Dance of the Crystal by Cris Anson Read Free Book Online Page B

in the dining room, could hear his mother’s raw sobs as he cowered behind the kitchen counter where he’d gone in search of a snack, not wanting to listen but afraid to move for fear of adding to the maelstrom. He’d been old enough to understand love, and the withholding of it.
    He’d withheld it ever since.
    He thought Magnus had withheld love, too, especially after his brief, tragic marriage.
    Then Magnus had truly found love with Kat. He was a changed man. Not possessive and jealous like with the first one, but being himself only better, easygoing and confident in her love.
    It made Soren wonder if the same could happen to him.
    The image of Crystal D’Angelo coalesced in his mind’s eye. Her joie de vivre , the sparkle and snap in her eyes. Her sweet nature, her combination of innocence and unconscious sensuality. And that body…a man’s wet dream.
    “So, you want me to?”
    Soren roused himself. “To what?”
    “Contact her. Mom.”
    “Jesus, Mags. We’ve lived twenty years with the knowledge that she didn’t want anything to do with us.
    Give me some time to absorb this new information. To steel myself to having her reject us yet again.”
    For a while neither man spoke. Birds twittered, flying in and out of the branches overhead as the brothers sipped their tea, each thinking his own thoughts. Finally Magnus stood. “Well. Break’s over.
    Let’s get this bugger on the truck.” He stashed the empty iced tea bottle in the cooler and turned to the slab of walnut.
    “Right.” With a sigh, Soren heaved himself up as well.
    “And, Soren?” Mags put a hand on Soren’s shoulder. “You’re as tight-assed as I used to be as far as women are concerned. Wouldn’t hurt you to take a leap of faith and let one get close enough to spend the night. There’s something to be said for waking up to a warm, cuddly body wrapped around you, even if there’s no happy ever after in the offing.”
    Soren turned away. “Spare me the mushy details.”
    But he was thinking about it. Oh yeah, he was thinking about it.

    * * * * *
“I can’t, Deirdra, it’s too revealing.”
    Crystal stood at the cheval mirror in her bedroom and frowned at her image. The underwired bra covered no more than a half-inch of skin above her dusky-rose nipples. And those might as well have been exposed, the ecru lace was so sheer.
    “The point of a Victoria’s Secret bra, dear heart, is to enhance your natural charms.” Deirdra adjusted a strap to add a smidgen more of plumpness where Crystal thought none was needed. “And you said so yourself, you want to do the nasty with him. When he peels off your clothes, believe me, seeing you like this will bring him to his knees.”
    “Well, I don’t want to hit him over the head with it.”
    “From what you’ve told me about this bachelor, he needs a good swift kick right between the eyes. But more to the point, this little getup will make you feel sexy. So you’ll be giving out all the right signals while still acting demure. Just don’t chicken out.”
    “I won’t.” She rubbed the crystal nestled between the plump cleavage. It was just barely warm, perhaps from her erotic thoughts and not from any magical message that it approved what she contemplated doing tonight. “Grandma told me it would let me know when I found The One. When I first laid eyes on Soren at the auction, it got so hot it almost left a burn mark on my chest.”
    Deirdra had been with her the day Grandma had given her the amulet. The two friends had met in fourth grade when a bully cornered Crystal and demanded her lunch money. Several inches taller and twenty pounds heavier than Crystal, Deirdra had come along and clunked the kid on the head with an unabridged dictionary she was returning to the library. They’d been inseparable ever since.
    Today Deirdra was still several inches taller and twenty pounds heavier, but those pounds were well distributed on her five-foot-eight frame. They’d gone to different