

THOUGH IT TOOK a monumental amount of restraint, Savannah limited her bath to just that---a bath. She and Knox had managed to make it from class back to their room after the all-day erotic massage session and, though her limbs had quaked and were limp as noodles, and her loins had been locked in a pit of permanently aroused despair, she'd managed to survive without begging him to plunge into her and put her out of her sexually frustrated misery.
Her only consolation was that Knox had been mired in that pit as well and, quite honestly, had not fared as well as she. Savannah's lips quivered. Her nipples didn't quite cause the stir his prominent erection did. When Knox was aroused, everyone knew it, could hardly fail to notice. She hated to dwell on it so, but Savannah couldn't seem to conquer her fascination with his enormous...article.
Neither could anyone else, for that matter, a fact that both annoyed and delighted her. For all intents and purposes of this workshop, that colossal penis was hers and hers alone. Both men and women alike gazed at them with envy, the men at Knox because they longed to be equally blessed, and the women, like her, were most likely astounded at the sheer size of him. Savannah enjoyed the being envied part---it was their greedy gazes lingering on her borrowed penis that pissed her off.
She'd heard a couple of the women talking about the phenomenon on the way out. "Pity he can't keep it up longer than two minutes though," one had said regretfully and to Knox's extreme embarrassment. During that session, his problem had seemed genuine to all. Every time that sucker had stood at attention longer that it should, Savannah had whispered the magic words, and poof! it would disappear. The magic words being, "Chuck's whacking off again." Cruel, she knew, but not any more cruel than what she'd suffered.
If she possessed even a shred of sanity by the time this workshop was over, Savannah would consider herself extremely lucky.
The evening ahead would undoubtedly be as trying as this day had been. As soon as she'd mentioned taking a bath, Knox had proclaimed it an excellent idea, and had once again tried to come out of that damned kurta. Truthfully, Savannah would have liked nothing better than to have taken him up on the idea, would have liked nothing better than to have had his hot, hard wet body wrapped around and pulsing inside hers. The tub had been designed for sin and so had his body and she wanted it more desperately with each passing second.
Quite honestly, Savannah didn't have a clue what they were supposed to do now. She'd laid all her cards on the table, and she supposed Knox had, too. He'd admitted that he wanted her now, and it was the now that kept messing with her head, the now that she was having trouble getting past.
A part of her wanted to say, Consequences be damned, you've wanted him forever, here's your opportunity, just go for it already!
But another part hated knowing that he hadn't wanted her to begin with, that it had taken a sex workshop for him to consider her attractive, and she seriously suspected her newfound appeal had more to do with convenience than actual interest. If she gave in to her baser needs and rode him until his eyes rolled back in his head as she so very much wanted to do, would she regret it later? Or would she regret it more if she didn't?
Savannah didn't know and, luckily, wouldn't have to decide until tomorrow...provided she didn't expire from longing first.
Knox rapped on the bathroom door, startling her. "The food's here. Come feed me."
A wry grin curled her lips as she opened the bathroom door. "I should let you starve," she told him.
"Why?"
"Just for the hell of it."
He shivered dramatically. "Chilly, chilly." That verdant green gaze was shrewd and glinted with humor. "You must not have had as much fun in the tub this evening. Don't worry, I can cure what ails you." His voice was low, practically a purr, and it sent a flurry of sensation buzzing through her.
She'd just bet he could, Savannah thought with a mental ooh-la-la. Did she have a prayer of resisting him? she wondered with furious despair.
After everything else they'd been through over the past twenty-four hours, feeding each other seemed downright tame. They spoke little during the meal, just systematically fed each other the tender strips of Hawaiian chicken, green beans, and macaroni and cheese, the latter being particular messy and involving a lot of cleanup.
Which meant a great deal of licking and sucking, and tongue in general.
Presently, a couple of Savannah's fingers were knuckle deep in Knox's hot mouth, and he'd decided to make a grand spectacle of getting her clean. He slid his tongue along her finger and alternately nibbled and sucked. Soft then hard, slow and steady, and, all the while, his heavy-lidded gaze held her enthralled.
