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"I don’t believe you I think you want soI think you want me The way you look at me sometimes"

"No," she said with a shake of her head

"I believe we’ve talked about that look"

"I don’t want you," she croaked

"There’s a difference between not wanting ato want a ulped There was no way she would answer that

Kane placed a hand at her left and a hand at her right, holding her captive Tremors nearly rocked her off her feet

"You make me feelyou make me feel," he said quietly, fiercely, "and I don’t like it I want it to stop Now"

For the first tihtened her There was an intensity to hier "I don’t knohat you’re talking about"

His gaze locked with hers, snaring her, drawing her in even while pushing her away "Don’t you?" A thousand caresses in the dark waited in the softness of his voice

"II"

A second passed Another and another Neither of them moved They didn’t speak Just stared Somehow, those suspended seconds wereelse she’d ever experienced Moreelectrically charged

She flattened her hands on his rock-solid chest, th he contained "S-stay back" His heartbeat was a wild tumult, just like hers It was a shock A revelation

A pleasure

He stu the electrical charge

It hat she’d wanted But she hated being without it, she realized

"What did you and the king discuss?" she asked, trying not to care--but caring anyway

"You mean your father?"

Her shoulders lifted in the e "I am what he says I am"

Kane reached out, as if to caress her cheek His hand fisted just before contact, and fell away "We drank soars and discussed a few details for an engagement ball to be held in my honor We played some chess I won He pouted"

A ball A ball Josephina would have to labor over She would be forced to set up, then serve the guests food and drinks The wonore her, and the et their distaste for her, pat her on the bottom and maybe even try to pull her into shadowed corners She would have to paste a grin on her face, and pretend all ell in her very dark world

Meanwhile, Kane would be pa the already paed her throat,difficult

"You’re lucky to be alive," she said stiffly "Tiberius is the worst loser of all time"

He waved her words away "Let’s talk about your sister"

Already he was obsessed Jealousy hit her Jealousy, and so"What do you want to know?"

"She’s possessed, yes?"

"Yes Her husband was the keeper of Irresponsibility and after he died--"

Kane’s lips pulled back fro?" she asked, annoyed by an overwhele of concern for him

"Her husband was possessed byIrresponsibility, you said?"

"That’s right For several centuries, he was a prisoner of Tartarus He died whileyou-knowing Synda, and somehow she ended up with the demon That’s why our race has studied you and your friends so intently Well, one of the reasons"

He scrubbed a hand through his hair "This couldn’t get any worse Williahthopedand she’s blonde, just like the girl in the painting, andwell, it doesn’t ure things out So she had no idea how to decipher "What are you talking about?"

Again, he waved her words away "You studied us, you said?"

"Well, yeah"

"Us,me and my friends?"

"Who else?"

"How?"