White Tigress Read Online Free Page B

stared at him, a dull rush of embarrassment flowing through her entire barely clad body. Unfortunately, right behind it came a full wave of dizziness and even a bit of nausea.
    Not good. Not good at all.
    And while she was struggling with that, other disconnected thoughts whirled through her foggy mind. What was she wearing? A coarse white nightshirt. That wasn't hers, was it? Where were her clothes? Was she on the boat?
    There was something else as well. Something different about her body. But what? She couldn't quite focus her mind on the question. On much of anything. Yet she still found the strength to look at the young man directly and to croak out a question.
    "Where am I?"
    He didn't respond, merely urged her to lie back in bed. Some small part of her brain registered tiny details of her environment. She lay in a simple bed, well padded and rather large. The room was sparse as well. There was one window, very high up, with decorative lattices over the opening, an ornately decorated screen, and behind that the privy. But where was...
    "Max," she croaked. "Where's Maxwell?"
    Again, the Chinese man didn't answer, and before long she discovered she was lying back on the bed, her head gently supported by a silk-covered pillow. Truly, it was quite nice to lie here and simply let her cares float away.
    She might have done just that if it hadn't been for a flash of memory. Or of nightmare. Or something. She remembered a sickly sweet taste and a dark room with... shackles?
    "No!" She struggled upright. She needed to escape. She needed to find Max. She needed...
    "Safe."
    She blinked. She had heard a word in English. From the young man.
    Blearily, she focused on him as he pushed her firmly back on the bed.
    "You safe," he said clearly. Slowly.
    She nodded, understanding his words, her fear beginning to abate. Why she trusted him, she didn't know. But she certainly didn't seem in danger now. And she was so very, very tired.
    "Max?"
    "Well. You are well."
    No, she began, but her mouth would not form the word.
    She slept.
    * * *
    She woke quickly the next time, the nightmare fading, only to be replaced by a dreamy reality as confusing as the first. The young Chinese man was at her side again, feeding her something she now realized was not water at all, but weak tea with a tangy flavor. She'd thought it quite strange at first, but now she was beginning to like it.
    As always, he assisted her to the necessary, waiting politely on the other side of the screen while she accomplished her business. He laid out a change of clothes for her—another plain white nightshirt—and never spoke except to assure her she was safe.
    As she stared at the boy, for she guessed him to be about seventeen years old, questions began to form in her mind. Where was she? She was obviously on land, likely Shanghai. She had unfortunately begun to remember the other house—the one that the captain had taken her to, claiming it was Maxwell's. Well, if that was Maxwell's home, then she was a purple toad.
    But how had she escaped that terrible place and come here? Who was paying for this home and the Chinese servant? And who had... performed the change in her body?
    That was another thing she had figured out. What before had felt a nameless difference, she now saw in the stark light of day. She was completely shaved. Totally hairless. Not the hair on top of her head, for that remained neatly braided in a long queue down her back. It was all her other hair—from her legs, her arms, and her... From everywhere.
    But who had...? And how? Not this boy. He couldn't—
    She didn't know what to make of the situation, and she certainly couldn't ask, even if she thought the man understood English. Her only option was to wait and see. It was probably some traditional Chinese medicine or some such nonsense. One never knew what bizarre customs a primitive culture might have. She didn't have to think beyond that.
    But where was she? And how had she gotten here? If she had to