Initially Savannah had managed a mocking smile, but she gloomily suspected it had lost its irreverent edge and had been replaced by a stupidly besotted grin. Her pulse tripped wildly in her veins and the desire that had never fully receded came swirling through like a riptide, washing away reason and rationale and anything that closely resembled common sense.
Knox finally commenced his cleaning and released her tingling fingers. "Savannah...can I ask you something?"
She blinked, still wandering in a sensual fog. "Sure."
"Where are you from?" he asked lightly. "Where did you grow up?"
The fog abruptly fled. Savannah suppressed a sigh and took a couple of seconds to shore up her defenses and decide how she should respond. She'd known that he'd ask---she'd watched the very questions form in his mind. Perhaps if she told him enough to satisfy his curiosity, he'd leave well enough alone. One could hope, at any rate.
Savannah pushed her plate away. "I grew up in lots of different places."
"Military?"
She blew out a breath. "No...foster care. My parents died when I was six."
Knox winced. "Oh. Sorry." He looked away. "Damn, I---"
Savannah hated this part. It was the same scenario every time. As soon as she told someone about her parents, they always apologized and then lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. She'd secretly hoped Knox would be different, but---
"That sucks, Savannah," Knox finally said. He plowed a hand through his hair, clearly out of his comfort zone, and his concerned gaze found hers. "I know that sounds so lame, but damn...that just really sucks."
No points for eloquence, Savannah thought as her heart unexpectedly swelled with some unnamed emotion, but he definitely scored a few points for the blunt, wholly accurate summation. "Thank you. You're absolutely right." She smiled, blew out a stuttering breath. "It did suck."
He arched a brow, leaned down and casually rested his elbows on his knees and let his hands dangle between his spread thighs. "No family you could have gone to live with?"
"No," Savannah replied with a shake of her head, shoving the old familiar hurt back into the dark corner of her heart where she kept it. "There was no one. We were a family of three and they died...and then there was me."
"No brothers or sisters?"
"Nope." Time for her part of the interview to be over, Savannah decided, drawing in a shaky breath. She smacked her thighs. "No more questions, Knox...unless you want to answer a few of mine."
He smiled and lifted one heavily muscled shoulder in an offhanded shrug. "Go ahead. Shoot. My life is an open book."
We'd just see about that, wouldn't we? Savannah thought. "Why do you work so hard at looking like you don't work hard?"
His affable mask slipped for half a second, and if she hadn't been watching closely, she would have missed it altogether. "What?"
Savannah leveled him with a serious look. "I've watched you. I used to think that everything just came so easily to you...but I was wrong. You work very hard at your job, yet you make it a point to look like you don't." She paused. "Why is that, Knox?"
He looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"The hell you don't. Be honest."
Knox swallowed. "Do you want the truth?"
"No," she deadpanned. "Tell me a lie. Of course, I want the truth!"
He smiled at that, then looked away once more. "It's simple, really. Everyone expects me to fail, and I don't want anyone to know just how much I want to succeed." He laughed self-consciously. "There you have it. My big dark secret."
He was right. It was simple, and yet more meaning and explanation lurked in that one telling sentence than she could have hoped for. Another thought surfaced.
"What do you mean everyone?" she asked.
Another dry humorless laugh rumbled from his chest. "Just what I said---everyone. Parents, co-workers, they all expect it." He passed a hand wearily over his face. "My parents keep waiting for me to come and work with my father, and so does everyone at the Phoenix. No one realizes that I'm not going anywhere, that I've chosen my career." His determined, intent gaze tangled with hers. "I'm a journalist. This is who I am, what I do. Does that make sense?"
Regret twisted her insides. Suddenly lots of things were beginning to make sense, Savannah thought, including the fact that she'd been no better than anyone else, if not worse. She'd taken one look at Knox, panicked, and had not gone to the trouble to look beyond her first impression, beneath the surface of his irreverent attitude. She'd formed the one uncharitable opinion and held fast to it, because she'd been too terrified to face the alternative.
