Blue Knight Read Free

into her lungs. She remained perfectly still as he pulled his hand away, knowing that he was aware of none of this maelstrom he had set off in her at his simple touch and that she could signal nothing of it to him. She fought to give nothing away and battled to control her breathing. His proximity was a problem. He could hear every little shift and waver of her breath. For fifteen seconds she concentrated on just breathing, slow and easy, as her lips throbbed and her body with them.
    Daniel dropped his hand to the sheet between them, where it lay like a dark shadow on the pale cotton. “Defiance. Good word, that. I like it. That’s one of the reasons I do it. Just because I can and just because they’re telling me I can’t.”
    “What are the other reasons?”
    He smiled. “I’m not a monk.”
    “Ah, yes, I’ve noticed you not being a monk. All of us have.”
    His smile widened. “It passes the time.”
    “You limit your activities to a rather small subset of the pool of available women.”
    “More straight talk.” His brow lifted again. “Is that a formal protest at being passed over?”
    Her heart thudded hard. “Truth, Daniel? I wouldn’t touch a man like you if he were served up on a silver platter…or lying in my bed naked. You’re wired the wrong way for me. I’d sooner bed a walrus.”
    Daniel sat bolt upright and turned to face her. “Excuse me?”
    She pulled the cover up around her shoulders, as his movements had disturbed it. “You heard me. I don’t stutter.”
    “Pretend you do.”
    “I’d rather not.”
    “Fine then. Pretend I’m the village idiot and need it explained in very small words. Pictures are optional.”
    “Village idiot, huh? I could go with that.” She sat up.
    “Thought you might.” He seemed grimly pleased.
    She waved toward his crotch. “There, that’s a perfect example of what I mean. It doesn’t even occur to you to cover up, does it?”
    He looked down, reached for the sheets and pulled them over his thighs. “Why should I? You’ve already seen everything there is to see.”
    She dropped her hands with an exasperated sigh. “We’ve been locked inside the White Sands for…just over four weeks. You’ve bedded every woman under the age of thirty who’s a guest or one of the staff, or not wearing army green and who is within reach of the hotel. After tonight, I’m not sure how far you roam. Your conquests could spread outside the compound, too, for all I know.”
    “You resent the fact that I have sex, or that you don’t?”
    “Neither.” She clasped her hands together. “I’m going to be generous to myself and guess that we’re the same age. I’m young, you even admit I have great legs. Despite that, for the last four weeks, when you have been looking around the hotel for your next bed partner, you haven’t seen me. Your gaze has slipped right over me. I’m invisible to you.”
    He was silent for a long minute. “Then you do resent being passed over.”
    “No, I’m grateful. I told you. You’re the last person on earth I want to take to bed.”
    He pushed his hand through his hair. “And that’s because…?”
    “Because I’m part of the wallpaper to you. That’s why you feel free to walk around naked without so much as twitching a muscle when I’m in the same room, even the same bed with you. You’re one of those men who can’t see women once they reach a certain age. It’s hardwired into your genes. I’ve learned the hard way that trying to change a man like you is like trying to change a leopard’s spots. You can’t fight genetics, either.”
    She rearranged her pillows and her side of the covers once more and settled her head on the pillows again. “Good night,” she said firmly.
    He lay down again. “No offense, Olivia, but as a diplomat, you’re about as much on the nose as yesterday’s bloody kippers.”
    Olivia rolled over so that her back was to him. It let her hide the shaky breath she drew in. Good. Let him be