Crystal Warrior: Through All Eternity (Atlantean Crystal Saga Book 1) Read Free Page B

Long hours were taking their toll and she was tired beyond sanity. It was the only possible explanation.
    As to wanting Torr Montgomery, that at least she could rationalize. The man was testosterone personalized. Gould had started researching for his latest book, was spending more and more time at the airfield and it had been over a week since they'd gone to bed at the same time or made love; which was unusual when Gould was home. He'd tuned her body to regular bouts of very satisfying sex. She was feeling needy, was all.
    Georgina took a long slow drink from the glass then froze at the clatter of footsteps on the stairs.
    ‘Where's the spa, George?’
    Fran's voice was quickly followed by her golden self scarcely decent in miniscule scraps of scarlet Lycra and trailing a large bath towel. Fran had never been troubled by the sometimes crippling bouts of inadequacy that assailed Georgina. She'd been born taking the forward step, knowing how to make positives out of every negative aspect of her life. While she, Georgina ruefully admitted to herself, had been born almost diving backwards, looking to efface herself at every juncture. Fran had early determined her unusual height would work to her advantage. Georgina had always envied her sister's sangfroid yet never managed to emulate it.
    Torr Montgomery walked out onto the patio behind Fran, and Georgina closed her eyes.
    ‘There's beer, wine, or soft drink in the fridge in the kitchen.’
    She rushed into speech in an effort to block the image of the man stripped down to black swimming briefs. He'd almost had to duck through the doorway and there'd been scant daylight between his shoulders and the doorposts. She allowed herself another brief glance. The Warrior image hadn't reappeared but the air of leashed strength and power in the perfectly proportioned body set a wild pulse hammering at the base of her throat. He would not have been out of place on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine. On some elemental level she couldn't begin to define, the man threatened the very fabric of her life, a fabric carefully woven to conceal the real Georgina Hackville.
    Fran disappeared back into the house to fetch drinks.
    ‘Bring the wine with you when you come please, Fran!’ Georgina called after her. She was going to need more than one glass to calm her leaping pulses.
    ‘This is a beautiful spot. You could forget you're in the middle of a city. I'd like to see more. Would you mind if I walk down to the lake?’ Torr asked from the edge of the patio.
    Georgina was unaware she'd been holding her breath until it whooshed gently between her lips with relief. ‘Sure,’ she said hastily. ‘Just be careful at the lake edge. Some work needs doing there. We haven't yet decided what. It's a bit boggy.’
    Like life.
    For a brief second the smoldering green gaze connected with Georgina's before he vaulted off the patio to the lawn below and disappeared amongst the shrubbery.
    Georgina rested her head against the edge of the pool and tried to decide whether either of them had spoken the words or how she knew they'd both heard them. Wondered too at the scars and slightly misshapen muscles of his lower legs, which nevertheless, hadn't hampered his grace of movement. Restlessly she sought the relaxation she usually experienced in the spa. Her body didn't seem able to stay still, much less relax. Every time she almost achieved the desired state her mind would replay the picture of that sun-bronzed, muscular body leaping to the ground with the power and precision of a hi-tech machine and she would hear words neither had uttered.
    Gould was well-built, even beautiful. But Torr Montgomery in the raw was stunning. What was wrong with her? She was reacting like a sex-starved spinster with no hope of a fulfilling physical relationship, instead of as a woman who enjoyed a very rich and satisfying partnership.
    ‘I love the house, George,’ Fran enthused as she stepped out onto the patio again. ‘If I