Untouchable by Linda Winstead Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

dedicated Tryfynian soldiers at her heels. The skirt of her green traveling gown snapped behind her, and her mouth was set in a hard, straight line. For all her physical beauty, she was as drab and unappealing as the color she wore. For a moment he imagined himself married to this sour woman, enduring her demands and petulance day after day, keeping his temper in check in the name of diplomacy and peace. He tried to imagine her lying beneath him, lost in the throes of passion, but he could not. From what he could see, this woman had no passion within her, no warmth, no love. She was as hard as any sentinel, in her own way.
    His eyes were drawn over the princess’s shoulder to watch a still and serene Sanura. She waited silently as her guards set up her small tent. Behind her the sun was setting, coloring the sky pink and orange and violet. A gentle breeze caught her skirt and made it dance, and even though he was too far away, he was certain he heard that music her jewels made when she moved. He could very well imagine her beneath him. She would cry out in pleasure, she would laugh in bed and in his arms, she would scream, and she would likely make him scream as well.
    And she would see all of him. She would know every secret, see every lie. Marriage to a cold princess would be better.
    “Would you do me the courtesy of looking at me?” Edlyn snapped as she came to a halt before him.
    Alix dragged his eyes from Sanura and pinned his gaze on the princess. Again he imagined himself married to her, shackled in the name of diplomacy, once again a prisoner in the name of doing what was right, and he felt a rush of anger as he caught and held her eyes with his own.
    The princess blinked hard and took one step back. “I . . . I’m sorry.” She glanced to the side and down. “Obviously I’ve caught you at a bad time.”
    “Not at all,” Alix responded. “What can I do to make your journey more comfortable?” His voice was sharper than he’d intended, but perhaps that was for the best.
    Edlyn frowned and wrinkled her nose, then she cautiously stepped forward once more. “It is that heinous blue creature my father insisted upon sending along who causes my distress. Having her along for the journey is a punishment, ” she muttered. “My own father hates me.”
    Did the spoiled princess want Alix to do what her step-mother had not? Did she wish to be rid of Sanura before they reached Arthes, and if that was the case, did she expect he’d do the dirty work for her?
    “Perhaps you should take your complaints to Sanura herself,” he suggested, knowing that she would not. Haughty and arrogant as Edlyn was, she was more than a little afraid of Sanura.
    “I’d rather not,” Edlyn muttered, confirming Alix’s suspicions. Her chin came up. “In the early days of our journey she rode near the front of the procession, but lately she’s taken to riding alongside my carriage. It’s unbearable, I tell you, to look out my small window as the carriage bumps and rattles along and see her . She’s taunting me. She’s . . . she’s . . . she’s harassing me!”
    “By riding too near to your conveyance,” Alix said without sympathy.
    “Yes,” Edlyn whispered.
    Edlyn surely knew that as a woman she paled beside Sanura. In character, in appearance, in sensuality, there was no comparison—at least, none which favored Edlyn in any way. Next to Sanura, Edlyn—pretty as she was— disappeared. What woman would not? Did the princess look at the gift her father had sent and realize that no man, emperor or not, would remember she existed after he’d had a look at a woman of the Agnese, after he saw Sanura’s blue curves and heard the music of her steps?
    “I will speak with her,” Alix said, bowing curtly and with more than a touch of disdain.
    Again Edlyn frowned. It seemed to be a normal expression for her. “I thought your eyes were a rather ordinary shade of pale green,” she said as she studied them with a