Savannah swallowed. "It, uh, makes perfect sense. And Knox, for what it's worth, I think you're one helluva journalist."
His guarded expression brightened and dimmed all in the same instant. He looked away. "You're just saying that."
Savannah grinned at him. "Have you ever known me just to toss out a compliment?"
Those sexy lips tipped into an endearing smile. "No."
"Then the proper response is thank you."
He nodded. "Thank you."
The mood had become altogether too serious, Savannah decided. "We should get started on those chakras," she told him.
Knox winced, rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right. Do you mind if I grab a quick shower first?"
Savannah shook her head. "I need to organize my notes. We have a story to write, after all."
And she had some thinking to do...and a decision to make.
"I SWEAR I'LL CATCH YOU."
"I know that," Savannah said, exasperated.
"Then what's the problem?"
She speared her fingers through her hair and glared at him despairingly. "I can't let myself fall. I---I just can't do it. It's not a question of you being able to catch me---it's the whole idea of letting you. Don't you get it?"
Regrettably, he did, Knox thought. They'd been at this blind-trust test for the better part of thirty minutes and she still hadn't been able to let him catch her. Her reticence made perfect sense, now that she'd shared a little of her history.
Though Savannah had been very glib about the loss of her parents and her childhood, Knox had nonetheless glimpsed the little girl who'd felt abandoned beneath the woman who had learned to cope. Hell, no wonder she had trust issues. She'd had to learn to trust herself and no one else. She was completely alone. That wholly depressing thought had fully hit him while he'd been in the shower.
Savannah Reeves didn't have anyone.
Not a single living soul in this world to share her life with. Granted, his parents hadn't always supported him the way he would have liked...but at least they were there. Had provided the necessities and more to see him raised.
Savannah had gone through the foster-care system and apparently had come through the experience without so much as a mentor. If there had been anybody---anybody at all who'd made a difference in her life---she would have shared that. What she'd said had revealed a lot, but what she hadn't said revealed more.
In all truth, Knox could have waited to take his shower in the morning, but after listening to her resignedly tell him about her parents, Knox had suddenly been filled with self-loathing and disgust. He'd turned into the whiny little rich boy he'd always sworn he'd never become. So what if his parents didn't like his job? They'd get over it. So what if his co-workers at the Phoenix didn't respect him? He'd do his job to the best of his ability, and he'd make them, by God. He wouldn't leave them a choice.
When compared with the trials of Savannah's life, Knox's little letdowns had seemed petty, selfish and small. He'd felt small, and Knox had decided that the only way he could redeem himself was to become someone she respected...and someone she trusted.
Thus, he'd come out of his shower prepared to conquer her trust issues. Knox frowned. So far, it wasn't working.
"Okay," Knox finally said. "Let's try something different. Face me and fall forward."
Savannah heaved an impatient sigh. "This is pointless. I'm not---"
"Do it."
"Oh, all right." She moved to stand in front of him.
"Now look at me and fall."
She chewed anxiously on her bottom lip, fastened her worried gaze onto his and fell...right into his outstretched arms.
Knox grinned, unaccountably pleased. His mood lightened considerably. "Now that's more like it."
She smiled hesitantly. "It is, isn't it? Thanks, Knox. That was a good idea."
His chest swelled, amazed that he'd been able to impress her. "Okay, now let's try this. Stand with your side to me and fall."
She did, from both sides, and both times fell right into his arms.
"And now for the final test," Knox teased. "Let's try the blind-trust test again."
Savannah's hopeful smile warmed him from the inside out. She swallowed and nervously gave him her back. For half a second, Knox thought she would go for it, would take the proverbial plunge, but just short of letting gravity have its way, Savannah drew up short with a frustrated wail of misery.
"Why?" she railed with a whimper. "Why can't I do this?" Defeat rounded her shoulders and the breath left her lungs in a long, dejected whoosh.
Knox, too, felt the drag of disappointment. "You'll get it," he encouraged. "You've definitely made some improvement."
"I know, and thank you." She shot him a sheepish look. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I just---I just hate to fail."
