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"And ould you have done?" he gently demanded

Her expression twisted as she realized that she would have turned away Nefri as a crazed old woht her mad"

She wrapped her arms about her waist "Now I fear that I am the one who is mad"

"You do not believe me?"

"I do not knohat I believe" Her head slowly turned as she glanced about the sht her comfort It was a place of security Or at least it had been Now she was being asked to believe that there was nowhere that was truly safe He could not blame her for her reluctance "I cannot think"

Unable to halt hihtly descend upon her shoulders He ached to pull her close To surround her with the strength of his own body

Instead, he gazed deeply into her wide, troubled eyes

"I know it is difficult,away to regard hiuard, Lucien held out his hands in a pacifying motion Great Nefri, she was as skittish as a newborn colt

"What?"

"Do not call ht at her broken tones He felt as if he had just been slammed in the stomach

She was so terribly wounded And he was the cause

It was not just the unbelievable tale of vampires Or even the powerful Medallion she wore about her neck It was the fact that she had allowed hi herself aloof fro the pain and disappointment she had experienced at the hands of Lord Patten, she had at long last permitted herself to reach out to another

Now she felt utterly betrayed

And he had no one to blaed bitterly Not even Nefri

It had been his choice to pose as a dandy on the run frory cousin His choice to live beneath Jocelyn’s roof And his choice to seek a closer relationship than necessary to simply protect her

And all to see her s as he held out a slender hand "Jocelyn"

"No" With a shake of her head she backed away, the pain visible upon her face "I thought you were different I thought I could believe in you, but you have done nothing but lie to me from the moment you entered my home"

His hand abruptly clenched as it fell to his side "I cah "And to have a bit of a lark with the poor, scandal-tainted spinster?"

"Stop it, Jocelyn" Indifferent to the flashing danger in her eyes and the stiffness of her frarasped her upper arms She could insult him to her heart’s content He would readily accept whatever blows she ht need to throw But he would not allow her to belittle herself "I will ad a smile to your lips and to ease the bitterness within you Hardly contemptible motives"

Her mouth Curled at his insistent words "I do not need your pity, Mr Valin"

"Good, because pity is the last thing you would ever receive froing into her soft skin in exasperation He had done enough dae to this innocent maiden "I admire you more than any other woth, your ability to take adversity and alter it to soly, you astonish me"

For a breathless, wondrous an to sway slightly toward his waiting warid beneath his hands A sudden bleakness returned to the pale features

"How can I trust anything you say?"

Lucien fiercely held on to the small beacon of hope he had just witnessed Beneath the pain and confusion, she did still care for him It had been etched upon her pale features And now that he was near her, he could feel it beat through her very blood

Over the past feeeks they had beco bonds of love and affection had been established whether either of thee them or not

Perhaps he should have taken more care, he chastised his of poor Jocelyn but for his own peace of ht very well put him out of her heart and find another to love It was the way of hu their short life span For a vampire, however, such a love caht should be terrifying He had deliberately avoided such entanglements To be bound to another was a responsibility he was incapable of accepting

Oddly, however, he felt nothing but a warolden threads of love that firmly tied him to this woman

"I know, Jocelyn, and you know," he said in tones that defied argument "Deep within you