By the Horns (9 page)

Fucking Matchmaker.

The love expert should know better than anyone not to screw around with someone’s heart. She seemed intent on doing just that with his. And Nat’s. He hadn’t a doubt Nat had disclosed their past to the Matchmaker.

He threw his arm over his head, slicing through the water while holding his breath until his vision blurred. Only when his lungs burned did he permit a breath. The welcome spike of adrenaline pounded through his system. Hell, since he’d given up sex and alcohol, this was the sole buzz he had left.

Contrary to what everyone believed, he hadn’t been addicted to the vices…but to the oblivion. Losing himself, for just one damn minute, made his existence more bearable.

With Nat, things had been different. She’d flown from America to his home in Australia during the summers and each time she visited, the great balloon of discord deflated. Without her visits, the disharmony, the rage, the strife expanded until, one day, it had ruptured.

He’d
ruptured.

She’d been a part of his life for as long as he could remember. The
best
part. When she’d disappeared, his future had vanished too. Though he’d been young, his soul had known they belonged together. Her rejection had done more than wound his pride. Without her, he’d lost clarity.

And he’d rebelled. Hard.

Then one day, Sheng had found him. In a nightclub on the Gold Coast of Australia, something stronger than vodka lacing his drink. He’d been on a five-minute break from three blondes and one brunette slutting it up on the dance floor.

It’d taken the man several attempts to get Kassian’s attention, and even more before Kassian bought into the whole spirit animal routine. Several demonstrations later, though, and he hadn’t been able to deny that he’d been gifted Ox, probably since his birth. Not a day went by that he didn’t thank Sheng for his stubborn-assed persistence. Accepting Ox had saved him. Given him a new purpose, one the turbulence of his past couldn’t soil.

He didn’t need Nat anymore.

Splashing echoed from the far end of the pool. Kassian shoved off the wall and glided toward the noise. A few feet from the opposite end, he paused.

Nat dangled her toes in the water. “Hey.”

Dammit. He couldn’t get any peace, not even in here. “What do you want?”

“So, Snake joined with Tiger.” She kicked out her toes.

He shoved down the jolt of elation and kept the enthusiasm from leaking through his voice. “Yeah? Well, good for you.”

“We should talk. About the past. You must want answers.”

“No, actually, I’m fine.” He crossed his arms, struggling to affect the nonchalance his words implied. Hashing out emotional stuff was worse than chugging poison. At least poison would kill him after.

Talking made things awkward. Forever.

She stopped splashing her toes. Her warm, cocoa eyes narrowed. “I left you. Without a word. Without an explanation. It was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

He tensed. He’d rather stab knives into his ears than hear her apology. “I’m sure you had a good reason for joining the Matchmaker’s little gang, but I don’t care to know what it is. We’re cool.” He sent her a curt nod and dove into the water.

The next time he came up for air and scanned the far side of the pool, she was gone. Thank fuck for that.

Kassian finished his laps, shrugged out of his trunks, and slung a towel around his hips. He combed his fingers through his wet hair as he strode down the hall and into his room. Shucking the towel, he headed toward the bathroom.

A woman cleared her throat.

What the hell? He spun, intending to give Nat an eyeful of what one got when one walked into someone’s room uninvited, but instead of Nat, the Matchmaker perched on the edge of his bed.

Her brow arched. Shit. Like a shy schoolboy, he shoved his hands in front of his junk. The bitch had probably already snapped a mental picture. Or video.

“I’m sorry to disturb you.” Hell, the smugness in the curve of her lips declared she wasn’t apologetic in the least. “I wish to speak with you in private before you leave with Natalie.”

Kassian rubbed his free hand against the back of his neck. Fuck. Not more mushy talk.

“She’s far more fragile than she appears.” The Matchmaker let her words hang in the air like she expected him to pounce on them. What did he care?

He dropped his hand and pegged her with a stare, waiting for her to continue.

She sighed. “I realize you didn’t want to ever see her again, but she needs the Snake more than you can imagine. Ox and Snake, they’re—”

“Save it.”

Her mouth parted and her eyes widened as though he’d shocked her with his brusqueness. “Pardon me?”

By his standards, she’d dropped several degrees of respectability. This latest “talk” was nothing more than a setup. He didn’t forget for a second her interference in Sheng’s life
or
her day job.

