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The day was unproductive, for the most part Stormy kne that it was possible an ordinaryAnd she knew the police had the tape fro was on it
Maybe the night would provide one to her rooer and afraid and excited and terrified He would coht She kneould The fearNever that, she told herself, knowing she was lying
She opened the s, one after the other, so the night hispered into the bedroohosts And she left the, steaain, dried herself off and padded, naked, back into the bedroo for her
He sat in a chair, in the shadowy corner She wasn&039;t surprised or startled or even e naked in front of him It felt normal, natural and expected
"Hello, Tempest," he said softly
She felt herself tense as she reached for a robe "I knew you would sho that the ring has surfaced So tell ot to his feet and came to her, took the robe from her hands before she had a chance to pull it on Her heart skipped and her belly tightened And even then, she felt that foreign presence stirring, deep inside her
"I like looking at you Give me that, at least," he said, very softly
"You know I can&039;t, Vlad You knohat it would do to ave a da to take over Just being close to you-"
"I know, Tempest Believe me, I know"
"Of course you do It&039;s why you&039;re here"
He seemed surprised but didn&039;t let it throw hiot her True or bald-faced lie, her heart went for it, and seeo soft and squishy in her chest
"I&039;veconfession
He bent his head and kissed her, wrapped his arainst his clothed one His tongue delved into her mouth, and she took it, loved it, welco alive, clawing her way to the surface, de possession of Stormy&039;s own body
She pulled free of Vlad and took a step back
"I want you" His words were nearly a growl And, she noted, he didn&039;t say her na to Elisabeta, not her
When she spoke, her voice was broken, tre love to her My body, her soul" She met his eyes, held them hard "Maybe you wouldn&039;t mind that so much She&039;s the only one you really want"
"Does it matter, Tempest? I don&039;t think you would refuse me And I know she wouldn&039;t"
"Do it, then," she said
She saw him frown "Tempest?"
"Yes, it&039;s still me, dammit Do it Take me and see what happens But I warn you, Vlad, if you put that ring on "
She went silent, staring at hi But, for the life of her, she couldn&039;t tell
"Please don&039;t lie to me, Vlad Please-"
"I don&039;t have it, Teot there first Until last night, I had assu to believe hiht, Tempest," he said softly "And you knohat it is, don&039;t you? Elisabeth can&039;t invade your dreaht, I came to you in your dreams And she didn&039;t take over your round, apparently"
Stormy blinked her eyes open and stared at him "But it was only my mind you invaded"
"No, Tempest It was real I touched you, kissed you I wanted-" He closed his eyes
"I didn&039;t know getting a woman&039;s permission was on your list of priorities, Vlad"
He lowered his head "You still don&039;t It&039;s only a token effort, really I heard you, cursing me, just before dawn I&039;m still unsure how oing to take you either way"
She didn&039;t want to think about that, not now "I don&039;t think I believe you"
He looked her squarely in the eyes "Refuse me and find out"
She lowered her eyes and didn&039;t answer Her body was screa for hiinable way She wanted to tell hied by his will rather than her own She wanted She just wanted
"I brought you soht stand and picked up so she hadn&039;t seen there before A videotape
"What is this?" she asked as he handed it to her
"Thewas stolen I liberated it fro on it?"
"I don&039;t know I haven&039;t viewed it I&039;ll leave that to you and ask you to tell esture "You&039;re showing a hell of a lot of trust in ive me this tape What h? My goal is to keep you fro, not to help you find it before me"
"View it At least then you&039;ll know I don&039;t have the ring I have neither the tie, nor easy access to audio-visual equipment And if you choose not to tell h matter for me to command you to tell me, or simply invade your mind and read what is there"
"You want me to find it first, don&039;t you?" She scanned hi what he was up to
"I don&039;t care which of us finds it first If it&039;s you, I can take it fro any effort"
"You&039;re that sure of yourself Of your power?"
Hehis face "Where you&039;re concerned? Yes, Telanced at the bed She did, too, and she knehat he was thinking She was thinking the sa Her pride wanted to refuse hio to hell She wanted him-it was a force she didn&039;t even try to resist Was he co her to feel this way, even now? Was it Elisabeta&039;s desire burning her up inside? Or could it be her own?