She bumped against his side. “You’re pretty good at kissing, too.”
“Not much of a demand for kissers in the Yakuza.”
“You’re applying at the wrong places. I know lots of places where good kissers are in high demand.”
“I should become a male prostitute?”
Gina shrugged. “It’s a different way of using your body. For pleasure, instead.”
They walked a few steps in silence. “How would that make you feel?”
“What do you mean?”
“Would you feel jealous if I was with other women?”
“You jealous I was with Pensri?”
“Were you trying to make me jealous?”
Gina squinted up at him. “Are we avoiding answering the question by asking other questions? Lwin Kinjo talked about this.”
“I don’t know. Are we?” He was grinning. She stopped, forcing him to do the same if he was going to still hold her hand, which he seemed intent on doing. She flipped up his sunglasses to see his eyes. There they were, warm and dark…and on her. Back to feeling mildly electrocuted.
She let the glasses drop back and clucked. “You really think you’re something, don’t you?”
“With you beside me, I am.”
For the second time on their walk, Gina didn’t know what to say. Was this the way guys talked on dates? If so, she’d really missed out. Well, no, she hadn’t. She was pretty certain she wouldn’t be feeling this breathless, if anybody other than Kannon was with her.
“Um…we’re nearly there. It’s just up against this wall. I mean, on the other side of the wall…” she flustered, and all but dragged him down a street with a high wall that led to an iron gate. Passing under its arch, they entered a sprawling garden, acres in size, following a tended path between tropical trees and orchids. It was as if they’d been teleported from the heart of the city to a remote sanctuary. While most of the dogs had dropped off, three shadowed them: a brown one, a black one, and a black-and-brown puppy.
They finally arrived at their destination. It was little more than an open cobblestoned space sheltered by the boughs of the surrounding trees. All about them were penises. They ranged in size from the realistic to ten feet in length, some carved from wood or stone, some cast from iron or bronze. Little ones sprouted like mushrooms from the green ground cover. A couple of huge ones had legs, the penis angled to look like a torso bent into the doggy position. They were painted in all colors, decorated with everything from bright silk scarves to rhinestones. Lots more had been added in the decade Gina had been gone, and right now she and Kannon had the place all to themselves. A lucky occurrence that needed to be taken advantage of.
Kannon set down the bag and did a slow three-sixty. “What is this place?”
“Two years here and you’ve not paid a visit?” she teased.
“Oddly, no.”
“Well, now for the ‘show-and-tell’ part of our first date.”
Kannon settled himself on the low stone wall that enclosed the shrine. “I can’t wait.”
Gina and the dogs strolled around, checking out the ornaments. “My mom really, really wanted a kid, only after she married my dad it turned out that she was infertile. They went to every doctor in Miami—nothing worked. Then she read about this place in a magazine.”
“And what exactly is this?” Kannon asked.
“It’s a shrine of Chao Mae Tuptim—a female tree spirit,” Gina explained and pointed to an old gray-barked tree, penises ten deep nestled at its base. “It’s said that if a woman is having trouble conceiving she can pray to the spirit and she’ll be granted a successful pregnancy.”
“So what’s with all the…?” He waved his hand about.
Gina noticed a bunch of large phalluses crowded on a short pedestal. They’d been vibrators in another life and she leaned in to examine one Pensri might like. She must’ve breathed too hard because one jiggled loose and fell to the ground, the jolt causing activation, and it whirred and jerked around the cobblestones, making all three dogs bark and growl at this strange creature. She rescued it and set it back. Kannon was rubbing his temples. Gina hurried on. “If the woman has a baby, it’s traditional that she leaves a statue like this at the shrine in thanks to the spirit.”
“A lot to be grateful for, I see.”
She pointed to a carved stone penis. “See this one? My mother had it carved from Sicilian marble. Dad thought it was all nonsense, of course, but she believed in it completely. Convinced him to fly them here to hand-deliver her offering, a kind of thanks in advance. She took it one step further. She snuck here in the middle of the night with my dad to make love. Twice for luck.”