“I’m not your puppet. You may have set up Sheng and Lucy, but my love life is off-limits to you.”

“I certainly hope you don’t think I intended to match you and Natalie. No, no, no, Kassian. I meant Ox and Snake are compatible. The two of you aren’t.” She folded her manicured hands in her lap. “Natalie has dedicated her life to me. I’m telling you this because she informed me of your past together. Of where your heart once laid. I wouldn’t wish for you to conceive the wrong idea about this mission or your future.”

He bit the inside of his cheek. This was the same bullshit she’d put Sheng through. Did she assume it would work on him too?

“Well, fear not, Matchmaker. No amount of reverse psychology is going to manipulate me into breaking my vows.” He bowed with a flourish. “As for my heart, don’t worry. It’s frozen solid.” He strolled into the bathroom, bare-assed and all.

***

Nat readjusted the tube socks stuffed into the front of her slacks as she sauntered into the living room the next morning.

Kassian’s jaw dropped. “What the fuck are you wearing?”

“I came here as a man. I have to leave as one.” She crossed her arms, refusing to fidget with her wig. Natalie Quan had never entered Malaysia. Jason Wong had.

“Nice.” Fang grinned from the sofa. Lucy laughed. Sheng nodded in approval.

Kassian frowned, scratching at the back of his neck. “Should I be concerned, because I am strangely aroused.”

Nat rolled her eyes. “Ha ha. It’s a disguise, genius. Let’s go.”

The other Chosen encircled her, bidding their farewells. Kassian stood off to the side, snickering. “You’ve got the proportions all wrong.” He studied her with more intensity in his olive eyes than she cared for.

While the others went back to watching the action movie on the big screen, Kassian circled her. “What are you wearing under your pants?”

“Excuse me?”

“Take ʼem off. Let me see.” He reached for her belt, but she slapped his hand away.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Oh, c’mon. No one in a million years is going to believe a little guy like you is packing
that
.” He twirled a finger toward her pelvis.
Hmm
. Perhaps she had inflated her ego. Didn’t
all
men? Biting her lip, she tugged her pants down over the boxer briefs. True enough, she wore boys’ underwear. Her waist was too narrow to fit men’s boxers.

Kassian stretched the waistband, stuck his hand inside, and plucked out the tube socks. He unrolled them, tossed one aside, and proceeded to stuff the other into her boxers. “There. Much more believable.”

He stood back and examined his handiwork, cocking his head to the side as he linked his fingers behind his head, biceps bulging enticingly. She tugged up her slacks.

“Your breasts are too big.”

“Um, excuse me?” This had to be the first time a man had ever spoken that phrase to a woman.

“I can still see the outline. Trust me, I have way more experience picturing a woman’s breasts beneath her shirt than you do.”

“Oh, I bet.”

He smirked as he approached her. Without warning, he slid his large, warm fingers beneath the hem of her shirt and dragged it over her head.

The compression bra she wore did a good job of hiding her breasts, didn’t it?

Except as Kassian fixated on them, her breathing strained, causing her breasts to, well, heave.

Yep, heaving breasts.
Geez, Nat.
Next, she’d be swooning at his feet.

His gaze bored into the thin material, heating her to a feverish degree. “Well, what?” Damn her airy question. Why wouldn’t he hurry up? Get his inspection over with instead of prolonging the torment of sexual tension.

“Ah…” He raked one hand through his short, dark locks while his Adam’s apple bobbed.

He claimed he’d examined plenty of breasts, and while celibate, he wasn’t dead. His body responded to a woman’s, nothing more. She certainly wasn’t causing any spark of lust in him.

“Uh, a jacket. You’re gonna have to wear a jacket. I’m not sure, ah, those can be concealed any better.”

Snatching the shirt from his hand, she dismissed the backhanded compliment. She wasn’t interested in her femininity when her masculinity fell into question.

After tugging her shirt down, she removed a jacket from her duffle, threw it on, and posed for his re-examination. His suggestion was good thinking. The sleeves covered the Lotus tattoo on her wrist too. “Better?”

“Yep, and don’t forget this.” He withdrew her fan weapon from the back of his jeans and tucked it into the inside pocket of her jacket. “And…just one more thing.” He leaned close, cupping her chin in his hand. Her lips parted on instinct even though he didn’t intend to kiss her.

