Madame Chiang was using her most powerful wiles on the young congressman from Colorado. The intelligence on this man that the highly sophisticated Chinese intelligence had been able to dig up and pass on to T. V. Soong was that the man was a notorious skirt chaser and that he couldn't keep his cock in his pants for very long. Chiang had no intention of letting the man bed her, but she knew how to enflame a man to do her will. There were many who said she controlled all of China with her beauty and her woman's technique—neither one of which would have gotten her far in the staid Methodist women's seminary she had attended in America's South.She spent much of the meal using this technique on the congressman, eventually letting her hand do the talking for her under the tablecloth. She was sure that she would have no difficulty luring Fair into private discussions with T. V. Soong—and into a compromising position, if that was necessary—whenever her brother cons
Wally Holland didn't even know Abegail was abroad until the following February when he received her terse and somewhat detached distantly posted Christmas card for 1935.In many ways, the six years Abegail spent with Stanfield in diplomatic service in tropical Kuala Lumpur were the happiest of her life. As rich and official Americans they lived like royalty, and every whim was seen to by someone else. Although they were physically closer to the gathering world war than anyone in the United States was, in terms of its effect on their lives, they were as far away from trouble and concern as they possibly could be.Still though, Abegail had some reason to regret that she wasn't home. In the spring of 1937, she became a grandmother. She didn't feel like a grandmother, certainly, and those in her community certainly didn't see the raven-haired beauty as a grandmother. But Hammer and his wife, Jezzica, had produced a son nonetheless, who they named Jasper, after both Jezzica's and Hammer's
The distance between Kuala Lumpur and the mountain fastness of the Genting Highlands wasn't far at all in physical miles, but it was separated by centuries in cultural differences. As Abegail rode into the mountains, first by car, then by horse-drawn carriage, and finally on the back of an elephant, she sensed the years of progress—not always healthy progress—melting away, so that, when she arrived at the sprawling palace of interconnected wooden decks and open pavilions meandering around cliffs above deep, jungle-infested ravines that Sun Li called home, she had been transported back a century or more. There was no question from the moment they were helped off the elephants at the entry arch into the complex that Sun Li was both ruler and god here—that whatever he wanted would be done and was quite all right with all of his subjects.Abegail was met by a line of twittering young women, among whom she knew Sun Li's wives lurked, who bustled her away to the women's pavilions a
But then Abegail would simply tuck the photograph back into her scarf drawer, give a little sigh, and return to her fantasy world. She had longed to be out in the greater world, to be playing on a much grander scale than Nolana, Kansas, or even of Warsaw, Indiana, or the Water Creek valley. Washington, D.C, had suited her dreams just fine in this regard, but now she truly was out in the world. As isolated as they were, it seemed like the whole world passed through Kuala Lumpur and their dining room—but at a pace that Abegail could easily cope with and savor.And Abegail's art flourished as well. Whereas her fame in the States had come to rest on her winter scenes of the Colorado mountains, in Malaya she was using bold colors to capture the vivid beauty of the tropical jungles. She was shipping paintings off to the Chicago and New York galleries and had become the darling of a whole new generations of art collectors, many of whom beat their way to her remote paradise to worship at her
Abegail felt Sun Li take the lotus blossom from her hair. He was kissing her navel and then moving his lips lower. Abegail arched back farther, her shoulders touching the straw matting, and her eyes locked on the cascading waterfall across the ravine, itself magically illuminated by torches set down the mountainside around it. She felt his strong lips on the ones she had between her thighs, and she began to moan and sigh, the dreams of so many sexless nights lying beside her husband being fulfilled beyond her wildest expectations. She felt a pricking sensation at her entrance and she rose far enough to see, when she looked down the long, trembling line of her torso, that Sun Li had inserted the stem of the lotus there He was kissing and licking all around the blossom at her opening. He had his lips and teeth planted on her clitoris now and he was tonguing and sucking her. He held her pelvis steady with his strong hands on her hips as he was making love to her here, and she writhed in
There was no last plane for the Walkers. The Japanese seized the Kuala Lumpur airfield before the Walkers could evacuate, although, thanks to Stanfield's perseverance and preparations, nearly all American nationals who were willing to leave had done so—and most, but not all of the evacuation planes had made it safely to Australia.The last hope of escape having escaped them, Abegail and Stanfield calmly returned to the American embassy compound to await whatever would be their fate. Stanfield looked exhausted from his weeks of tense activity and collapsed into a bamboo chair in the garden before he could make it to the house. Abegail went for a glass of water. The house was deserted; they had convinced all of the servants that they must dissolve into the countryside and not reveal they had been working for the Americans. When she returned, Stanfield was draped in the chair, both of his arms in his white linen suit dragging over the chair arms toward the patio stones, and his head loll
