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He took her into his arh hi in his own limbs, and in hers

Then his ly sweet He reveled in the quivering length of her, from the infinite seduction of her ly pressed to his own She was slender; she was strong There were seconds when it see pressure of his ave Her lips parted to his, and the return of his touch was filled with an exotic invitation and quest She returned his hunger, his passion, the length of her tongue hot, liquid, erotic, against his own He felt unleashed His hand slid down the endless grace of her back, his fingers curved over the delicate sculpture of her face, teased over the soft texture of her flesh, brushed over the back of her neck He felt her fingers playing at his own nape,his back His thu her head, his lips parting froed, but his eyes searched hers, asking in silence what had been left unsaid before

She touched his face in return, as if she, too, in turn needed more than what her eyes could take in, needed to feel, to know, the rising pulse between theht be, but it was nothing against their passion and the rising red tide of the night

He lifted her against hi soft, ti

No question of where to go: her rooh the door The queen-size bed waited, pale sheets steeped in the red ht They were dressed alike in Montresse House robes, robes that fell open easily, baring flesh that seeht

Her hands were on hi er He was anxious to know every part of her, insane to feel the explosion of release that racked his body The agony was unbearable, the teain, drowned in the sweetness of it, burned to ever greater heights with the wicked return of desire His hands fell upon her flesh, stroked and teased His lips found the length of her, lingered, aroused, burned, trailed to her waist, followed the curve of her hips With every inch of his flesh, he felt her slightest movement, the rise and fall of her breasts with every breath she took, the arch of her hips against hi Her lips were against his shoulders, his collarbone, his throat

He ency and desperation Her hands slipped between the a line of wanton fla around hiue, body, hands, knowing her, exploring her Down Finding the heart of life and fire and desire Teasing at first, then losing himself in the honeyed sweetness of desperate arousal and desire, his hands on her hips, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her body writhing wildly, words escaping her at last, soundsall

And then they rolled and she rose above hilow over the lithe grace and angelic perfection of her Her eyes were in shadow, yet he saw theth and vulnerability He had never wanted anyone so much in all his years, never needed anyone so much She hovered for a split second of red-swept ti her down on hi that ripped through the her face again, drawing her down, locking histhe h his veins, the wet frenzy of the kiss, the wildfire of their bodies, one and not one, every her He rolled her beneath him, and sank, drowned, died inside

God, yes, he would die for her If only

His cli farso natural, a human need, an instinct, could be beautiful or basic, motivated by love or simple lust

But never had it been like this

Her body tensed like a bowstring beneath his, her breath expelled with a soft cry that seeh him He eased hiainst hi in his veins, begin to slow In the aftermath, he drifted on a sea of warh his one by, of affairs that caht, of love known, love lost, and the crucial distinction between having sex and

As sanity returned to hihts filled her mind now, certain she, too, had drifted into introspection after the explosion that had raged between them

Time passed, their bodies cooled

The red hed, inched every so slightly closer to him

Time to speak He ainst hiainst flesh

The hell with it

He didn&039;t speak, just took her into his arainst his chest, against

Hunger rose again in a rapid burst of fla ain the world treainst hiht passed So the line, near dawn, he knew she slept He allowed himself to rest, to sleep, as well

Visions haunted his drea past Visionsof time to come Visions so vibrant he ith a start She was still asleep at his side, curled so sweetly against hi a quick escape, since she probably didn&039;t want anyone else to knohat had passed between them

He didn&039;t ry with himself, he forced himself to turn away It was i, he told hi the experience of watching her sleep

He forced hi back into his rooain and dressing casually, he slipped downstairs He could hear soft music and a quiet drone of conversation fro hi for the street

New Orleans was the same and yet not the same Some areas had been so devastated that they would never be the saed at all

The city was a lot like hie coan to seep into her consciousness She didn&039;t want to rise She wanted to bask in the sensations that still filled her, not soA sense ofwar, security

Warmth, comfort, pleasure, pure happiness in the presence of another

Then she started up

She was alone

She exhaled It was so much easier to think when he wasn&039;t with her Had she lost herat the ti late, so that didn&039;t mean one, she knew, and she inhaled deeply Did it matter? Did she care? She was certainly well over twenty-one, she mused dryly She could make love to anyone she chose

Still

What the hell was he doing here? What was he really after?

And just who the hell was he really?

With that question ringing in hernow? What should she do? Where should she go fro about their relationship and the erotic turn it had taken She had far s to worry about Mary, certainly The toughs in the parking lot The color of the sky, the things that had happened in Transylvania

Bryan MacAllistair

It all kept coes, the taller and skinnier of the two youths arrested the night before Usually, when seated alone in an interrogation roo

Almost as if he were in a trance

Sean had watched one of his detectives question thebut a few shrugs, followed by a sly s that they&039;d better not touch him or he would claim police brutality

The detective now stood behind the one-way mirror with Sean, and lifted his hands helplessly "He doesn&039;t deny anything, he doesn&039;t ad on his"

"When is his lawyer due?"

"Any minute"

"Has he actually said he won&039;t talk without his lawyer?" Sean asked

"Nope"

"I&039;ll take a stab at him," Sean said

He walked in and took a seat across froave him a sly look He had hazel eyes that seemed alht grimly It was the man&039;s attitude thataround the hospital?" Sean demanded

"Who said I was?"

"A nurse who saw you"

Cal smiled in self-satisfaction and shook his head "She couldn&039;t identify me"

Sean leaned very close to him He&039;d seen to it there were no recorders in the roo for so for ist, huh, Lieutenant? Great tits" He leaned closer to Sean "What I could have done to her with just a fewthe man He knew that hat the perp wanted He leaned back, s softly "You&039;re no va used"

Souy Cal blinked; his rily, he shook his head "The ti," he said

"Too bad you won&039;t be around for it," Sean said casually

"Oh? You going to shoot me, cop?"

"Hell, no I wouldn&039;t waste the bullet You&039;re too stupid to be trusted by anyone with any real power"

"Fuck you"

Sean rose There was a tap on the door He was sure the defense attorney had arrived "Good luck, punk," Sean said pleasantly He paused before exiting "You get scared and want to talk, tell the guards to call me I think that, eventually, you will, and when you do"

He opened the door The attorney handling the case was a terribly thin young woed on a tread, Counselor," he said

"Lieutenant, if you&039;ve-"

"Trust hts in any way Good day"

He let her enter the roohful There was souy wasn&039;t the sharpest tool in the shed, but what he seemed to lack was

Substance

He reached his office and sat wearily, then was immediately distracted by Bobby Munro, alked in on hi to like this, Lieutenant Not one bit"

Sean started to rise Another visitor was standing behind Bobby Inwardly, he groaned, ready to chew Bobby out for having left the door open Too late now

Bryan MacAllistair heard the news as he did

"Morning," Jessica said, showered and dressed, ready to face the day