Golden Goddess Read Online Free PDF Page B

Hannah stormed. "Besides, if you distrust and dislike modern women so much, I'm surprised you're even interested in having one for a lover. Or are you just in the market for someone you can use the way that woman who taught you a lesson once used you?"
    Jarrett's gunmetal-gray eyes hardened briefly, and he made a visible effort to relax. "I have all the normal male instincts."
    "Including a few left over from primitive times?"
    "Perhaps," he acknowledged.
    "It's no wonder you can't find yourself a modern-day love!" A misfit, Hannah decided morosely. What a quirk of fate. The one man who had attracted her in years, and he turned out to be some kind of throwback, alienated from his own world in a fundamental way. Maybe that was why the little golden goddess held such fascination for him. She was from his era. Hannah shivered.
    "I haven't led a completely celibate life, if that's what you're assuming, Hannah. But I'm damn careful what role I allow a woman to play in my life."
    "In other words, you're willing to let one into your bed so that you can satisfy your physical needs, but that's as close as she can get, right?"
    "That's pretty damn close," Jarrett pointed out with amusement.
    "Two people can go to bed together and still be a thousand miles apart. Or a thousand years, in your case," Hannah protested, wondering how on earth she had ever gotten into such an intimate discussion with this man.
    "You sound like an authority on the subject," Jarrett mused, gray eyes glittering. "What happened? Did some man invite you into his bed and then refuse to let you manipulate him? That's very frustrating for a woman, isn't it? Women prefer to be the manipulators in a relationship. At least modern women do."
    It was a stupid discussion, she decided. "I didn't want to manipulate him," Hannah sighed. "I only wanted to love him and to have him love me. I only wanted a family… He was the one who used me, if it makes you feel any better," she concluded abruptly. With the ease of long practice, Hannah pushed the bitter memories of her twenty-fourth year to the back of her mind. She certainly had problems enough at the moment. Coming to a halt in the middle of the room, she swung around to face her unwelcome visitor and found him studying her broodingly. "I think you've done enough damage this evening, Mr.
    Blade. It's about time you left. Take that dumb little statue with you and get out of my room."
    Jarrett rested his chin on a propped hand for a moment longer, as if he were trying to analyze something he saw in her face. Then he appeared to abandon the attempt. He got to his feet with a slow, easy movement that spoke of a strong, coordinated body. Reaching down to pick up the goddess with both hands, he walked deliberately across the room to the closed connecting door. Casually he opened it and then paused in the doorway.
    "Don't look so stunned, Hannah," he said gently. "I made sure that you were assigned this room yesterday and that I got the one next to you. The desk clerk was only too happy to accept a small tip for doing me the favor of putting me next to the frazzled lady tourist with the little crown of braids."
    Hannah glared at him. "That door is supposed to be locked at all times. From both sides!" He'd been right next door to her last night. An unnerving thought.
    "Not while you and I are involved with each other." Jarrett held up a key and then dropped it into his pocket. "Good night, Hannah. Don't worry about the goddess. I'll take good care of her."
    "Better make sure she doesn't cast any magical female spells over you!" Hannah hissed. "After all, she is a goddess, remember? A golden lady with power. You'd better be careful."
    Suddenly a wide, very male grin appeared on Jarrett's harshly carved face. It startled Hannah. For an instant he looked almost likable. "You're the one who should exercise caution, Hannah. She's a fertility goddess. Her specialty was ensuring that women got pregnant. And you've been carrying her around