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Lynch glanced over his shoulder darkly "Isn’t it? Which part?"
"All of it You want ht as a fucking violin string "Maybe you’re wrong"
"I cana little shimmy that slipped her capped sleeves over her shoulders Her bodice softened, her plu to spill "You wanted e the fact that I don’t even knoho you are!" he snapped "I thought that I loved a woh of betrayal to last me a lifetime"
Rosa flinched But she didn’t back down Instead, her fingers went to the bodice and the little row of buttons that ran down the front of her finely tailored corset-dress The light glealoves off, no doubt to force him to admit to himself that she wasn’t Mrs Marberry
"You want to know me?" Rosa asked "Then so be it I was a thief On the streets as a child Then Balfour’s spy and later…later his assassin I let my husband die because I couldn’t save him in time and I can’t tell my brothers how much I love the" Licking dry lips, she continued, "I’ood, I’s that other people do--as if I can lock a box inside my mind and hide all of the…emotions inside it But I can’t do that now Not with you I hate feeling like this I hate being so uncertain I hate the guilt, knowing that I rong, that I should have told you" She struggled with a button, fingers tre under her breath "I don’t knohat to say All I have is this, to show you--"
"I’m not your husband," he said, a brutal reht have fooled hiain"
Another arrow in the dark Her skin blanched, still her tre at the little row of buttons And no matter what he said, he couldn’t tear his eyes away
"You’re right That was theto be soers "I loved him, but…he didn’t know me Not until the end, when Balfour told him what I hat I’d done" Sorrow shadowed her eyes "I couldn’t go to hiot that chance That’s why I’ for a blow "You said that your heart belonged to liness… Now you do And…if you want o away, all you have to do is tell me that you don’t love me Tellin ers tre on the next button as she stared at hiuillotine to fall
He couldn’t do it He wanted so much to believe her He wanted her too much
Two steps and Lynch was in front of her, his hands reaching for her face Cursing hi the weakness in hi for her words to be true The silk of her hair slid around his hand as he cradled the base of her skull and then herher hard against hirabbing hiive you forever"
"I’ll take tonight"
Then her ht scattered, except for the desperate desire to have her
For a second Rosalind thought she’d failed, that he would turn away, not want her But even as her lungs deflated he wasdown to capture hers The kiss was hard, desperate For the first ti lay between the at hi its head
He wanted her Despite what she’d done Despite her lies, the betrayal… Knowing everything that he knew about her, he still wanted her This hat she’d never gotten a chance to see in Nate’s eyes Instead, he’d died before she could dare ask if he could ever forgive her
Forgiveness ht not be so swiftly earned, not with Lynch She’d hurt him so badly… But at least this was a start At least he hadn’t thrown her out thelike she probably deserved
Rosalind drew back for a breath, gasping, her fingers darting under his shirt Greedy So greedy for his skin, his body… To show him how she felt when she couldn’t find the words He slid a hand through her hair, tilting her head back, and then his cool lips were running down her throat, the feel of it echoing between her thighs Her back hit the wall, his other hand cupping her lush botto against her stoed her knee up, pressing hotly between her legs Rosalindinto the s, leanit lower, over her abdoasp as he found her, wet and ready, his fingers sliding between the slit in her drawers Her gasp or his, she didn’t know Her head dropped back, nails digging into him as she bit her lip He knew exactly where to touch her, exactly how toshe had never lied to him about He knew her here Knew every little place to stroke to drive her crazy
Hard fingers sank inside her, his thu hard over the nub at the heart of all this pleasure Rosalind couldn’t think, couldn’t see Her body e the ache in her chest, and now the ache between her thighs It rose with choking swiftness--maybe because she wanted this so iving her what she needed--and then it overwhel suddenness
Her cry echoed in the roo to hi to ride it out So she’d ever felt before, as if the purging of all that e
Teeth rasped over her throat, biting at the soft skin over the vein Rosalind’s eyes shot wide, knohat he wanted, knowing the dark hungers that drove hiive him the same trust He wouldn’t force this on her, wouldn’t take directly from the vein He never had
Her eyes widened further, fear thick in her throat at the idea that sprang to mind She couldn’t Could she?
The thin stiletto rasped in her hair The more she tried not to think of it, the ive such control to another person, even Lynch Her heart throbbed in her chest Lynch lifted his head, his eyes half-lidded and dazed, his cheeks flushed with desire He’d felt her withdrawal and looked to find the cause