Wiser Than Serpents by Susan May Warren

he’d traced her face with his gaze, noticing the changes, the tiny lines of stress around her eyes, the way her hair still looked like silky chocolate. She was so beautiful—more than even when she had been in college—and it had all swept over him in a wave, washing away his reservations, his fears, leaving only desire.
    Good thing Someone was watching his back, because he’d felt the claws of temptation dig in, start to work on his brain, take over his heart. One more minute holding her and they would have ended up as shark bait and he wouldn’t have complained.
    Thanks, God.
    Because, despite his attraction to her, despite the fact that not only did he respect everything about her, from her courage to her brains and everything in that package, they didn’t share the same life goals.
    Yanna, even though she was a selfless, incredibly giving person, would always see this life as the final destination.
    And he had to live for something beyond that. His faith told him that today mattered because tomorrow mattered. Most importantly, his life wasn’t his own.
    He believed that God cared, really cared, about what happened to him. Even if he might be stuck out in the middle of an ocean with just a paddle.
    Which was why, in the end, David counted the paddling and ache in his shoulder a blessing. He’d tried twice more to start the motor, to no avail. Now, Yanna dozed in a quiet ball of slumber in the front of the dinghy, her cuffed hands drawn up as if in the fetal position. He’d get her out of those as soon as he hit land and could rustle up a straight pin.
    “David?”
    Maybe she wasn’t sleeping. In the early morning dawn it was hard to tell. Probably she’d seen him watching her, seen the look of sadness or more, on his face, too. Swell.
    “We’ll be to shore in a while.”
    She sat up, pushed her hair back from her face. “Wow. We’re really close.”
    “Yeah. And we’re south of the city, so hopefully Kwan’s men won’t know to look for us here. We’ll find someplace to hole up, change our clothes, maybe figure out some disguises, and then I’m on the horn to Roman to tell him to pick you up. You’ll be home by supper.”
    He refused to acknowledge the twist in his gut when he said those words. Despite the danger, he’d enjoyed the brief time they spent together.
    How warped and desperate did that make him?
    Yanna turned, looked at him and, in the dawn, he made out a pained look. “I’m not…I’m not leaving Taiwan.”
    Maybe she was dehydrated. “Uh, yes, you are.” He kept paddling. “Kwan’s men will be on the lookout for you—”
    “For us.”
    “For us, yes, but they’ll be looking for a dark-haired man traveling with a gorgeous brunette and in twelve hours I plan to match none of that description.”
    “Good for you, but I’m not leaving. Not until I get what I came for.”
    David glanced at her, the face she wore when she planned on spiking a volleyball down the throat of the opposing team. Perfect. Now she gets ornery. “Listen, Yanna, you can get a great tan in Bali. Or seafood in Singapore. But you’re not staying in Taiwan.”
    “I’m not here on vacation, David.” Her eyes sparked.
    He wasn’t sure why, but that made him feel worse. Because that meant the FSB had sent her into the serpent’s mouth, and hadn’t had any plans to rescue her. He’d have a few not-so-nice words with Roman about—
    “I’m here to find my sister. Kwan kidnapped her. Or at least, I think so.”
    David stopped paddling. The wind still held a chilly edge, despite the warming sun creeping over the western horizon. Now it touched his skin, raising gooseflesh. “I don’t understand.”
    Yanna folded her hands, looking toward shore. “A week ago, Elena left Khabarovsk for America, to marry some guy named Bob.”
    Bob?
    “She never made it. Her traveling companion, Katya, turned up dead in Korea.”
    David set his paddle over his knees. “Go on.”
    Yanna turned back to him, and in her