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the boy asked
Roland looked at the floor, rather than into Ja, a similar question in her feline eyes
"She&039;s at the house she rented She wanted to stay there"
"Roland"Ta, but Eric stopped her with a glance and came forward"What&039;s in the briefcase, otten what he car-fled"It&039;s the drug, the tranquilizer Rogers used against you before"
Eric lifted one eyebrow
"How did you"-- "Not ers&039;s hotel suite and stole it"
Eric&039;s jaw dropped for just a moot guts"
"Guts?"Roland scowled at the boy
"It was an idiotic thing to do
Rogers was in the room at the time, not to mention that other fellow
The one who nearly killed her"
"And she went in there, anyway,"Jauts"
"She is reckless and self-destructive"
Ta onto the floor and sto, and absolutely beautiful I wish I were more like her"
Eric looked at her, a hint of alarm on his face
"I like you the way you are, Tamara"
"Rhiannon is far too sure of herself She should bethe briefcase onto a stand and sunk into a chair
"She&039;s not at all sure of herself Roland, you hurt her again, didn&039;t you?"
"What on earth do you ain&039;?"
"Taht about this Rhiannon takes far too many risks"Eric touched her shoulder and she whirled on hi in a way Roland had rarely seen her do
"If one of you had done what she did tonight, you&039;d be congratulating yourselves until dawn Why on earth can&039;t you give the woet the new drapes?"Frederick called down from the ladder
Roland lifted his head He felt a heavy burden of guilt lowering itself upon his shoulders, and Ta to it He&039;d wanted to protect Rhiannon Instead, he&039;d somehow hurt her
"Out in the car, I believe"He looked once again at the rooms around hi nonstop all night, haven&039;t you?"
"Don&039;t thank us,"Tamara snapped
"We did it for her, not you"She hurried out of the room with Jamey on her heels Frederick limped down from the ladder and went after them
Eric sat in a chair opposite Roland
"A car? Care to tell age in the cottage, and ending with the scene outside it As he spoke, Ja the new drapes, and took his place on the ladder to hang the no less than a hundred candles, on the floor
Roland and Eric largely ignored the two, and soon they trooped out again to return with es It was a full thirty minutes before Eric frowned hard and looked up
"Where is Taed and liripped his arm"Jamison, tell me where she is"
Jamey licked his lips
"She went to Rhiannon&039;s Don&039;t be rio out the door He nearly collided with Ta up that she was here, safe She looked around the rooht she deliberately avoided his eyes
"Your drapes are perfect, Rhiannon The color of sunshine, and still heavy enough to keep it out They look wonderful"Taently upon Rhiannon&039;s arm
"Tamara, you scared me half to death"Eric pulled her into his aro off on your oould you check with me, please?"
"Why should I?"She thrust her chin up at hilance toward Roland
"Because I love you, Ta should hap pen to you"He closed his eyes and shook his head"It would kill lare as piercing as a blade When she faced Eric again, her expression softened"I know I&039;ly, and Roland averted his gaze He noticed Rhiannon had turned away, too
Frederick hadcandles into the holders
Tamara turned to him
"It&039;s late, Frederick Why don&039;t we leave the rest for another time?"
He nodded, fit one last candle into place, and climbed slowly down
Rhiannon picked up her case and walked through the double doors into the bedroo
Eric went in behind her
"Getting those vials was quite a coup, Rhiannon I &039;s effects, given ti that would be the case"She cleared her throat
"I learned a bit while I was in the hotel room The man who attacked me is not with DPI He calls hiht As Ta Pandora out with them, Roland moved into the bedroos fro them into neat stacks on the bed
"No one in DPI knows about this castle Only Curtis Rogers and this Lucien
He convinced Curtis to tell hi in He offered to help capture es"
"What sort of privileges?"Roland couldn&039;t keep quiet any longer
Rhiannon barely spared hilance
"He asked if Curtis would tranquilize me to the point of absolute helplessness and then let hiasped from the doorway Roland swore fluently
Rhiannon shook her head
"He wants to be transfor he would force ive him the chance"
Roland paced toward her
"Why you? Why doesn&039;t he target one of us?"
