herself praying. Please don’t let anything go wrong before tonight.

T
HERE
were various factors contributing to the mudflow problem. First, China was a predominantly mountainous country with proportionately little fertile farmland to feed its ever-burgeoning population. In the rainy season, huge amounts of silt and grit washed down from the highlands into the rivers.

In the lower reaches, the mud inevitably built up, causing the riverbed to rise. To prevent the flooding of rich farmlands, a system of constant dyke-building was used to contain the river.

This could only be considered a stopgap measure as the dykes had already been raised to a dangerous height. Scientists and engineers agreed that the only long-term answer to this problem was to keep the mud out of the river.

Above the site of Denjing, engineers had been damming the gullies and pumping river water up to wash the soil from the mountains into the gullies to create new farmland which would feed the new city. Unfortunately the tree-felling and the dislodging of vegetation that had accompanied this exercise had destabilised the whole area.

Rapid erosion had taken place on the steep slopes during the last rainy season, resulting in a mudflow that warned of the disaster to come if the weather brought heavy precipitation in short periods.

Mudflows could rush down a mountainside at speeds as great as a hundred kilometres per hour, moving boulders as large as houses. There was only one solution to saving the city of Denjing. The mountains had to be moved.

The explosives had been set. By the end of the day, the gorges and chasms that gave dangerous passage to the city site would be filled with such massive amounts of rubble that the course of any mudflow would never find its way to Denjing. Indeed, the series of detonations should create a terraced effect so that the different levels could trap rainfall, helping the process of turning the landfill into productive farms.

That was the theory, anyway. Monty had believed it would work. Dan was confident of making it work. He had examined the terrain, supervised the setting of the explosives, and apparently anticipated everything going to plan.

Although Jayne was not in any way responsible for the outcome, she couldn’t help feeling nervous about it. She dearly wanted everything to turn out right; for Monty, for Dan, for the Chinese people whose livelihoods were involved.

Once they arrived at Denjing, she and Dan were transported by army helicopter to the
plateau where the detonations would be set off. It provided the best vantage point for watching what happened. Theirs was not the only helicopter in action. A number of them were lined up on the plateau.

A large party of government officials from Beijing had come to witness the proceedings. Lin Zhiyong was playing host to them. The importance of this occasion to him was enormous. If the project was a success, it would be a huge increase of face for him personally. If it was a failure, he would be very much out of countenance.

Jayne was the only woman present. The visitors eyed her with circumspect interest. She was introduced as Miss Winter, personal assistant to Monty Castle and Dan Drayton, but she had little doubt she was being summed up as Dragon Lady. Several times she was called upon to explain the scale models that demonstrated the proposed effect of the explosives, as though she was as much an expert as Dan was.

Finally, Lin Zhiyong gave a formal speech along predictable lines until he came to the end of it. ‘I will now call upon Miss Winter to press the detonating button,’ he said, startling her by passing over the honour.

She shot a questioning look at Dan, who whispered, ‘Sidestepping responsibility.’

‘Miss Winter has overseen this project from its beginning,’ Lin Zhiyong continued. ‘She is a lady who makes things happen.’

The wily, old diplomat gave her a respectful bow and gestured her forward to perform the final act. Jayne knew she couldn’t hesitate, not as Dragon Lady nor as Dan’s wife. Her heart skipped around her chest as she stepped up to the dais to an accompanying round of polite applause.

She smiled at Lin Zhiyong, swept the smile around the crowd of observers to Dan, turned it up several megawatts for him in order to demonstrate her absolute confidence in his expertise, then turned to perform what had to be done. She gave everyone time to don the earmuffs provided, then used her thumb to press firmly.

There was an eerie silence.

They saw the mountains erupt before the vibrations and sound hit them. It was a big boom, a very big boom that went on and on while the earth beneath them shook. Time seemed to be unnaturally extended. Clouds of dust billowed up, obscuring their vision of the awesome changes taking place, but the rumble continued unabated for what felt like hours.