Knox summoned a droll smile. "I don't think anyone particularly cares for it."
Some of the tension left her petite frame and her lips twitched adorably. "I suppose not."
"Why don't we move on to the chakras? We're behind, you know." Knox strolled across the room and sprawled across the foot of the bed as he'd done the night before. He heaved a disgusted breath. "Marge and Chuck are beating us."
Savannah cast him a sidelong glance. "Humph. Mostly Chuck just beats himself."
Knox felt his eyes widen and a shocked laugh burst from his throat. He looked over at Savannah, pushing down his smile. "So, what's the next chakra we're supposed to unblock?" Knox asked innocently. He knew, of course. He simply enjoyed messing with her.
Her gaze twinkled with perceptive humor. "It's the genital chakra, which you well know," she added pointedly. She settled herself against the headboard, placed the book in her lap and opened it to the appropriate page. He watched her lips form the words as she read silently. After a moment, she looked up. "Well, now this is interesting. According to the book, this chakra can be one of the most difficult to deal with."
"That being the case, should I get naked?"
"I think not."
"Damn," Knox said with chagrin. "Funny, but I distinctly remember you saying that I could be naked in our room."
Though she refused to look at him, Knox discerned a slight quiver at the corners of her lips. "I lied. Now shut up and listen." She paused and read some more. "I---I don't think either one of us is blocked in this chakra."
That figured. This was the only one he'd looked forward to working on. Knox scowled. "Are you sure? I'm feeling a little blocked. I think that you should unblock me. Does it say how you're supposed to do that?"
Savannah poked her tongue in her cheek. "Yes, as a matter of fact, it does."
Anticipation rose. Knox turned over onto his back and laced his hands behind his head. "Then do it."
"Are you sure?" she asked gravely.
Oh, was he ever. "Yes, I'm sure."
"Well, if you're sure." Knox felt the bed shift as she moved into a better position. "You'll need to roll over."
Something in her too innocent tones alerted Knox to the fact that all was not as it seemed. Obviously he wasn't going to get the hand job he'd been dreaming of. With a premonition of dread, he opened his closed eyes and glanced at her. Just as he suspected, mischief danced in that cool blue gaze. "Roll over?" he asked slowly. He dreaded asking, but knew he must. "Why?" he asked ominously.
"Because, according to my handy booklet, I'm supposed to unblock your root chakra while I'm unblocking your genital chakra." She smiled. "So why don't you---just try to relax and I'll---"
Realization dawned, and the semiarousal he'd enjoyed instantly vanished. His ass shrank in horrified revulsion. Knox slung an arm over his eyes. "Forget it," he growled.
"---make this as painless as possible." She paused. "What?" she asked innocently.
"Forget it."
"Are you sure? I'd be happy---"
"Savannah..." Knox warned. What was with the preoccupation with a person's ass? Knox wondered.
She laughed, not the least bit repentant. "I tried to tell you that we weren't blocked. Let's just chant the couples blessing and move on."
"What's that?" Knox asked, still perturbed.
Savannah aligned her body with his and Knox felt marginally better. She pillowed her head on the crook of her arm and held the book aloft with her other hand. Amusement glittered in her eyes and her lips were twitching with barely suppressed humor. "Okay, I'm supposed to say, 'I love you at your lingam and bless your wand of light.'" She promptly dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Knox laughed as well. "And what am I supposed to say?"
"You're supposed to say, 'I love you at your yoni and bless your sacred space.'"
How could people say this stuff with a straight face? Knox wondered. "Consider yourself loved and blessed," he said dryly. "Let's move on. What's next?"
Savannah sat up and wiped her eyes. "The belly chakra."
"Does my ass have anything to do with this one?" Knox asked suspiciously.
"Er...I don't think so."
He nodded. "Then continue."
"Okay, now this one is actually pretty interesting," Savannah said. "Our bellies are the feeling centers. Our emotions are energy in motion and tend to grow out of our bellies and take whatever path is appropriate for their expression."
