“Well he seemed to know all about you. He didn’t blink when I told him what you did for a living.”
“Your father must have said something.”
“And that’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. Stop deflecting the issue. Your dad revealed a confidence. Case closed. It doesn’t change my concerns about Ted.”
Michael looked to Kate. The bare bulb in the sconce was flickering now as if the connection was loose. “Whatever you’re suggesting, one thing I know is, I’ve known Ted for a long time. He might not have been straight with me until tonight about him and my dad, but I know I can trust him. I always have. Okay?”
Michael got up and turned the flickering bulb off. The only light in the room now bled in through the wooden shutters leaving striations across the bed.
“Okay.”
“Really? That’s it? You’re satisfied? No skulking around to find out what he’s really up to? No spy stuff? Because I like to keep in practice you know. Espionage is a 24-7 game. You got to keep your groove on.”
“You do that. I’m flossing my teeth. After that I’m brushing. Then I’m going to bed.”
***
Michael did one better than brush his teeth and took a shower, luxuriating under the mercifully hot water as it washed away the past days’ sweat and grime. He hadn’t had an opportunity to bathe since Seattle and he was pretty sure it showed. Michael’s mind was on more than hygiene, though. It was on Kate. She was an attractive woman. There was no denying it. Still, he didn’t know her. He didn’t know who she was or what she was capable of; he didn’t really know anything about her at all. And he knew that what he didn’t know was dangerous. It could get him killed. But the thing was, it also excited him. It excited him to the point that he was willing to take the risk.
The hot water cleansed what was left of the soapy lather on his skin. He’d have a long day tomorrow. It was time to turn in. Michael reached for the rough copper valve when he noticed something unusual. His towel. Through the gap in the shower curtain he could see it hanging there but something was off. It was on the wrong hook. It had been moved, he was sure of it. Now the bathroom wasn’t secure, Michael knew that. There was no more than a push button on the door. You could pop it with a credit card. But if someone was in there with him, they had also been quiet. Silent like a thief in the night. Like a professional. Then the wooden floor creaked. He heard that. A shadow was cast across the room.
Michael looked around. He was wet and naked with little more than a travel sized shampoo bottle in way of weapon. A shampoo bottle and a shower rod. The miniature bottle was useless. The shower rod might offer some utility, but it was bolted to the wall. He couldn’t risk not being able to get it out. No, this situation called for the direct approach. There was a lack of information and as such Michael knew that his only play was to own the element of surprise. Michael moved his hands toward the copper valve as if he was about to shut off the stream of water. But he didn’t shut it off. Instead he turned his body tight against the valve and reached powerfully through the crack in the shower curtain, taking hold of his assailant with his left hand. Michael immediately found purchase on a firm upper arm and blindly wrenched his attacker into the shower stall.
His next move would be a choke hold and Michael twisted back with his grappling arm and raised his right arm in preparation to subdue the intruder. But then he stopped. Because there was no intruder. There was only Kate looking shocked and more than a little frightened in a terry cloth robe. Michael released her.
“Don’t you knock?” Michael shouted.
“Don’t you listen?” The hot water was raining down on both of them now, Michael’s pulse slowing. “I knocked ten times. When I got nothing I carded the lock. The other bathroom is full.”
“Why’d you move my towel?”
“Because it was getting soaked.”
Kate too, was wet now, her robe dripping wet under the shower’s steady stream. Hot water ran down her long auburn hair, her eyes moist in the steam. Michael felt his pulse quicken again. But it wasn’t danger doing it this time. It was desire. He was close. Close enough to feel Kate’s firm breasts pressing against him from under her robe. She turned away from him and Michael’s heart sank. He knew that leaving it alone was the right thing to do, the prudent thing. He didn’t know this woman. He did know that getting involved with her would complicate what was already a messy situation. And that was on the good end of things. If things worked out differently it could be worse. Much worse. Besides, they had to work together. It was better to keep it simple. Michael reached for the faucet, shutting off the stream of hot water. Then he reached for his towel. It would end here, now. Any awkwardness they could discuss in the morning.
Or they could have, if Kate hadn’t dropped her robe.
She stood there, her back to him, water running down the nape of her neck and Michael knew in the pit of his gut that this was not the way the night was supposed to go. But when she turned to him, tight to his body in the confined space of the shower stall, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now but the moment. Michael pulled her close and in that instant her lips found his. Kate opened her mouth, her tongue darting out to meet him. He kissed her. Slowly at first, then deeper and harder. She tasted salty, like the Pacific, and Michael liked it. He liked it a lot. He could feel her heart beating close to his own as he ran his hand down her perfectly contoured back. Kate purred softly, her response gentle but immediate. She took his hand in hers and continued to guide it up her soft skin until Michael’s palm found her firm round breast. His hands slid down lower and he pulled her tighter, his hungry mouth finding her breasts, followed by her neck, then back to her lips.
As he kissed her, harder still, Kate reached for him, her body sliding ever closer until he was locked in her warm embrace. Michael lifted her toward him, Kate’s feet arched against the walls of the shower stall. He could feel the pressure building inside of him and he knew it was building in her too as she pulsed against him. Kate must have sensed when the anticipation was too much to bear because she reached for him, guiding him urgently inside of her. In that instant Michael knew that whatever concerns he had about Kate, about China, about anything, would have to wait. Nothing mattered now but the moment. He pulled her tight to him and all that was left was the rhythmic motion of their bodies in the night.
Chapter 27
Sunlight dancing over his sleeping bag, Michael awoke with a smile. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he could admit it to himself. Lying there, Kate’s long auburn hair draped across his chest, he felt like a real Backpacker Bond. A Backpacker Bond on a mission for his Majesty’s Secret Service. Granted, Michael was American. And his idea of a vodka martini included a shot of Red Bull. But for the moment at least, he was a secret agent and he had to admit, it felt good. Bond or not, though, he knew that they had too big a day ahead of them to be simply lounging in bed. It couldn’t be past six a.m., but the sounds of early morning sweeping were already rising from the street below. Time to get up. Michael shifted his weight carefully, not wanting to wake Kate before he was dressed, but she stirred almost immediately.
“Modest?”
“Just eager.”
“Me too,” she said, pulling him back toward her.
“Not for that,” he said kissing her deeply. “Not right now anyway.”
“For what then?” Kate asked as Michael hastily threw on his pants.