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

Fran had looked at one another and known they belonged together. No other woman had ever lured him into matrimonial waters. He loved Fran, her vibrancy, her lively nature and penchant for the fantastic, in the bedroom and out of it.
    But she is not the Golden One.
    The words were as clear as if someone had spoken them. He'd always imagined he had control over his mind and the thoughts in it, but in the last few hours that belief had been seriously challenged.
    His thoughts at that admission were definitely his own and far from polite. Mad people heard voices in their heads.
    Shaking his head to dislodge that uncomfortable fact, he shifted his focus to Georgina. With hair the color of polished bronze and eyes a watchful, feral gold, she reminded him of a mountain lioness. There was a remote wariness about her that spoke of inner strength, the kind of strength that climbed mountains or survived famine; that doggedly followed the claims of conscience even when her heart was clamoring to tread a different route. And like the lioness her adrenaline fired the moment he threatened her space, came too close. It was so easy. He only had to look at her, focus on her, and he was in her mind and she in his.
    Golden One.
    Surely Fran was more brightly golden than Georgina, Georgina more dull, he argued with himself, absently downing the last of his beer. His eyes slid to Fran.
    All that glitters is not gold.
    Shit! He tilted the glass again and found it empty. For a moment he glared into its depths then set it on the mantelpiece, which Georgina had earlier explained was a slab of ancient kauri timber salvaged from a Northland swamp. His mind was rioting nicely out of control without him adding the impetus of alcohol, he thought savagely.
    He tried to focus on Fran's description of the birds they'd seen in Honolulu but as if magnetized, his attention was drawn to Georgina again. She was playing peep-o with Jordie and the baby was chuckling delightedly. It was the most relaxed he'd seen her. She'd changed out of the nondescript clay colored suit she'd worn to the airport and was now wearing a pair of brown linen slacks and a dark green knitted cotton sweater which, though loose, contoured the firm high breasts, flat stomach and womanly hips. He knew how perfectly that body fit his own, how responsive and arousing he found it, yet until a few hours ago he'd never set eyes on her.
    Her hair, which had been pinned on top of her head when she was in the spa, was neatly secured by a black clip-on bow. His fingers itched to loosen it, prowl through it. Fran's hair shimmered like flowing golden silk. Georgina's, he knew , would be thick and luxurious and heavy and if she left it loose it would curl and glisten in sunlight like burnished bronze. He could see her dressed in fluid gowns of finest silk and glorious colors. Emeralds should glow on her breast, her hands, in her hair.
    Christ, he was losing it! Yet he couldn't stay the flow of fantastic images.
    He could feel her hair wrapped round his fingers. He knew he'd had his hands in her hair—somewhere—some time. He knew things about her he had no business knowing. She'd choose duty over the man she loved. If he didn't keep her prison secure she'd leave him. Her skin would be smooth as silk velvet and taste of apricots. Where in hell did this stuff come from? Anyone would think he'd been reading a romantic fantasy on the plane instead of Barrington's latest adventure. Ever since he'd seen her at the airport it was as if something had shifted in his psyche, as if his view of the universe had changed somehow.
    It made him damned edgy.
    A couple of National Geographic magazines lay on the coffee table. Picking one up, he flipped through the pages but even the impressive photography of exotic places couldn't hold his attention away from the tableau of women. Merryn’s husband, Case, had taken Katja and Jordie for a walk outside. Perhaps he should've gone too.
    He forced his gaze from Georgina to