Knox nodded thoughtfully. That did make a sort of strange sense. He considered his nudge. It definitely came from his belly. "That one seems almost plausible," Knox admitted.
Savannah's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "It does, doesn't it? Just think of butterflies in your belly, and nausea, and that sinking sensation when something isn't quite right. Gut reaction, gut feelings." She hummed under her breath, read a little more. "I can actually relate to this one. We're supposed to chant ram now."
"Ram," Knox deadpanned. "I'm unblocked, what about you?"
"Ram, it's a miracle, so am I."
Knox grinned. "Amazing, isn't it?"
She grinned adorably. "Without a doubt."
"What's next?"
Savannah flipped the page. Her eyes widened. "Ooh, the heart chakra. The center of love, courage and intimacy." Her brow wrinkled in perplexity. "A broken heart is most often the cause of a block in this chakra. We're supposed to share our hurts with each other to promote healing. It also says that a woman generally has to feel love in this chakra before she can experience sexual intimacy and that, likewise, a man must have sexual intimacy with a woman first in order to build trust." She snorted. "Hell, no wonder we're all screwed up. Men and women are completely opposite."
A bark of dry laughter bubbled up Knox's throat. "Was there ever a doubt?"
Savannah thwacked him with the book. "Pay attention. You're supposed to be telling me about all of your old heartaches."
"Sorry, I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't have any."
Savannah raised a skeptical brow. "You've got to be kidding. You've never had your heart broken?"
"No," he sighed, "can't say that I have."
She paused. Swallowed. "Well, I don't know whether to congratulate you, or offer my sympathies."
The confident smile Knox had been wearing slipped a fraction. "What do you mean offer your sympathies?"
The twinkling humor had died from her eyes and had been replaced with something mortifyingly like pity. "Well...that's just sad, Knox."
Knox blinked, astounded. "You think it's sad that I've never had my heart broken?" Was she cracked or what? he wondered, feeling a curious tension build in his chest.
Savannah sighed, seemingly at a loss to explain herself. Finally she said, "Not that you haven't had your heart broken, but that you've never been close enough to another person for it to have happened. Everybody needs their heart broken at least once."
He scowled. "I think I'll pass."
That soft sympathetic gaze moved over him. "You don't get it. It's what you're missing up until you get your heart broken that makes it all worthwhile."
"Is that the voice of experience talking?" Knox asked, mildly annoyed.
He didn't know why her words bothered him so much, but they did. His skin suddenly felt too tight and his palms had begun to sweat. What? Did she think him incapable of love? Did she think him too shallow for such a deep emotion? If he ever found the right person, he could love her, dammit. He was capable of loving someone. He'd simply not found anyone he wanted to invest that much emotion in, that's all. But it didn't mean he couldn't do it.
Savannah's gaze grew shuttered and she tucked her hair behind her ear, an endearingly nervous gesture. "Yes, it's the voice of experience. I've...almost had my heart broken."
"Almost?" Knox questioned skeptically.
"I'm still in denial."
"Oh. Well, I still wouldn't think it would be a pleasant ordeal," Knox replied drolly.
She smirked. "No, it wasn't."
"You should probably share this with me," Knox told her magnanimously, "seeing as we're supposed to heal old hurts to unblock this chakra."
She pinned him with a shrewd glare. "You have absolutely no interest in unblocking my heart chakra, you great fraud---you're simply curious."
Smiling, he shrugged. "There is that."
Savannah picked at a loose thread on her kurta, but finally relented with a sigh. "There was someone once," she admitted. "His, uh, parents didn't approve of me, though, so he broke up with me and went to Europe."
Knox abruptly sat up. "What?"
She laughed without humor. "It's true, I swear."
"What kind of a pansy-ass were you dating?" Knox asked incredulously.
She lifted her shoulders in a halfhearted shrug. "A spineless one with no class, as it turned out."
That summed it up nicely, Knox thought. What sort of ignorant prick let his parents pick his girlfriend? he wondered angrily, much less ditched Savannah for Europe? Hell, no wonder she didn't trust anybody. No wonder she couldn't pass that blind-trust test. When had anyone ever given her a reason to trust them? When had anyone been worthy of it?
