Read Barbara Faith - Kiss of the dragon for Free Online

fog and suddenly she heard footsteps. She tried to run but couldn't; her feet were so heavy that she could barely lift them. The footsteps grew closer. She moaned in fear and tried with every ounce of strength to move her leaden feet. Slowly, oh so slowly, she began to run. The footsteps grew closer. Closer. A hand reached for her, held her. "Let me go! Let me go!" she screamed and fought to break free, crying, "Please let me go!"
    "Bethany!"
    "Let me go!"
    "Wake up, Bethany. You're dreaming."
    But still she fought, frantic with fear, her heart pounding a staccato rhythm against her ribs.
    "It's only a dream," Tiger soothed her as he pulled her into his arms.
    Bethany trembled against him and he put one hand behind her head and drew her closer. Her body was warm against him, her tear-streaked face damp against his throat. Suddenly an emotion he'd never known before swept through Tiger Malone. He whispered words that were a mixture of Chinese and English, trying to tell her that everything was all right, that he was with her now and that he would take care of her.
    She sighed against him, and not even knowing that he was going to, he began to kiss the tears from her face. And finally from her lips.
    Lips that quivered under his as her body tensed and she tried to move away. Tiger's arms tightened around her. He looked down into her face. Her eyes, shadowed by the moonlight, were wide with alarm.
    "Bethany," he whispered. Then his lips found hers, again, tentatively at first as he sampled their ripe sweetness. He felt her hands curl into fists against his chest. Then the hands flattened. The warmth of them penetrated his skin and her lips softened beneath his.
    Before Bethany could resist Tiger eased her back against the pillows and lay down beside her.
    "No, no, please!" Frightened now, she broke away from him and tried to sit up.
    "I only want to hold you," Tiger said as he took her into his arms. The golden cloud of her hair brushed his face as he lay back on the bed with her. He kissed her cheek and felt a rush of tenderness that he'd never known before. Taking her face in his hands he gently kissed her closed eyes. "Go to sleep," he whispered, then he drew her down beside him and did not speak again.
    She knew he could feel the pounding of her heart and the trembling of her body against his. She tensed, waiting for him to move. But he didn't. He only smoothed her hair back from her face and held her until at last the trembling stopped.
    A soft breeze stirred the curtains. Beneath them the boat rocked gently. Bethany closed her eyes. Just for a moment, she told herself, only seconds before she went to sleep.

 

     
     
TOSHIBA

    Chapter 4
    T iger awoke when the first streak of dawn lightened the sky. Bethany lay close to him, her leg against his, her head against his shoulder. He gazed at her slightly parted lips and the shadowy fringe of her eyelashes against her cheeks. He saw the rise and fall of small rounded breasts beneath the thin material of her gown and felt a rush of passion.
    Tense with desire , Tiger slipped from the bed. He stood for a moment looking down at Bethany. Someday soon we will be lovers, he silently promised her. Then, with a strength he had never known he possessed, Tiger left and quietly closed her door behind him.
    He went out on deck. The harbor slept; there were no other boats close to the Golden Dragon. He dropped his black silk robe on the teak deck, climbed on the rail, poised, then plunged into the sea. The shock of the water stunned him for a moment, then he began to swim, out toward the South China Sea. He swam hard and fast, trying to ease the throb of desire within him. And when at last it began to ebb he rolled onto his back and swam slowly back toward the boat.
    He knew that he would take Bethany with him when he went to Kwantung; it wasn't safe for her in Hong Kong now. But that wasn't the only reason. He thought then of the days and nights that he and Bethany would be on board his