Ice Blue - Anne Stuart [92]
She picked one up, staring at it. Bondage and butt-sex, from the looks of the cover. An improbably endowed Asian girl was tied up and being serviced by a bad-tempered looking man. Summer glanced through the pages, wondering if anything more pleasant was going to happen to the poor girl, when she suddenly realized she wasn’t alone.
Reno was standing not two feet away from her. She hadn’t heard him come in—he’d taken off his boots, of course, and he just stood looking at her with that thinly veiled hostility.
All of her Japanese disappeared. There were any number of ways to apologize—was sumimasen the “I’m sorry I spilled sake on the floor” or the “I’m sorry I killed your mother” one?
“Sorry,” would have to do, as she held out the magazine to him.
He moved closer, taking it from her hand. He looked down at the picture, then at her for a long, considering moment. Then back at the picture, as if to judge her worthiness for such kinky activities. She felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. Taka had warned her, and now he’d left her alone with his cousin.
He glanced back up at her, then shrugged, tossing the magazine back on the table before he headed into the corner of the room that served as a kitchen. The refrigerator was tiny, and he grabbed a bottle of beer and a glass before settling in a chair opposite her, watching her.
She could have done with a drink herself—he was making her nervous. She sat down on the futon, holding the kimono around her, and was rewarded with a derisive snort, as if he was asking why she should bother? Baby rat pig bastard, she thought.
“Taka?” His voice startled her. It was the first thing he’d addressed to her.
“He went looking for you.”
His smile was slow and evil. He had to be in his mid-twenties—younger than she was. Too young to be so scary. “I’m not going to touch you.”
She jumped. “You speak English?”
“When I’m in the mood.” He took off his sunglasses and set them on the table beside him, next to the porn. His eyes were extraordinary, the red tattooed teardrops accentuating them. And she realized with a shock that his eyes were a clear, brilliant green, an almost unearthly color.
“Contact lenses,” he said, unnerving her even more.
“You read minds like your cousin?”
“You’re…what’s the word? Transparent. Why did Taka bring you here?”
“He thought we’d be safe here.”
“No, I mean why did he bring you to Japan? His grandfather isn’t going to be happy about it. Neither is his wife.”
Why did Summer feel as if she’d been kicked in the stomach? Lying about being married was hardly the worst of his crimes.
“His wife has nothing to worry about.”
Reno tilted his head sideways. “True enough, but I’m not sure she’ll see it that way. My grandfather had a hard enough time arranging the marriage, and she’d probably use any excuse not to go through with it. Taka’s got tainted blood.”
“I thought you said she was his wife?”
“Sooner or later. As long as Taka does what his grandfather asks him to. And in the meantime you’re in the way. So why don’t you tell me where the temple ruins are and I’ll get you on a plane back to your own country?”
“I told you, I have no idea where the temple is. Hana-san used to tell me stories about northern Honshu. Have you thought to look there?”
“That doesn’t narrow it down very much. Maybe I can help you remember.”
“You can’t help me remember what I don’t know,” she said nervously. Where the hell was Taka? Why had he left her with this junior psycho?
Reno’s smile was chilling. He had a stunning face—not as elegant as Taka’s, but younger, more impish. Except that there was absolutely nothing playful about him.
“I’m very good at helping people remember what they think they never knew. Taka might have foolish scruples