"I've had enough heart chakra healing," Savannah told him. "Let's move on. We're almost finished."
It took a considerable amount of effort, but Knox finally forced his violent thoughts away and managed to concentrate on the task at hand. "Sure. What's next?"
"The throat chakra, the source of authentic expression." She chewed the corner of her lip and read some more. "Okay, we're supposed to hear and heed our inner voices, express our most dangerous emotions, even rage. But we have to learn to do this in gentle tones with our lovers and save our loud voices for when we're alone."
Knox nodded. "That's simple enough. We're not supposed to scream at one another."
"Right. We're supposed to tell our truths and sing our true songs, sanctify sex and choose words that glorify our sexual organs, such as sacred space, wand of light, etc...."
"Got it. What else?"
Her brow furrowed. "This is another one that sort of makes sense. Communication flows through this chakra. Think of some of the things that happen physically to you when you get upset."
"Like what?" Knox asked, not following.
"A lump in your throat, for instance. Or being too overcome to speak."
He nodded. "Makes sense. Anything else?"
Savannah glanced at the book. "Uh...we're supposed to place our hand over each other's throats and tell each other to sing our true songs, then chant ham."
Knox leaned forward and placed his hand over Savannah's slim throat. He grinned. "Sing your true song, baby. Ham."
Savannah reciprocated the gesture. "Ditto."
"How many more of these chakras do we have?" Knox asked as he rolled back onto his side.
"Just two."
"Okay."
"Why? Do you want to quit for tonight?"
"No. We're going to need lots of time tomorrow night to work on Love His Lingam and Sacred Goddess Stimulation." And he couldn't wait.
Savannah pulled in a slow breath. "Right," she all but croaked. "Okay, the next one is the brow chakra, logic and intuition, the tird eye and all that. Think of people with psychic ability, or with a keen mind. Dreams and such. All of those things are a product of the brow chakra."
Another one that was almost plausible, Knox thought, as possible angles for their story spun through his mind. His grandmother had been physic, so he knew such powers existed. "Are you blocked in that chakra?"
"No," Savannah said. "Are you?"
"No."
Another smile quivered on her lips. "Then we're supposed to join brows, stare at each other until our eyes seem to merge and say, "'I r-rejoice in how you comprehend and intuit.' Then we chant ooo."
Smiling, Knox rubbed the back of his neck. "You've got to be kidding."
"Nope," she said, tongue in cheek.
"Okay." Knox rolled himself into the center of the bed, then sat up on his knees. Savannah set the book aside and, mischief lighting her eyes, assumed the position as well. Gazes locked in mutual amusement, they leaned forward and their brows met.
"I feel utterly ridiculous," Savannah said, her sweet breath fanning against his lips. "What about you?"
"Most definitely."
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than an altogether different sensation took hold. Several sensations, in fact. The simultaneous registration of her sweet scent, the press of her body and the proximity of her lips hit him all at once. His heart thundered in his chest, pumping his blood that much faster to his groin. Fire licked through his veins, and he burned with the need to possess her, to lay her down, spread her thighs and bury himself so deeply into her that there would be no beginning and no end, just them.
Savannah's eyes darkened with desire, the heat burning away any vestiges of lingering humor. He could feel the quickened puff of her breath against his lips, heard her swallow.
Knox's blood roared in his ears, drowning out any would-be protests. He'd kissed her repeatedly since the beginning of this damned workshop, but it had always been at Edgar or Rupali's prompting. He hadn't taken the plunge and made the conscious decision to kiss her, taste her of his own accord. But he was making that decision now---he couldn't help himself---and he wanted her to know the difference and, more important, to feel it.
Knox gently cupped her face, held her gaze until his lips brushed lightly over hers. He hovered on a precipice, he knew, yet he didn't possess the power to keep from plunging headlong over it. Then his eyelids fluttered closed under the exquisite weight of some unnamed emotion...and he sighed...and eagerly embraced the fall.


