"Sharon Green - Diana Santee 2 - Gateway To Xanadu" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Sharon)

Or, at least I thought I understood. No more than another few minutes went by before the screaming and
snarling began growing higher inside me, stretching out of all proportion to what had been and was
being done to me. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep it from rising even more, but it was simply no use.
My usual iron-bound self-control refused to cope with the problem, and I was left with a mad that made
me more and more willing to strike out at anyone handy. In desperation to keep something ugly from
happening I jumped to my feet and raced into my cabin, but Val followed me in almost immediately,
bringing along the problem I'd been trying to avoid.

"Diana, are you all right?" he demanded, his voice sounding upset. "What happened? Why did you run
like that?"

"You might say it was a call of nature," I told him, standing with one hand against the far wall of the,
cabin, the other over my eyes. I didn't want to admit it was my own lousy nature that had called, the

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temper I knew I couldn't afford to lose. "If you'll give me a minute, I'll be right back with you."

"Don't be an idiot," he snorted, and then he was standing there next to me, pulling me into his arms and
up against him. My hand came away from my eyes as I stiffened involuntarily, but I didn't realize just
how I'd stiffened until I saw the look on his face.

"Just calm down, little girl," he said in a soothing way, his arms around me more supportive and
comforting than intimate. "Remember me? I'm the one you don't have to defend yourself against, so just
let those muscles relax. I'm not going to hurt you, Diana, so just take it easy."

I looked down at the way I was standing, at the double knife-hand my fingers had stiffened to, and
couldn't believe I'd actually slipped that far from control. That was when I really understood what Val
had been trying to tell me, the message that said the sort of anger I'd bred in him got worse with the
passage of time, not better. I hadn't been justified in knocking him around, and it was time I admitted it.

"I'm-not doing very well with that agreement we made," I got out, looking up at him with self-disgust
and annoyance. "In case you were wondering, you made your point. I guess I'm just not built to take it as
well as you did. I think I'm going to need more than that minute before we start again."

"You don't have to worry, we won't be starting again," he said, suddenly sounding odd. "You look like
you're coming face to face with an uncomfortable truth, Diana, but it's nothing you have to be upset
about. If you're having second thoughts about the wisdom in choosing me as a partner, you don't have to
worry about hurting my feelings. It would hardly be the first time I was told something like that."

His voice had grown very gentle and the look in his eyes was hooded. Val had totally misinterpreted
everything that had happened, and was braced to take the bad news like a trooper, leading me to wonder
fleetingly just how many times he'd had to take that news. The prejudice of the unwashed herd had
obviously brought him a lot of hell, and I felt a twinge inside me that was stronger than sympathy. If I
tried telling him that / was the problem, not him, he'd never believe me.

Silently I beckoned to him to follow me, then led the way out of my cabin and back into the salon. When
we reached a low, squarish utility table next to one wall, I held up my hand at Val, then continued on
into the galley alone. It took no more than a minute to get what I was after, and when I came out Val was