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"Well, I think that&039;s the one"

Rachel stared at herself in the uerite plucked at some of the blond curls and drew them forward to fra could nized herself, and was quite sure that no one else would

"Yes, this will do nicely," Marguerite decided with a satisfied sigh She so to Lissianna&039;s wedding and so can Etienne"

Rachel ed not to wince Much to her dismay, she had learned today that Etienne, as supposed to be one of the ushers, had skipped the dress rehearsal the night before because he hadn&039;t wished to leave Rachel "alone and unprotected" She hadn&039;t even known that he had skipped it until Marguerite arrived today, full of deter She&039;d also said: co to be at his sister&039;s wedding even if they had to disguise Rachel as a goat to get her there The older woman had quickly followed that up with a reassurance that she was quite sure disguising Rachel as a goat would not be necessary; she had silaring at Etienne to appreciate the wo words Now, she stared at herself in the oat wouldn&039;t be necessary

"Well, it&039;s uerite announced With a pleased sigh, she glanced at the wos "Where is Vicki?"

"Waiting in her room," the woood" Marguerite irl, Rachel wasn&039;t terribly surprised when Etienne&039;s mother fell into step She would no doubt oversee the uerite was definitely a take-charge kind of gal, Rachel decided as she was led into a small room in cream tones

To be honest, Marguerite had been in charge from the moment they left Etienne&039;s house She had taken Rachel to her favorite clothing store first It hadn&039;t taken Rachel long to figure out why the designer was Marguerite&039;s favorite The shop owner had fawned over her as if she were royalty The woht away She wasn&039;t exactly sure how; she had just somehow been able to sense it, and supposed it was another instinct no one had bothered to mention to her It was no doubt a handy skill to have After all, feeding off other va, as she had found out

Rachel had reown after expensive gown and paraded out for Marguerite&039;s inspection Etienne&039;sthe bill for the excursion, saying that it was her pleasure Besides, she was sure Rachel wouldn&039;t wish to attend so were it not necessary for Etienne to go

Rachel had tried to argue the issue until it was pointed out that she could hardly use her bank card or credit card as either would lead the police directly to her--and she hadn&039;t yet gained control of her teeth, so being found wasn&039;t an option just yet Pro herself that she would repay the woman once her life was returned to nor for it all--even if only teuerite should have the own Etienne&039;s mother chose was Rachel&039;s favorite Created of dark blue lace over a long satin underdress, it was off-the-shoulder, featuring a fitted bodice and long tight sleeves of lace Rachel felt absolutely beautiful in it, despite the fact that the skirt was a touch long There were shoes h enough that the goas no longer too long

"Here you are" The wig girl stopped and opened a door, then held it for Rachel and Marguerite Rachel led the way into the roo woman was seated at a table filled with cos for thereet theuerite to sit at theneither of theirl asked what they wanted, and Marguerite explained about the wedding, the color of the dress, and so on Withinover the purity and healthy color of her skin

Rachel didn&039;t say anything in response to the girl&039;s co at her face She had noticed that makeup wasn&039;t as necessary anymore, but hadn&039;t really taken a close look Now, in the irl held out, Rachel simply stared at herself Her skin was as sirl worked on her face, answering questions rather absently and agreeing with ested a beautyher, and Rachel found herself suddenly sporting one above her lip on the left side The s, really made a difference By the tiht she looked exotic She couldn&039;t stop looking at herself as they uerite&039;s were shaped and painted

"Well, that was fun," Marguerite said as they got back into her lireed She felt pauilty that she hadn&039;t paid for any of it "Thank you"

"You are uilty It was my pleasure to do all this"

The wouilt Rachel had been experiencing melted away, so she knew it However, she decided not to resent the wo to enjoy it Guilt was really no fun at all

"Here we are"

Rachel glanced out theof the lie house Not Etienne&039;s

"Where are we?" she asked in surprise

"My hoot out from behind the wheel and walked around to open the door for the to meet us here to ride to the church That way I can decide what jewelry you should wear"

"Oh" Rachel followed her out of the car What kind of jewelry would a vahtened it again, only to tug irritably at it onceties He hated tuxes, too Why had he agreed to be in this wedding party? He was uy, which hy he enjoyed working with computers He didn&039;t have to wear business clothes to work He only had to dress up for ahed as he paced his mother&039;s salon He supposed ties were better than the cravats he&039;d been forced to hen younger That fashion craze had been one huge pain Most of the clothes in the early eighteenth century had been rather foppish, although they had shown his htly egotistical thought as the tap of high-heeled footsteps in the hall uerite had always been quick at getting ready for such occasions He wasn&039;t sure if it was hundreds of years oi practice, or simply that it took very little work to make her beautiful, but she had been quick at the task for as long as he could recall

But it wasn&039;t his mother It was the most incredible blonde Etienne had seen in his life It took aShe floated into the room, a vision in blue lace and silk

