Read Online Playing the odds by Nora Roberts - Free Book Online Page B

soft wings. She saw only the cool depthless green of Justin's eyes.
    For a moment Serena stared into them, too content to be confused. "I thought you were a butterfly," she murmured as she closed her eyes again.
    "Did you?" Smiling, Justin touched his lips to the corner of hers a second time.
    "Mmm-hmm." It came out as a long, lazy sigh. "How did you get here?"
    "Where?" Enjoying her gentle stretching beneath his palm, he continued to stroke her back.
    "Wherever we are," Serena murmured. "Did you float on a raft?"
    "No." He knew from the rhythm of her breathing, by that brief look into her dark, misty eyes, that she was already aroused, disoriented enough to be completely pliant. Her absolute vulnerability touched off twin urges to take and to protect. As each one fought for supremacy, Justin brushed a kiss over her bare shoulder. "You've been dreaming."
    "Oh." Serena didn't see why it mattered as long as those wonderful, warm caresses continued. "It feels good."
    "Yes." Justin traced a fingertip down her spine. "It does."
    The touch brought a quick shudder, a more concentrated arousal. Serena's eyes flew open. "Justin?"
    "Yes?"
    Abruptly awake and throbbing, Serena lifted herself up on her elbows. "What are you doing here?"
    Briefly, his eyes passed over the small swatch of material that tenuously clung to her breasts. "You already asked me that. With your skin you shouldn't lie in the sun unprotected." He slid his hand down her back, spreading the cream he'd applied. When his fingers pressed near the base of her spine, she caught her breath.
    "Stop it!" she demanded, furious that her voice was shaky.
    "You're very sensitive," he murmured. The desire in her eyes had flared quickly, darkening and widening even as she struggled against it. "It seems a pity we're never at the appropriate spot at the appropriate time."
    "Justin." Serena shifted away from his hand, barely remembering to hold the top of her bikini in place. "I really wish you'd let me get some rest." As she sat up, she meticulously tied her halter strings behind her neck. "I had to get up early this morning, and the casino opens as soon as we leave port tonight." Stretching out again, she dismissed him. "I want a nap."
    "I want to talk to you." He shifted lightly on the balls of his feet where he had crouched beside her, then rose.
    "Well, I don't—" She broke off as her gaze travelled up long muscular legs to narrow hips encased in brief black trunks, to a hard, lean torso. It was a body that hinted at strength and sinew and speed. Quickly, Serena averted her gaze, reaching behind her to adjust the back of the deck chair. "I don't want to talk to you," she finished, popping her sunglasses back on her nose. "Why don't you go visit San Juan like everyone else?"
    "I have a proposition."
    "I bet you do."
    Without waiting for an invitation, Justin nudged her legs over and sat on the end of the chair. "Business."
    Serena slid her legs farther away so that her skin wouldn't rub against his and distract her. "I'm not interested in your business. Go get your own chair."
    "Isn't there a rule about crew being rude to passengers?"
    "Report me," she invited him. "It's my last week on the job."
    "That's what I want to talk to you about." Justin ran a lotion-slick palm along her thigh.
    "Justin—"
    "Good." He smiled at her furious face. "I have your attention."
    "You're going to have a fractured nose if you don't leave me alone," she told him, exasperated.
    "Do you always have such a difficult time concentrating on a business discussion?" Justin asked mildly.
    "Not a legitimate one."
    "Then we shouldn't have any problem."
    Flopping back on the chair, Serena eyed him from behind the tinted glasses. She spotted the jagged white scar along his ribs. "That looks as if it was nasty," she said with a cool smile. "A present from a jealous husband?"
    "A bigot with a knife." His answer was as cool as her question, devoid of emotion.
    A pain shot into her, sharp and unexpected. It