Donovans 02 - Jade Island

Johnny, who gave them to me.”
    Kyle tried not to let Lianne’s unique scent distract him from the main point: one of the world’s wealthiest trading families was undergoing a quiet change in leadership. Following the shock of Hong Kong’s reversion to mainland China, Wen’s increasing frailty must have had the many branches of the Tang family scrambling and clawing to see who would lead the clan through the profitable minefields of the twenty-first century.
    “Joe? Harry? Johnny?” Kyle asked.
    “Joe Ju Tang is Wen’s oldest son. Harry Ju Tang is the second oldest. Johnny is his youngest.”
    “You know them well?”
    “Yes,” Lianne said, no expression on her face. “The Tang family is very interested in jade. They are among my biggest clients.”
    Kyle kept his face as blank as Lianne’s while he guided her toward the tables of hors d’oeuvres. As he handed hera plate, he asked casually, “What does the Tang family have to say about the Jade Emperor’s Tomb?”
    She shrugged. “The same thing everybody else is saying.”
    “Which is?”
    Lianne gave him a look, but his attention was on the spectacular variety of hors d’oeuvres, as though the conversation was merely polite rather than pointed.
    “A combination of curiosity and naked greed,” she said, reaching for some miniature pot stickers. The aroma lifting from the spicy morsels of sausage wrapped in thin dough had her mouth watering. “The collectors are dancing in place, dying to know whether their personal collections will be enhanced or diminished by the tomb goods.”
    “You think that fine blade might have come from the Jade Emperor’s Tomb?” Kyle asked.
    “I…don’t know. Anything is possible, I suppose.”
    He put a tiny, incredibly delicate spring roll in his mouth and chewed, watching Lianne without seeming to. It wasn’t exactly hard duty. Her cheekbones would have made a model weak with envy. Light shimmered and flowed like a lover’s breath over her black hair. Her lips were full, ripe, inviting.
    And she was lying through her white, even teeth about the Neolithic blade. She had a good idea where it came from. Kyle was as certain of this as he was that her heart had beaten very quickly beneath his hands when he lifted her above the crowd. He wondered if her response had come from fear or desire. Or both. Then he wondered if he would find out Lianne’s truth before he found out the truth of the Jade Emperor’s grave.
    Lianne popped one of the pot stickers in her mouth and made a murmurous, humming sound of pleasure that drew Kyle’s body tight with a hunger that no amount of hors d’oeuvres would ever satisfy.
    “God,” she said, almost shivering with pleasure. “Food like this must be against the law. Are the spring rolls nearly as good?”
    “You tell me.” He tucked one of the crispy morsels between her lips and watched while she chewed and swallowed.
    “Incredible,” she said, then added in dismay, “but I’ll never be able to taste all of it before I’m full.”
    The look of distress on Lianne’s face as she eyed the table of hors d’oeuvres would have made Kyle laugh, but he wanted too badly to lick up the tiny crumb of roll that was clinging to the corner of her mouth. The need twisted inside him with startling force. Even as he told himself he had been without a woman too long, he felt an unsettling certainty that he could have just crawled out of bed with a female and he still would want Lianne Blakely.
    “You can stuff my pockets,” he offered.
    “Don’t tempt me.” She laughed, then looked at the table again and sighed. “If only we had some decent wine…What a feast.”
    “I know the chef. She understands wine. Obviously none of the wines here tonight were her choice.”
    Lianne’s hand paused on the way back from an hors d’oeuvre plate. A small, ginger-spiced shrimp hovered on a bright toothpick next to her open lips. “You know the chef?”
    “Yeah. Now eat that shrimp before I do.”
    The unsubtle threat in Kyle’s voice surprised her more than the excellent food. Hastily, she offered the shrimp and several other tidbits besides.
    “You should have told me you were starving,” Lianne said when Kyle instantly polished off every scrap she gave him. “We could have come to the buffet first. Who’s the chef?”
    “Mei O’Toole. Her husband works for Donovan International. She and her sisters got tired of hearing about fusion cooking that ignored Asia and decided to show