Kannon looked suspicious. “How do you know this? I can’t see it something parents tell their kids as a bedtime story.”
“Darae, actually.”
“Darae?”
“My mom told her. They were BFFs, despite their age difference. Daddy was so pissed when he found out. ‘Is nothing sacred with you women?’ Funny thing, Darae told me because it was sacred. She thought it was a beautiful story. I’d texted her before you showed up to tell her where I was and she reminded me that this place was close by. She suggested I go visit it.”
Gina knew what Darae was up to. Her stepmother wanted Gina to see how much she was still connected to Bangkok, to this warm, colorful, quirky corner of the world. The problem was, she already knew that. It was the dark, unforgiving side that she’d run from. Except in leaving one side, she’d lost both. She slid a finger down the marble phallus and kissed the tip.
Kannon made a noise deep in his throat. “Not what a gentleman on the first date should see, Gina. Messes him up.”
Gina was ready for distraction. “You know, this would be a good time to kiss me.”
“Then what are you doing way over there?”
She immediately rectified the situation. With no-holds barred, she did a full-frontal assault. She palmed his front, his sides, his back, all the while her tongue and lips nipping and hounding his mouth. He set his hands on her waist but she was pressing in so hard, he had to grip the wall to steady them. She was free to grind against him, which produced hard results.
Kannon didn’t fight her, held on and let her have at him. God, he felt good. Wetness leaked into the folds between her legs, and she rocked her pubic bone against his shaft. He gave a low groan she caught in her mouth. The clothes between them were too much and not shifting her mouth or her groin, she tugged at his shirt, successfully baring his dark bruised torso. Now it was her turn to moan at the hard ripple of muscle under her hand. Every part of her swelled against him, her nipples, lips, her pussy.
All their moans and groans were too much for the dogs. They started whining and yipping, bounding through the penises, their wagging tails sideswiping displays, clattering and crashing them to the cobblestone.
Gina broke away and waved after them. “Bad dogs! Look at what you’ve done. Shoo! Get!” She began setting things to rights. “Oh, crap. I hope this doesn’t mess up someone’s chances for getting pregnant or even lucky.”
“I know it messed up one chance,” Kannon said with a sigh. “Just as well. First time’s not going to be in a public place.”
She rewound the ribbons on a blood-red one. “Geez. Can’t be in a massage parlor or a public place. Where, then?”
“At home in my bed.” He hadn’t meant to say that, she could tell. He immediately tensed and his face became a hard neutral mask. Waiting for that put-down. He was once again a boy sinking, not entirely sure if his father would grab hold of him. He was a young adult, steeling himself as he hurt others. And here he stood now, the man who thought a woman wouldn’t want to share his bed.
And the thing was, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. Because now, with his stories and romantic gestures, she understood what he was offering. It wasn’t sex; it was a relationship. A relationship filled with passion and walks, but also of absence and danger. And like Bangkok, she couldn’t have one without t
he other.
She tore her gaze away from Kannon and continued on with arranging the penises. When she was done, Kannon was standing off at a distance, shirt tucked straight, bag in hand. “We should go,” he said.
“Okay.” She needed to explain, tell him that it wasn’t him, it was her. Only who believed that line, anyway? “Kannon, I—”
He waited, and she couldn’t say what he wanted to hear, deserved to hear. “Thank you for the date.”
He gave her nothing. Not a lip twitch, not a flash of the eyes, nothing. “You’re welcome.”
Their walk back to his vehicle was silent, and after a while, not even the dogs followed.
Bright lights flooded the ring from every direction as Kannon sat amidst the raucous crowd of spectators, scorching beams highlighting every cut of the fighters’ lean, muscled bodies. The two men, one in black trunks, the other in red, were performing Wai Khru, a solemn pre-fight ceremony in which they thanked their masters, their patron gods, and the spirit of the sport itself for the opportunity to beat each other senseless.