He took her by the hand and led her through the compound to a dining pavilion, which was dominated by a huge teak table with ornately carved legs. Curtains were drawn around the room. Sun Li moved Abegail to stand next to the table in the center of the room, and he circled the pavilion, drawing open curtain after curtain and revealing a large collection of paintings Abegail had rendered in her years in Malaya—six years of productivity, revealing the progression of her emotions from delight at the colors and wild life and floating architecture of the exotic country, to the monochromes of her gray period, to the sensual, lust-charged paintings of the period in which Sun Li had been her lover."How?" Abegail burbled, almost overcome with joy and surprise."My men enjoyed the outing tremendously. They swiped these from the embassy compound right from underneath the eyes of the drunken Japanese. They have never been so proud of a raid as this one. I will try to keep these safe for you and
Abegail's diminished convoy pulled across the small end of a huge oval parade ground, around which were clustered a breathtaking array of magnificent temples and ceremonial buildings, and turned sharply to the right, sweeping into large iron gates in a high compound wall that opened, almost by magic, upon the convoy's approach and clanked shut almost as quickly in their wake.They were in a large, crushed-seashell covered courtyard before one of the tallest, most ornate pagoda pavilions Abegail had seen in her various trips through Southeast Asia. The steps leading up to it and the platform on which it's white-painted, gold-leaf topped columns stood was well-scrubbed white marble. And its roof was of golden fish-scale tiles with borders of emerald green and sapphire blue tiles.And standing at the foot of the stairs up to this structure was a diminutive Thai man, short and thin as a rail, a monocle in one eye, but decked out in an exquisitely tailored dark suit, his ey
Our kisses continued. It was as if once we started, we couldn’t stop. I managed to unbutton several of the buttons on Lyca’s dress and, when I slipped my hand inside it, I made a delightful discovery. “You…you aren’t wearing a bra!” I whispered between kisses.“I know, I feel so naughty,” Lyca whispered in reply. Her hand slid up my leg and encountered my swollen organ, which was straining uncomfortably against my slacks. A smile formed on Lyca’s lips “What’s this?” she murmured. She gently moved her hand over it.“Uh!” I moaned softly. I knew we had to be careful because we certainly didn’t want the other passengers waking up and seeing what we were doing. “What...what do you think it is?” Delightful sensations were sweeping through me as a result of her gentle caresses and kisses.Lyca kept stroking me, making me even harder. At the same time, I was caressing her breasts and nipples, which had grown erect. I could feel her shudder when I flicked my thumb over one of them. I slipped m
It was a while before either of us had enough strength to move. Finally, Lyca put her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder. “You are incredible!” she murmured. “I...I can’t get enough of you. The minute you touch me I want you!”“I feel the same way about you,” I told her.She looked at me and smiled. “You know, we should really get out of the shower before we wind up looking like a couple of pink prunes,” she giggled.We finished washing, then got out and playfully toweled each other dry. While Lyca finished doing what she needed to do in the bathroom, I went back to her bedroom and got dressed.Wearing the purple robe, Lyca walked into the bedroom a few minutes later. “After I get dressed, I’m going to call the travel agent,” she said.“All right,” I said. “I love you.”She smiled at me and said, “I love you, too.” Then she walked across the room and hugged me fiercely. “I didn’t ever think I’d say that to anyone,” she said softly. “You can’t imagine how wonderful it feel
We got up. Lyca began clearing the table while I rinsed off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. After I put the last of the dishes in the machine I dried my hands on a dish towel, walked over to the table, which Lyca had just finished wiping. I put my arms around her, and kissed her. She returned the kiss avidly.After the kiss ended, I cupped Lyca’s delectable bottom in my hands and pulled her middle against mine. Then I turned her around, backed her to the kitchen table, lifted her up and sat her on it.“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Lyca asked.My lips again covered hers and I untied the belt that held her robe closed. My hands slid inside the robe, onto her soft, warm skin, and I cupped her breasts and my thumbs tweaked her nipples to full, tingling erection.My penis grew erect and tented the front of my slacks as I worked on Lyca’s glorious breasts. I spread Lyca’s robe even farther apart, moved between her bare, silken legs, cupped her buttocks, and pressed a