"He said because I was the oldest He wants high-proof blood, Roland"
It was the first time she&039;d addressed him directly Her eyes still looked like those of a wounded aniain how deeply he had hurt her
Eric put a hand on Rhiannon&039;s shoulder
"We all care about you, Rhiannon For that reason, we hope you won&039;t take any more unnecessary risks"
She faced him head-on
"I will not cower in a corner and wait for the before I finish
They ish they&039;d never heard my name"
Tamara touched Eric&039;s arm, and tilted her head toward the door He sent Roland a sylance before they left Alone with Rhiannon, Roland had no idea what to say
"I, ulad you cahtened for Jamey and she asked me to stay, and help protect him"
He nodded She opened the drawer of an e Haven&039;t been used in a while,"he said
She drew a sht some cedar chips"
She sprinkled so about the drapes How much do you hate the to feel glad you convinced me to allow it The entire place feels"warht a bedspread and some throw pillows to match"
He shook his head slowly
"No I don&039;t radually He reached inside his jacket and re potion
Rhiannon frowned
"Perhaps you shouldn&039;t You look tired"
He only shook his head, "Rhiannon, do you feel as if you need to prove soaze lowered all at once
"No, Roland Not anymore"
There was a finality in her tone that hit hi up on her relentless pursuit of him, then? Why on earth should thatof desolation, and downed the potion
"Good Because you never did, you know"She said nothing, only continued piling clothes into drawers"I&039;ve never doubted your abilities, Rhiannon Your strength, your courage, your utter boldness in facing danger"
She stopped in the act of sorting nightgowns, holding a sheer black peignoir out before her She frowned over it
"For a woman, you mean?"
"That is not what I mean I wouldn&039;t have wished to face you in battle as a huown over the back of a chair, and Roland&039;s mouth went dry when he realized she probably I i intended to wear it He couldn&039;t help envisioning her pale, :[ sauze She scooped up a handful of clothing andwith her back to him, she shook her head
"I don&039;t understand you at all, Roland If you don&039;t think of me as inferior, then why do you dislike s you do"She finished hanging clothes, and turned, tilting her head
"Which things?"
"Outrageous things, Rhiannon Things that put you at risk Like like singing in that tavern, for example"She smiled fully, and her eyes sparkled
"Ah, but To- land, it was such great fun And you have to admit, I&039; horribly?"He closed his eyes Truly, she was exasperating
"You have the voice of an angel"She seeloith his praise
"Really?"He nodded
"It&039;s that you were drawing so much attention to yourself I only want you to be careful"
"The only attention I wished to draas yours""Then you ought to have co to me in private"She opened her
"It&039;s not only the singing It&039;s all the other risks you take
Flirting with Rogers that first night Slipping into his hotel rooesture
"Can&039;t you see that er at you was because I was afraid for you?"She studied hiht actually be listening Then, "If I had co to you in private, would you really have listened?"
He clapped a hand to his forehead
"You haven&039;t heard a word I&039;ve said, have you?"
She waved a hand
"Of course, I have You dislike my risky adventures You dislike my every behavior No doubt, you dislike the way I dress, as well"
"In public, Rhiannon, it wouldn&039;t hurt to try a bit harder to blend in, for your own protection"
"I knew it Well, Roland, where shall I begin? Shall I fashion a dress fro out in a rush of anger
"Would that please you? Shall I slouch when I walk, so in by hacking off my hair It&039;s probably my most conspicuous feature, wouldn&039;t you say?"She strode away fro every drawer and cupboard and chest
Roland gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him
"Stop it"
"No There are scissors here, somewhere I know there are I&039;ll even let you do the honors, Roland Just"-- He shook her
"Stop it! You know that isn&039;t what I meant"
"No, I don&039;t I don&039;t understand you at all If I dress and behave as ain , will thatwallfloill you find me desirable then?"
"You want to kno desirable I find you?"He glared at her, his rage blending with his passion to overwhelm his common sense He knew he should release her, leave the chamber this instant before she drove him too far
The beast within, taunted to wakefulness by his anger, his fear for her, and his desire, was on the ra theall but naked be fore him The taste of her seemed to come to life upon his lips The way her breasts had looked, and how they&039;d responded to his touch
His lips had been so close to theer for her whipped the beast to a frenzy and he shuddered with the force of it
"You want to kno much I desire you?"he repeated He looked down into her blazing eyes, and kneas too late to battle the beast inside