The blaring of Thai classical instruments added to the cacophony of the roaring fans, but despite the energy which rippled through the crowd Kannon remained cool. Calm. Detached.
“Woohoo!” Gina yelled beside him, fist pumping the air as the two fighters transitioned from the contemplative ritual directly into Ram Muay, an energetic dance in which each man demonstrated their skill and style, kicking and punching at the air in a frenetic display. The crowd went wild with excitement at the intimidating acrobatics, eager for the bloodshed about to follow.
“I’ve got five thousand baht riding on Somrak,” she shouted into his ear, pointing to the boxer in the black trunks, his forearms adorned with tattoos of twin angry crocodiles. “Lwin told me he’s going to take this fight for sure.”
Her energy was a complete turnabout from their silent trek back to his car hours ago. He’d tried to stay neutral, to keep in mind, once again, that she was his boss, no matter what a joke that was. And she’d seemed content enough with that arrangement, sticking to business as they set up the equipment before entering the arena. Then as they were moving to their seats, she was about to step on a spilled drink and he’d put his hand on her waist and steered her aside. She hadn’t seen why he was doing it, only that he’d touched her, and she blasted him with a brilliant smile, clearly relieved that he wasn’t angry at her.
As if he had a right to be. It always had been him who’d tried to make something more out of their relationship than there actually was. He wanted her, and she didn’t want him. Not as a couple working toward a future together. She’d recoiled from even having sex in his bed. Why had he blurted that out? Oh yes, right, she’d asked, and he’d told her.
He didn’t know what happened to make her run from Bangkok for a decade, for most of her adult life. It couldn’t have been good. She wanted to have sex with him, and sex with her would be hot, would be the hottest he’d ever had or dreamed of having. And that would it be it.
“I hope you’re not forgetting why we’re here,” he said, as a reminder to himself, too.
Although people considered his mirrored sunglasses a trademark of sort, there were several very practical reasons he wore them. One was that the inside of each lens had a corner treated with the same reflective coating as the outside. That allowed Kannon to literally have eyes in the back of his head, and right now his attention wasn’t on the fight, but rather on Ryota, who was standing by the entrance, disguised in the casual clothing of the locals.
Ryota in turn was watching the men taking the tickets, and apparently one of them had just signaled him. He nodded to Kannon, and a moment later, a familiar-looking man came into view: Jarun.
Their ex-prisoner climbed the adjacent aisle and merged down a row to take a seat. Leaning into Gina, Kannon said, “That’s him. Three rows down, closest to the aisle on the other side of the section.”
Gina took stock, her eyes only leaving the ring for a moment. “Okay. Soon as the fight’s over, I’ll get Kittyjack on his tail.”
The fighters, having finished their display, were summoned by the referee to the center of the ring, then he stepped away, allowing the fight to begin.
As brutal as western boxing could be, it was downright gentle compared to the battle that erupted in the ring. Both fighters used every part of their bodies to lash out at one another, punching, kicking and shoving, employing fists, feet, elbows, and knees to hammer each other both above and below the belt. Within a minute blood was flowing, but Kannon’s eyes remained set on his target.
Jarun seemed too still for someone who’d come to the arena for pleasure. And the fact that he’d arrived just before the fight and chosen to sit right by the entrance was suspicious. This was all too easy.
Beside him, Gina cringed as her favorite received a kick to the face, staggering back against the ropes. The referee separated the two fighters only long enough to make sure the man wasn’t going to fall over, then with a wave of his hand, the battle resumed.
“What do you think?” Gina asked him over the din.
“I think our friend might is bait. We stick with the plan and everything should work.”
“I mean about Somrak.” She leaned close, and he could feel the gentle give of her breast against his arm. “You think he’s got a chance after a hit like that?”
Behind his glasses, Kannon rolled his eyes. What a crazy woman. He should go back to smoking, instead of chewing on gum like a school kid. How was it she got him doing things that he wouldn’t do for anyone else, himself included? He couldn’t refuse her a thing. He was like the boxers in the ring. Except instead of his body, his ego and emotions were taking a bruising.