Lyca rolled over and was kissing me, hugging me, and babbling excitedly. "I love you! Oh, God, I love you!" she gushed. "That was fantastic! I never knew making love could feel that wonderful! God! I love you! I love you!""I love you, too," I told her, returning her kisses. "What just happened was the best it's ever been for me."Lyca gazed down at me, her eyes wide and filled with adoration. "Was it really?" she asked, looking surprised. "Not even with your wife?""It never came close to that with Natalie," I told her. "I never knew making love could be that wonderful." I kissed her again."I'm glad you came back into my life," she whispered. "You can't imagine how glad." Her hands were traveling over me and her face took on a serious expression when she touched the bandage on my shoulder. "How is your shoulder?" she asked."It's getting better all the time," I replied."It terrifies me to think you could have been killed," she said as her hands continued moving over me."It kinda s
My emotions were in turmoil. From dreading what she was going to say I'd gone to a state of near-euphoria. "I...love you, too," I stammered. I took another sip of my coffee, another deep breath, then said, "I'm in love with you."Lyca gazed at me, her expression unreadable. My heart thudded like a jackhammer. What was her response going to be?She squeezed my arm, smiled, and said, "I'm in love with you, too. I knew it the minute you walked back into my life the other day."I couldn't breathe. Lyca had just told me she was in love with me! I couldn't believe it! My fondest dream had become reality!Then, for some reason, things seemed to get strained between us. For some reason, having admitted our love for each other left us not knowing what to do or say next. We at there on the sofa, looking at each other.It was clear to me nothing was going to happen unless one of us did something, so I slid closer to Lyca. She kept staring at me.When I put my arm around her shoulder, she sighed
“No, and I’m not sure I want to again,” I replied. “I’ve never seen anyone as wild as Gleason was.” My ribs still hurt like mad. I winced when I opened the door of my car.Harkins shook his head. “You ought to get those ribs looked at,” he said. “He coulda broke one, kicking you like that.”“Probably did,” I said. “Maybe I will stop at the hospital and have them checked.”“You take care,” he said. “I’m not sure I’d have done it the way you did, but you got two prime assholes out of our hair this week. I’d say that’s enough for anyone. Take it easy for a while, OK?”“You have my word on it, Lieutenant,” I said.The doctor in the emergency room told me my ribs were seriously bruised, but not broken. “Take it easy for a while and you’ll be just fine,” he said. “And I’d stay away from strenuous exercise for a week or so.”“Doc, I plan to sleep for a week or so,” I told him.I left the hospital and drove home. I wanted to see Lyca, but I needed rest, too, and she probably could stand some
I dropped the binoculars, stood up and, standing in the combat position, aimed my pistol at him. He fired another shot. Before he could work the bolt action on his rifle, I yelled, “Freeze, Gleason! Drop the gun!”He stiffened, turned, and continued working the action on the rifle. I fired at him, aiming for the middle of his body. The rifle flew out of his hands and he went over backward.Moving carefully, I approached him, holding my gun on him. I was pretty sure I’d hit him. I seldom miss what I’m shooting at. He laid there on his back, very still, with his eyes closed. I peered at him, trying to see where the wound was. I couldn’t, so I stepped closer. Too close.Gleason suddenly came to life. His leg came up quickly, too quickly for me to avoid it, and he kicked the gun out of my hand. The next thing I knew, roaring like a wild man, he was on me, his weight carrying me back, taking me off my feet. When we hit the ground, the wind was knocked out of me and, before I could get to m
“Noticed that he checked the brakes,” Moose said. “You’d think he’d trust a couple of trustworthy-looking guys like us.”I handed Moose a hundred dollars.“What’s this?” he asked.“A bonus for doing a good job today,” I said.“What do you think he’s going to do when he hears that tape you put in the car?” Moose asked.The only thing I did to Gleason’s car was put a tape I made up in the tape deck. It was set to run quietly for a while before the message kicked in, so he’d be well away from the building before he heard it. The message said, “We could have gotten you again today, but we didn’t. This is your last warning. Leave Mrs. Wilkins alone or we’ll get serious. We’ve already proved we can get to you any time we want. By the way, have you gotten your place cleaned up yet?”“I hope he cans this shit he’s been pulling on our client, but I don’t think he will,” I said.“So that shit you planned for tonight is still on?” Moose asked as he wheeled the van through traffic.I nodded. “I t
“You want me to call the police, Mr. Gleason?” the security guard asked.Gleason looked at the guard, then at me. I tried to look impatient. Moose shuffled around, looking as if he wanted to go, too.“They’re not going to find anything, any more than they did yesterday, the incompetent fools,” Gleason said finally. He looked at the car, then at me. “You sure you can have it done and back here by three?” he asked.“No problem, Mr. Gleason,” I said. “Me and Moose, we’ll do the job ourselfs, won’t we, Moose. We’ll tell the boss it’s one ‘a them priority jobs, right?”“Yeah, we’ll do that,” Moose said.Gleason looked at the security guard. “File a report on this with the police, but tell them I sent the car to be repaired and they don’t have to come over,” he said. He turned to me. “Go ahead and fix it. If I have the damn lease company fix it, they’ll just charge me extra and they probably wouldn’t get it fixed today.”“Where do you want me to bring it at, what, three?” I asked.“Be out f