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"Why is this woman so important to you?"

Even at a distance Styx could sense the sudden wariness in Salvatore It was a question he didn’t want to answer

"Why does any man want a woman?"

"You wish me to believe that you have tracked this woht--for weeks just because you desire her?"

He shrugged "Most men are fools when it coaze "No"

"No?"

"You are a pureblood You would never waste your energies on a human You are only allowed to mate with other purebloods"

"I didn’t say that I intended to mate her, only bed her"

Bed her?

It took twothe olf on the spot Darcy was his captive For the ed to him He would rip the throat out of anyone who tried to take her away

"She will never be in your bed, wolf," he warned in a tone of sheer ice "Now return to your hunting grounds before I have you all caged and neutered"

Darcy couldn’t deny a sigh of relief when the soyle had announced his attention to seek out his dinner a woods

It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate his efforts to ease her fears and lift her spirits For all the strangeness of being a gargoyle, there was so in his sardonic wit and unexpected flashes of kindness

Still, she needed him to leave so that she could find her clothes and flee this e, and she couldn’t even say with all certainty that she didn’t have soood an explanation as any But a e did not make her ready to join a cooyles, and lurking olves

Especially when she was quite likely to be handed over to those olves like soin, but close enough

Unfortunately, her plans of escape were hampered by the fact that her clothes were nowhere to be found In fact, the only clothing to be found in the room was a white T-shirt that fell nearly to her knees

And then, of course, there was the very largeby his incredibly pale skin and fangs) as standing just outside her door, and the two others ere below her

For a tie rooet out of here

But how?

Her pacing lasted for nearly an hour before she heaved a sigh and gave a rueful shake of her head

Her te

And it was difficult to be truly terrified when she was surrounded by such elegant luxury

Were all va bathroom could house a fa at all like her own cramped apartment Gripes, she didn’t doubt that the satin sheets that perfectly matched the ivory carpet and drapes cost more than she paid every month in rent

Goodness only knehat the porcelain vases and delicate charcoal etchings orth

As she reached the deep baythat overlooked a sarden and distant lake, she came to an abrupt halt A frown marred her brow as she studied the pretty African violets that lined the sill

It was a disgrace, she told herself as she carefully moved the plants onto theseat and away frolass of water fro plants

So few people understood the care that was required to keep plants healthy, she acknowledged as she carefully trimmed the yellowed leaves and stirred the rich dirt

It took more than an occasional splash of water Just because they couldn’t talk didn’therself in her self-imposed task, she was happily unahen the door opened behind her and Styx stepped into the roo the water evenly over the roots "No, no, I haven’t forgotten you, Dancer Don’t be iet to you"

"What the devil are you doing?" demanded a deep male voice

She didn’t need to turn Only one male in all theher shiver with awareness by just the sound of his voice

"Trying to save these poor plants you have neglected" She gave a chiding click of her tongue "Just look how they’re drooping You should be asha creature into your hoation to care for it properly"