He turned his attention to the combatants. “He seems okay to me. It was a little tap to the head.” As if to confirm his words, Gina’s fighter brought up his knee, connecting with his opponent’s stomach in a gut-wrenching strike.
“Ouch!” Gina said cheerfully, as her man pressed his advantage, delivering a volley of ferocious punches, the crocodiles on his arms blurring with the speed of his attack. “You think you could take on a guy like that?”
“He wouldn’t be a pushover, but yes.”
“You sound confident.” She nudged his shoulder.
Kannon shrugged. “He’s used to fighting for money. I’m used to fighting for my life. Besides, I’ve got moves that aren’t legal in any ring—not even one as serious as this.”
The battle in the ring raged on, both fighters hammering away at one another for all they were worth. Unlike western boxing, the match lasted a maximum of five rounds of three minutes each, so there was no holding back. By the third round, the boxer in red fell to his knees, and with him too battered and bloodied to rise again, the referee called the fight.
The crowd rose to their feet in thunderous applause and jeers, Gina hopping up and down as she joined the roar. Only two people weren’t clapping and hollering: Kannon and Jarun. Something was definitely up.
“I’m going to step outside and wait for him,” he told Gina as soon as the noise had died down.
Gina nodded. “Okey-dokey. As soon as he leaves I’ll make the call to Kittyjack.”
He rose out of his seat and then sat back down. “You will keep an eye open. I don’t want things to screw up because you’re sidetracked with your betting.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t try to do anything yourself. Ryota will be watching, and can take over.”
“Okay.”
“If, for whatever reason, you can’t get—”
Gina flipped up his glasses and leaned in. “Kannon. Okay.” She set the glasses back down and poked a finger into his stitched temple. She wasn’t gentle about it, either. It actually twinged. “You know, you get all super-protective with me when it’s you that’s walking straight into trouble. You ever think about that?”
She cared about him. She cared but didn’t want to sleep with him in his bed, in his home. She was fighting what
was happening between them, while he’d already given in. Part of him hoped she’d win. There was another part, a bigger part, of him that wanted her as weak as he was.
“I’ll be okay,” he told her.
“You better be,” she warned. “I got a lot riding on that.”
Kittyjack stared at the monitor intently, her finger poised over her mouse. She readied herself, her overclocked mind counting down fractions of seconds, gauging the perfect moment to strike. With the reaction time of a praying mantis, she tapped the button at precisely the right instant.
You won this auction. Congratulations, it’s all yours!
“Too slow for the master,” she said in a singsong voice, doing a little victory dance in her chair as she clicked the Pay Now button on eBay.
Dr. Chaiboonma looked over her shoulder as she fired in her credit card information. “And why exactly are you buying a vibrating rubber duck?”
“I’mnot,” she answered in her rapid-fire voice. “Mystepfatheris. It’shiscreditcardinfo.”
“I’ll rephrase the question then. Why would you want a vibrating rubber duck?”
Over her shoulder, the hacker flashed him a sly, meaningful smile.
Dr. Chaiboonma paused, blew out his breath, then walked away.
The smartphone on her desk buzzed, and Kittyjack activated her earpiece. “Speak.”
“Kitty, this is Gina. We were right about it being Jarun. He’s leaving the arena now.”
Kittyjack finished her transaction in a blur of fingers, then closing her web browser, brought up another screen. “Gotourtoyready?”
“We followed the instruction manual. It’s assembled and ready to go on the roof of the building next door. Kannon’s outside, waiting for our man.”
Kittyjack sent out the signal to activate the machines, and a few seconds later a map popped up on her screen, identifying their location and confirming that they were powering up. Another click and she could see the arena on her screen, the crowd pouring out of it now that the fights were concluded.
“Lookslikewe’regoodtogo. Bye.”
Gina Takes Bangkok (The Femme Vendettas) Page 15