Eventually the noise subsided and the dust began to settle. Earmuffs were removed. Excited chatter broke out in Chinese. Jayne had no idea what was being said. Dan moved to her side, slid
an arm around her waist and hugged her close. It felt good. Especially when he smiled at her.

‘You did it, Dragon Lady,’ he crooned softly. ‘Breathed fire into the mountains and knocked them flat.’

She smiled back at him. ‘You can’t give me credit for that, Dan.’

‘You heard Lin Zhiyong. You make things happen.’

‘No. You do.’

‘Let’s compromise on being partners.’

‘I’d like that,’ she said simply, hoping he was referring to the future.

The warmth in his eyes made her glow inside. Surely it was not merely for this moment of success.

If success it was.

Lin Zhiyong called them to join him in a helicopter ride over the blasted area. Only a bird’s-eye view would confirm the results of the operation to everyone’s satisfaction. Once again, earmuffs were donned so conversation was impossible, but Jayne was sweetly aware of a sense of intimate togetherness as she sat beside Dan in the army helicopter.

Nothing could now go wrong with today, she thought. Unless the helicopter crashed. In which case, she would go down with Dan and they would never be separated again. But she would much prefer to make love with him first, to know again the passionate enslavement of her senses
with his, to feel the intense closeness that melded them into one being.

Jayne was soaring on even more of a high when a comprehensive sweep over the area revealed a landscape that was virtually an exact replica of the
after
model. Her vivid blue eyes sparkled at Dan and her breath caught in her throat at the raw desire that blazed back at her.

It was part of sharing something special like this, her mind reasoned, a grand and awesome triumph. But her body rejoiced on a purely instinctive level, wanting what he wanted, revelling in riotous anticipation of sharing everything with him in a much more elemental fashion.

They landed back at project headquarters where they had left the truck. Lin Zhiyong abandoned his usual enigmatic manner and pumped Dan’s hand with enthusiastic congratulations, his Buddhalike face beaming with an irrepressible smile. He thanked Jayne profusely, remarking she was a lady who would be greatly honoured by the new citizens of Denjing.

It was obligatory to stay for the celebratory refreshments that followed. They had to politely listen through several speeches. Lin Zhiyong, in his benevolence, invited them to a banquet at his home, a ten-course duck dinner, he boasted.

Luckily, he named the following evening for the occasion. Jayne was well aware of how long and very filling Chinese banquets were. Anything
that might interfere with or postpone her night with Dan was unwelcome.

At last all their professional obligations were discharged and she and Dan could retire gracefully from the gathering. The spring of urgency was in their step, excitement, a heady intoxicant. They were brilliantly alive, the barriers were down, and they could make things happen together.

As they approached the truck, a black, official-looking car pulled up beside it. Come to collect one of the important guests, Jayne thought idly, until the door opened and out stepped a man in Arab dress.

‘Uh-oh!’ Dan breathed, and stopped walking.

Jayne instantly halted beside him, her heart fluttering with the intuitive knowledge that here was trouble. She was relieved to see it was not Omar El Talik who approached them, but the man was undoubtedly an emissary from the arrogant sheikh. It was too coincidental that he arrive at the completion of Dan’s job in China for him to be anything else.

Dan’s hand gripped Jayne’s hard, his fingers interlacing with hers, revealing his inner tension…or an urgency that nothing or no one interrupt their time together.

‘What is it?’ he asked curtly, impatiently, when the man blocked their path.

The Arab bowed. ‘Greetings from His Excellency, Sheikh Omar El Talik.’

‘I have no further business with the sheikh,’ Dan stated coldly.

The Arab regarded Dan with black, reptilian eyes. ‘His Excellency believes you will change your mind, Mr. Drayton,’ he stated with a confidence that sent a chill down Jayne’s spine.

‘No,’ Dan replied succinctly.

‘Your obligations here have been fulfilled,’ the man argued.