"Your mother sent me down to tell you Lissianna&039;s al late, and you and Bastien should go pick up Greg and Lucern and get theood idea" Bastien entered the room Rachel turned and offered a se of surprise on his face as he took her in "You look lovely, Rachel Just as lovely as a blonde as you are as a redhead"

"Thank you" She blushed prettily, thenEtienne to stare after her Suave devil that he was, he hadn&039;t said a word about her appearance That hen Etienne realized that, for all his centuries of knowledge, he was a first-class idiot

"Nice"I can see the old silver tongue is working hard"

Grunting, Etienne flopped into a chair

Bastienover, he clapped him on the shoulder "Co about now We should go help hiet him to the church"

Etienne heaved hi his dark-haired brother out of the rooht spot Rachel again and perhaps get to give her the compliment he should have--but of course she was nowhere to be seen He&039;dEtienne had learned in his three-hundred-plus years, it was that life rarely gave you second chances

"They make a cute couple, but it isn&039;t hi at the dance floor where Bastien was, in his opinion, holding Rachel far too close, and turned to scowl at his cousin Tho the couple dance too Etienne glowered at hinore the jealousy and resentone without a hitch The , yet Etienne hadn&039;t been able to share a single ith Rachel yet He really wanted to correct his earlier flub and tell her she looked beautiful as Unfortunately, as one of the ushers, Etienne had been forced to sit at the head table with the rest of the wedding party Rachel had been placed at Jeanne Louise and Thomas&039;s table He&039;d felt bad about that at first, but she&039;d seemed to enjoy herself--at least, every ti at soood time He himself had been bored to tears and impatient to rejoin her Unfortunately, Bastien had been quicker, and had reached Rachel first He&039;d immediately scooped her up and onto the dance floor--which Etienne felt was kind of a crappy thing for a brother to do

"They&039;re just dancing, Etienne," Thomas said He sounded vastly a inside his head, but then Etienne was already a bit cheesed off at his cousin Getting to enjoy Rachel&039;s co the meal was one reason, but he knew his jealousy was ridiculous, so he ignored it and said, "I have a bone to pick with you, cousin"

"Uh-oh" Thorin He obviously wasn&039;t too concerned "What have I done now?"

"Sweet Ecstasies?" he asked, scowling "What kind of setup was that?"

"Well, it was obvious what you two needed," his cousin said unapologetically "And it worked, didn&039;t it?"

When Etienne rehed and clapped him on the back "You&039;re welcoed it without the drinks eventually You&039;re just a little rusty, so I decided to give you a little push"

"Well, what if she hadn&039;t wanted--"

"Not a chance, dude I read her thoughts Dudette ay hot for you" He shook his head "Even I--despite being the reprobate that I a"

"Really?" Etienne asked

"Oh, yeah" He grinned widely, then arched an eyebrow "But why the flak now? You didn&039;t say anything when I delivered the blood to your house Is there trouble in paradise already?"

"No" Etienne glanced toward Rachel, his eyes devouring her body in its blue goith both heat and knowledge Then he turned to his cousin again and added, "I would have ragged you about it the day you brought the blood and ere locked out, but I wasn&039;t really in any shape"

"No, I guess you weren&039;t," Thoreed "You were pretty drained In , then walked away, leaving Etienne with a scowl

"You should cut in"

Etienne turned to find his nored the advice and coreed "The first ofdown Finally"

Etienne chuckled at the emphasis He&039;d heard hu forever to marry and settle down They didn&039;t have a clue

"So, are you going to cut in or not?" Marguerite asked "She wants you to"

"Does she?"

Marguerite concentrated for aher lips, then she nodded and said softly, "Oh yes, son Rachel enjoyed dinner and is having a nice time but would definitely rather be in your arms She&039;d rather dance with you Bastien knows it too, and his ego is suffering for it You should go save hi "Thank you" Without another word, he crossed the dance floor to the slowly reeted Etienne soleave her a polite, courtly bow, and left the dance floor

"Hi," Rachel said softly

"Hi" Etienne opened his arms in invitation and released a breath when she stepped into his eed He could feel it In three hundred years no other woht choice in turning Rachel She was ," he murmured by her ear "I&039;ve never seen a ht her blush out of the corner of his eye, then she cuddled closer against him and said, "I find that hard to believe, Etienne You&039;ve seen a lot of women"

"But none of them were as lovely to me," he assured her sole and peered into his face as if doubting hirinned and added, "You&039;re pretty hot yourself"

"You think so?" Etienne asked

"Oh, yes," Rachel assured him "You&039;re very handsome Sexy as hell, really You have wicked eyes, a ent I&039;ve always had a weakness for intelligent uys, huh?"

"Mence turns me on"

"Yeah?" Etienne raised his eyebrows and smiled mischievously "Onomatopoeia"

Rachel blinked