Sin and Sacrifice by Danielle Bourdon Page B

wanting to just forget
and rest for a while, she left the choice in his hands.
    “ Feeling
adventurous?”
    “ I trust you,” she said
with a laugh.
    A moment later, she heard
the warm baritone of his voice ordering food—in Arabic. Versed in
all languages, like the rest of her sisters, she understood
everything he said. All the children who had eaten from the Tree of
Life and Knowledge gained the ability to speak and understand every
tongue. It was a talent that served them well over the
centuries.
    Her surprise faded when
she realized that if he worked in the area, he probably knew several languages, not
just one or two.
    Rising off the bed, she
made her way into the bathroom. At the freestanding sink in front
of the oval mirror, she stared at her reflection while turning on
the water. Eyes wide, hair windblown, skin glowing with a healthy
tan, she looked the same and yet different. It was in the set of
her lips, the faint frown on her brow and the quirk at the corner
of her mouth. She couldn't decide if she looked thoughtful or
perturbed.
     
     
    Fifteen minutes later, face
freshened with a splash of cold water, she wandered back into the
sitting room. She paused when she saw him; limned in the spill of
dusky light from the balcony, Rhett sat on one of the couches with
his hands locked behind his head, elbows askew. It was a masculine
position of stolen ease. Knees tilted out, boots flat on the floor,
jacket discarded, he looked peaceful with his eyes closed, chest
rising and falling in an easy rhythm. She almost hated to disturb
him.
    “ Room service should be
here in about five minutes,” he said, somehow knowing she was there
without opening his eyes.
    “ Okay. What did you
order?”
    “ It's a surprise. You said
you trusted me.”
    “ I do trust you.” Evelyn
was startled to realize she meant it more every time she said it.
Or thought it. Rhett made it almost too easy to trust him. “But I
also think you'd order something like octopus eyes and a side of
tentacle just to see how fast I'd throw up.”
    He barked a laugh, one
knee rocking back and forth like it was a lazy hinge. Finally, he
slit his eyes open. “That's a little scary, Grant, because it's
something I definitely would do. If you weren't under my care, that
is.”
    “ But I am, so eyes and
tentacles are off limits.” Grinning, she wandered into the
kitchenette. It overlooked the sitting area so she didn't have to
raise her voice to continue conversing with Rhett. This unexpected
truce, or whatever it was, felt much better between them than the
friction.
    “ You'd do the same thing
if the situation was different,” he said. It sounded like a
challenge.
    Evelyn glanced over the
short counter. “I would not. I'm the soul of propriety and good
manners.”
    He snorted. “I don't
believe you.”
    Rhett's disarming
personality threatened the careful wall she tried to keep erected
between them. It felt thin and all but useless when he bantered
with her like this. Just as she opened the cooler to see what was
inside, someone knocked at the door.
    Four hard raps.
    With sinuous grace,
obliterating the languor and ease in a heartbeat, Rhett rose off
the couch and removed a gun from the holster. At the door, he stood
just off to the side.
    “ Yes?”
    “ Room service,” a muffled
voice said from the other side.
    “ Leave it there. Thanks.”
Rhett listened with his head cocked, the gun angled low along the
outside of his thigh.
    Evelyn watched in silent
fascination. Cautious even in this, he took no chances with her
safety. After several minutes, he cracked open the door with the
chain still in place and peered out into the hallway. The section
he could see must have been empty because he closed it, unlatched
the chain, and swung it wide again to pull the cart inside. Bolting
up the door when he was done, he pushed the cart to the small table
adjacent to the couch. The gun went back into the
holster.
    “ I ordered drinks, but if
you want something