“You don’t believe that.”

No, she didn’t. Incredibly, she was beginning to believe the concept or reality of Shambhala as the mystical, idealistic place about which Cameron and Erin had told her. “I can’t see you in the Mafia. You wouldn’t pay any attention to the ‘family.’ You like control too much. How are you going to bait this trap?”

“You and Hu Chang bring Erin here through the front door of the shop entrances. By that time, Nagle’s men will know they’re in Chinatown and be on the alert. They’ll probably have photos of Erin … and you.”

“You won’t be with us?”

“I’ll come in through the back fire escape. I don’t want Kadmus to think that he can gather me in with one scoop. The bait has to be a little less tempting, and you have to have something to offer.”

“I won’t let Erin be exposed to that bastard again. No risk to her, dammit.”

“There won’t be a risk. All she has to do is show up and be seen entering the factory. There’s a basement exit that leads to the restaurant next door. I’ll negotiate with the owner to have one of Blake’s men there to take Erin to safety.”

Catherine frowned. “I still don’t like it.”

“Erin will like it,” he said quietly. “She’ll want her part in getting rid of Kadmus. Don’t cheat her of that because you want to protect her.”

“Just make sure that she’ll be out of any action. When is all this supposed to happen?”

“Today is Tuesday—everything should be in place by Thursday. Sooner if Kadmus moves faster than I’m expecting.”

“Thursday. It will all be over day after tomorrow…” She got off the freight elevator on the second floor. “You’ve obviously scoped out the building already. You don’t have to tag along with me. I’ll look around on my own.”

He stepped back and gestured. “Be my guest. I’ll wait upstairs. I want to put the alarm back on, and that’s the only window I’ve taken off the motion detectors.”

“Twenty minutes.” She moved quickly into the darkness. Several cubicles that would serve as offices, an assembly line with several stools. Boxes. Lockers. A Coke machine …

She arrived back at the third floor seventeen minutes later. She got off the freight elevator and moved toward where Cameron was standing by the window. He was only a blur in the darkness lit from the faint light streaming through the skylight. “They’ll have to come in from the shops on the street. It’s not likely they’ll use the fire escape to break into the other floors. They’re too easy to guard.”

“Unless Kadmus is more clever than we think.”

His voice sounded … strange.

She stopped, her gaze searching the darkness to see his face. “Is something wrong?”

“No.”

He wasn’t telling the truth. The air was thick, crackling with whatever was disturbing him.

“Let’s get out of here.” He lifted her up on the top box under the window. “Go on. I’ll see you down there. I’ll take care of the alarm.”

She was already jumping the last few feet to the alley when he reached the fire escape at the second floor.

She hadn’t had a chance to look around when they first arrived and took the opportunity to do it now. Garbage cans, boxes with the Moon, Stars, and Heavenly Wonder fireworks signs and, several yards toward the street, the blue Mercedes.

“So this is where you dumped it,” she said, as Cameron jumped down beside her. “It definitely looks out of place in this alley. It should be easily spotted if anyone is searching.”

“They’ll be searching.” He got on the motorcycle. “I guarantee it.” His voice held a tension that hadn’t been there before. “Come on, let’s go.”

She frowned as she swung her leg over the bike and slid onto the seat behind him. Her arms slipped around his waist. “There is something wrong. What did you see up there after I left?”

“Nothing.” He started the bike and roared down the alley toward the street. “It was just a long twenty minutes waiting for you.”

“Seventeen.”

“Whatever.”

“It’s not as if I wasn’t efficient. I just needed to make sure there wasn’t anything that might trip me up when—”

“I know that.” He was silent. “I suppose I was counting on going with you. It would have kept me busy, and I wouldn’t have had time to think.”

“You mean worry? I thought you had it all planned. It’s not—”

“I mean think. Anticipate. Imagine. I leaned against that wall waiting for you with the darkness surrounding me.” He said jerkily, “Guess what I was anticipating, Catherine?”

She didn’t have to guess. Her heart was beating hard, and she felt the taut muscles of his back against her breasts. His words had come out of nowhere, but they were not really a surprise. Somewhere deep within her, she had been waiting for them.

“You’re not answering,” he said softly. “Do you want me to tell you?”

“Don’t play games.” Her voice was uneven, and she stopped to steady it. “You’ve already given me a glimpse before of how your mind works. It’s all about sex.”

“Not all, but when I’m anywhere near you, it comes close. I was very controlled on the ride here. That’s amazing. As I told you, I have no discipline where you’re concerned.” He paused. “And you were touching me.”

As she was touching him now. Her breasts pressed against the smoothness of the leather jacket, her arms holding tight around his taut, corded waist. Her upper legs curved under his and the center of her sex jammed against his buttocks. Only their thin layers of clothing separated warm skin.

Not warm. Hot. Her entire body was flushed, readying.

“I’ll tell you anyway.” His voice was hoarse. “I could smell you in the darkness, just a lingering hint of soap and shampoo. You were nowhere near me, but your scent was still there in the darkness. The same scent that drifted to me when you were behind me on the bike. The same scent I’m smelling now.” He gunned the bike.

Speed. Jarring contact against his body. Wind whipping her face.

“And I thought how I wanted that scent closer to me, how I wanted to drink it in and get drunk on it.” His words were soft as velvet, and yet she was aware of a subtle, erotic abrasion. “And I began to think how I could make that happen. I thought about this bike and that it was all wrong for you to be behind me. I wanted you to be in front, with your legs wrapped around my waist, so that I could bury my face in your hair.”

“Rather distracting,” she said unevenly. “And definitely unsafe.”

“It gets worse … or better. You’re naked, and I open my jacket so that I can feel your breasts rub against me. Your nipples are hard and taut, and I want my mouth on them. But I know it’s not going to be enough. So I make an adjustment, and I’m inside you. I can feel you. I start to move.”

“My God, Cameron.” Her voice was shaking. “Stop.”

“Because you’re feeling me inside you, too? That’s no reason. You like it, don’t you? You feel the jarring of the bike, the occasional sharp bump, but it’s all part of me and you and the rhythm. It’s driving you as crazy as it’s driving me.”

Crazy? Yes, and breathlessly erotic, with white-hot sexuality. She found herself clenching, fighting the emptiness. “Are you doing something to my head, Cameron?”

“Not this time. It’s only words.”

And visions brought to life by those words.

“Close your eyes,” he said. “Let it come to you. Let me come to you. You know it’s going to happen. Why are you fighting it?”

“Dammit, because I don’t fall into bed with every man I find sexually attractive. There has to be a reason, there has to be order to my life.”

“Then I’ll give you a reason,” he said roughly. “You want your son protected? I’ll see that he’s safe from Kadmus and everyone else. Not just now but for the foreseeable future. I’m probably the best-qualified and expensive Guardian he could ever have. Is that reason enough?”

“I didn’t say price. I said reason.”

“Then you’ll have to decide if what I bring to you is reason enough.” She could see his hands clench on the handlebars. “But decide soon, or I’ll start fighting dirty. I don’t want to do that with you.” He said curtly, “We’re halfway back to Celia’s place. You haven’t got much time.”