Did he?

Oh, hell. Her heart pounded. Her mouth dried. She dipped her gaze to his lips, and…
yelped
.

“Hey!” Her hand shot to her upper lip. He’d torn off her fine stubble. Her skin burned like an esthetician had yanked off a strip of hard wax. Usually, she applied a makeup remover to the hairs.

“That hurt.” She pressed a finger across her mouth to stop the stinging.

He shrugged. “The goatee was too much. The nose is great, though.”

She scowled at him, vowing to slather hard wax over his face and rip it off in his sleep.

Then they’d be even.

***

Kassian chuckled at Nat’s fuming as they boarded the plane from the KL airport. Her disguise was much improved, not that it had been bad to begin with. He admired the ingenuity behind her cross-dressing. Only Nat would challenge the world the way she did.

He cleared his throat before his thoughts steered in a dangerous direction. She shoved her carry-on into the overhead compartment with more force than required. Several people on the plane shifted to stare.

“Jason.” He slid a note of warning into his tone. She jolted and met his gaze. He shook his head slightly. She bit her lip as if she’d realized she’d drawn attention to herself. What was wrong? As a Lotus, she ought to be a master at being inconspicuous. Her distraction did not bode well for their mission. Half of him worried they’d screw up their assignment, but the other half enjoyed witnessing Nat as a human being. He’d begun to fear nothing of the woman he’d cared for remained inside her.

Dammit. He clenched his fists. Musings like those were precisely why they had to get this mission the hell over with as soon as possible.

After calmly closing the bin, she sank into her seat beside him. As she settled and strapped the seatbelt across her lap, he leaned in to whisper against her ear. “Did you put her up to that?”

“Did I put whom up to what?”

“Don’t play dumb. The Matchmaker paid me a visit.”

She rotated her shoulders to face him. “She did?”

His fists clenched tighter. First, she’d tried to apologize, then she’d sicced the Matchmaker on him. Now, she wouldn’t admit it.

“Don’t play coy with me. I’m not one of your ‘targets.’ ”

She blanched. Enough of a confession for him. He gave her his back and stared out the window. This was gonna be one hell of a long haul.

The plane landed on time in Hong Kong. If possible, the population of the city had doubled in size since the Red Death. If one sought to get lost in a crowd of illegal activities, Hong Kong was the place.

He hadn’t spoken a word to Nat since his accusation. During the flight, she stayed disguised as a dude. The real challenge would be once she cast aside the costume and he’d have to pretend to be her fiancé.

They exited the plane and, after passing through customs, they took a cab to a hole-in-the-wall tea shoppe. One of the Matchmaker’s haunts. The lotus flower hidden in the “o” of “shoppe” on the store awning didn’t escape his notice.

He paid the fare and trailed Nat inside. She whispered to the elderly woman serving tea, who led them to a back room. More of a closet, really. She ushered them inside and drew the bead curtain closed.

He stared at Nat while she crouched beside her duffle.

She unzipped the bag and rifled through her things. “Are you going to stand there and watch while I change?”

Fuck. He spun around, fisting his hands. The shuffling of Nat undressing made his cock twitch. Yeah, if she hadn’t said anything, he would be ogling her.

He couldn’t stop imagining her slender, lithe body wriggling out of those masculine clothes and into an outfit that hugged her curves. Or those soft, feminine breasts her compression bra didn’t conceal.

Dammit.

He clenched his jaw and focused on acting as a lookout. Good thing too because, not a minute later, the elderly tea lady raised her voice. He didn’t speak Cantonese but, apparently, Nat did.

“Shit.”

“What is it?”

“We have to go.”

He didn’t wait for an explanation. Spinning around, he kicked the duffle into his hands and snatched Nat’s elbow. The damn beads would give them away, but he placed his bets on there being a back entrance.

He shoved Nat in front of him and tore through the curtain after her, spraying the floor with tiny glass beads. They crunched beneath their feet as he prodded her toward the rear of the building. They bolted down the short, narrow, dark hallway and through the squeaky steel door straight into the alley.

They didn’t stop. He hefted the duffle over his shoulder and grabbed Nat’s hand. “This way.” He urged her on, despite not having a damn clue where they should go. She didn’t protest, though. Guess from whatever she’d overheard, his plan of “run like hell” fit the bill.