Show & Tell (11 page)

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.”