‘Irrelevant. I do not wish to work for your sheikh. The matter is closed.’

‘His Excellency has taken steps to persuade you, Mr. Drayton.’

Dan’s fingers tightened possessively, protectively. ‘There is nothing that can persuade me.’

The black, snaky eyes pinned Jayne’s. ‘I’m sure your heart is softer, Miss Winter.’

‘Not where His Excellency is concerned, no,’ Jayne said firmly.

‘But where your child is concerned? Your baby daughter?’

‘Anya?’ Fear struck her heart. Dan had warned that Omar El Talik was not above kidnapping to get his own way! ‘What have you done with her?’ she cried.

‘Do not be alarmed, Miss Winter. She is in safe-keeping. In fact, your Chinese woman would not be parted from her.’

‘Chunz? You’ve taken Chunz, too?’

‘It seemed…practical.’

Jayne’s mind whirled with horror. The poor little Chinese woman would feel so desperately anxious, so responsible, having been trusted to look after the baby. Yet if there was any fault, it lay with Jayne herself and Dan’s concern over her emotional state. In the normal course of events, Dan would not have left Anya with Chunz today. She would be here with them, safe from the clutches of Omar El Talik and his henchmen.

‘What’s the deal?’ Dan demanded, his voice steely, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

‘His Excellency would like both you and Miss Winter to join him in his private jet. You are invited to fly with him in comfort to Morocco.’

Jayne shuddered. They wouldn’t have a chance to get away once they were in the sheikh’s native country! All this pseudo politeness would disappear and they’d be treated like the prisoners they were with Baby Anya held as hostage for their absolute co-operation in whatever Omar El Talik wanted of them. Jayne had no illusions about what he wanted of her.

‘I see,’ Dan said slowly. ‘What time does he intend to lift off from Beijing?’

‘As soon as we arrive, Mr. Drayton. If you’ll accompany me to my car, we’ll be on our way.’

‘Tell Omar El Talik that my wife and I will be his guests on board his private jet.’

The shock of Dan’s swift decision, without any consultation with her, threw Jayne into a further spin. They couldn’t tamely give in to such criminal
blackmail. There had to be some way to rescue Anya and Chunz. They needed some delaying tactic, time to think, to plan.

‘However, we are anxious to see to the wellbeing of our child as soon as possible,’ Dan continued bitingly. ‘We will not tolerate a slow journey by car. We shall fly to the airport by helicopter.’

Jayne’s frantic thoughts slid to a halt. It was reassuring to hear Dan spelling out
his
terms. She should have known better than to think he would surrender to any other man’s terms.

The Arab’s face tightened threateningly. ‘You will come with me.’

‘A deal is a deal, old son,’ Dan said contemptuously. ‘Don’t overplay your hand. Omar is getting what he wants.’

The snake eyes narrowed. ‘Do not overplay yours, Mr. Drayton. We have the child. We also have diplomatic immunity. If anything of an unusual nature occurs, we will fly off immediately.’

Jayne immediately started worrying again. They couldn’t storm the sheikh’s plane if he had diplomatic immunity. How were they going to get Anya and Chunz away from them?

‘Understood,’ Dan clipped out.

The Arab gave him a long, black, venomous stare, then swung around in a swish of robes and headed back to his car.

Dan didn’t move.

Jayne couldn’t. She was paralysed with the sickening sense of helplessness that came to any parents with the knowledge that their child has been taken. Not that she was Anya’s mother, but she had taken Nina’s daughter to her heart and there was no doubting Dan’s fatherly love for the little girl.

She’d been worrying about something going wrong between her and Dan before tonight. In her own selfish need, she had not once given a thought to something going wrong with Anya. It felt like a punishment, one she would have to live with for a very long time.

‘What can we do?’ she cried in sheer anguish as the black car moved off.

Dan turned to her, his face grim and determined, fire and fury in his eyes. ‘I’m going to blow that bastard’s wings off!’