“What time is it?”

“After two in the morning.”

“Really? It feels like later.” Sleep was rapidly fading as she sat up.

“It’s after noon back home.”

Of course. Jet lag. “Where are you?”

“Right here.” She felt the mattress dip by her feet as he settled on the bed.

“I should be annoyed at you for abandoning me.”

“It’s the rules, Tracy. I shouldn’t even be here now, but I…”

“Had to see me?” She couldn’t keep the hope from her voice.

“How was your first day?” he asked, obviously avoiding her question.

“Gorgeous women, ancient texts, frank discussions of sex with your mother.” She sighed with dramatic intent. “You know. The usual.”

“Of course,” he said, humor lacing his tone. She felt the mattress shift as he leaned back against the headboard. “And did you enjoy the usual?”

She hesitated, trying to frame her thoughts. “I got a bunch of stuff on how to control the tigress in me. At least now I’m not so afraid I will jump the next male body I see.”

“You never would have. Your strength of will is very disciplined.”

“Oh,” she teased, “you say that to all us tigress girls.” Then she sobered, realizing that he may have said exactly that to other girls. She felt the mattress shift again as he stood, and she abruptly reached out. “Nathan?”

She felt a soft kiss flutter across her cheeks. “Good night, tigress.”

“Nathan!” she called again. But she couldn’t say it loudly for fear that someone else would hear. And within another breath, she knew he was gone. She collapsed backward on the bed in a huff. Then she heard him, a voice from the hallway, whispering such that she could barely catch the words.

“Yes, I had to see you.”

SHE WAS AWAKE WHEN he came the next night. She’d been waiting for him, dozing fitfully, alert for the slightest sound. She’d already leaped upright when one of the temple cats had meowed in the hallway. But this time she knew it wasn’t a false alarm. She knew he was there, standing in the darkness looking at her, though how he could see anything was beyond her.

“You are awake,” he said, his voice a warm jolt of electricity to her spine. If she hadn’t been alert before, she was now.

“I didn’t see you today,” she said as she sat up in bed.

“The temple finances are a disaster,” he answered as he moved into her room. “How my mother can mess things up so quickly is beyond me. She only had a few months, but…”

“Big debt?”

“Big ignorance. She simply doesn’t want to understand anything mortal. Her whole focus is the divine, and as such, it is our duty to support her in her quest.”

“You mean your duty.” She wrapped her hands around her knees.

He was silent for a long moment, but then she heard him step closer. “It is my duty as—”

“Yeah, yeah, oldest male. Embrace the responsibility. I understand that Nathan, I really do. I just feel bad because it obviously wears on you.”

Tracy felt the mattress dip and smiled. He was going to stay for a bit. She’d set a candle on the bedside table and now lit it with unsteady hands. A warm glow filled the chamber, and she was able to finally see him sitting in his wrinkled suit. The light was gentle enough to emphasize his beauty, but she also saw the weariness in his face and the droop in his shoulders.

“You’re tired,” she said. “Did you get anything to eat?”

He nodded. “My sister left food for me. But what of your day? Temple accounting cannot be nearly as interesting as your first full day as a tigress.”

“Doubtful.” Today had been a day for Stephen to show off his many accomplishments. Under the guise of “orienting her to Hong Kong,” she had wandered the finest boutiques where he had bought her silk robes and sexy lingerie. She had dined in a floating restaurant and then had high tea at the Mandarin hotel. Nathan knew, of course. One of the first things she’d discovered was that she was big news in this little community of women. “You didn’t tell me Stephen was that rich. I mean, wealthy, yes, but über-rich? Top-twenty-in-the-world rich?”

His gaze slanted down to the silk coverlet. “Money is nothing to him. He can put you and your brother through college and think nothing of it. He could set you up with diamonds, cars, a villa of your own. Whatever you want, Stephen can give it all to you.”

“I don’t want material things.” She saw him arch a brow at her, and she had the grace to blush. “Okay, okay, so I like the money. I’m human. And frankly, nobody is more surprised than me. But all I want is a financial cushion. I don’t need a whole pillow factory.”

He frowned at her, and she knew she wasn’t making any sense.

“I want enough wealth to live comfortably. I don’t need über-wealth.”

“And heaven?” he pressed.

And right there was the problem. Every moment she was with Stephen—no matter what he did or what he said—there was something elemental in her attraction to him. His energies, her energies—they yearned toward one another. It didn’t help that deep down, she kinda liked the guy. He was unfailingly suave. And who wouldn’t love being wined and dined by a gazillionaire?

“There’s nothing between us,” she said as much to herself as to Nathan. “Chemistry, yes. But a connection? No.”

“That makes it easier to launch to heaven, Tracy. Earthly attachments—”

“I know.” She’d already heard it from everyone. One couldn’t focus on the divine when your mind—or your heart—was on your partner. “Nathan—”

“It will get easier, Tracy. Give it time.” Was there a flash of regret in his eyes? She couldn’t tell in the dim candlelight. And worse, he was already standing up to leave.

“Don’t go, Nathan. Stay and talk to me. Tell me about the sale of the temple.”

He paused, his eyes warming into friendship. “What have you heard?”

“Nothing. Honest.” She shifted, crossing her legs as she faced him. “So what do you think Mr. I’m-so-rich-I-can’t-think-of-enough-ways-to-spend-it is going to do with the temple?”

“Keep it exactly the same or so it says in the contract,” answered Nathan softly. “I had hoped that Mama would take on some responsibility after I left. That she would see…”

“I doubt finances are your mother’s forte,” Tracy said drily. The Tigress Mother seemed to float through her days and nights, seeing only what she wanted to see, then ignoring all the rest for others to handle. Others like Nathan and his siblings.

“No,” he said with clear regret. “Managing money has never interested her.”

“So what are you going to do?”

He sighed. “Alienate my mother forever.” He reached out and gripped her hand, his warmth enveloping her. “The money will be evenly divided. We all will have plenty to live on assuming it is spent wisely.”

And there, of course, was the problem. “Will your mother spend wisely?”

He grimaced. “She will have to. She has destroyed her credit rating. So now, her monthly allowance will be given on a debit card. As long as she remains at the temple, her daily needs will be cared for. That, too, is part of the contract.”

Tracy smiled. “You’ve done well, you know. You’ve seen to everything and everyone fairly.” Then she sighed, guessing at the future. “She’s going to hate you for this, isn’t she?”

He shrugged. “That, too, sometimes is the lot of the eldest son.” He spoke casually, but she knew this wasn’t easy for him. She squeezed his hand and saw his expression tighten on his face. It was so intense, she felt as if he were actually touching her cheek, stroking her lips. Her belly tightened; her breath quickened. She had already consumed the yin-dampening tea, done her nightly meditation on not being horny. She’d done all the things she needed to so that she would not jump the nearest man.

But the nearest man was Nathan. And at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to touch him, to give comfort, to…She swallowed, realizing the truth in that moment. She wanted to give him the love he had been denied throughout his childhood. But the moment she leaned for him, he leaped out of bed, breaking the connection of their hands.