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"Stay," he co now?"

His smile eet and kind and even a little sad "That’s probably better than the alternative"

"Which is?"

He flicked her the barest of glances "A lover"

The very heat Leopold had tried--and failed--to attain now fanned to life Just like that With only tords

"I have to get this blood off me," he said, "and I want you within reach So Like I told you, stay Please" He an to spew Then he placed his fingers at the waist of his pants, paused, as if trying to decide what to do next Finally, he exhaled heavily and unfastened the material

The pants hit the floor and he stepped out of the pool of ,of hair Sexyperfect

He watched her as he hooked his thuoing to die I’ll have a heart attack Surely "So, uh, how did you know to look at the ?" Good Keep it casual Maybe he won’t realize you’re staring

He paused, saying, "It’s strange I felt like there was a string attached to ? "Has anything like that ever happened to you before?"

"No"

Were theyconnected sos

Oh

Oh, nificent He was sun-worshipped, and chiseled with strength fros of the butterfly tattoo appearedcloser and closer to hishisthere

Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my

The heat in her cheeks intensified, and her mouth went dry He wasn’t a man, but a warrior Built for battle, honed by fire and steel Powerful in a way so feould ever know or understand

"Do I want to knohat you’re thinking?" he asked, his deep voice sounding hoarse

She forced her gaze to lift, and met his stare The air around them instantly sizzled with the awareness she couldn’t ever sees I want to do to him

"I don’t know," she said, the huskiness of her voice surprising her "Do you?"

His heated stare bore into her "It’ll be safer for us both if I deny the truth"

Clang Clang Clang

Weapon after weapon hit the floor Soon there was a pile of daggers, guns and throwing stars at her feet

"Giveto wash it"

"I--hmph"

He’d closed the distance and forced her to stand, reaching around her to unzip the back of her dress He had the material shoved down her arms, past her waist and to her feet before she realized as happening

As close as he was, as naked as he was, as aroused as she wassweet ree, and every inch of her skin tingled, craving an to treer, because one of the butterfly’s wings rode the length of his

Seriously dying, she thought

It grew, and it thickened, and it hardened, and it oodness," she said on a oeetheart"

Yes

For balance, she put her hands on his shoulders before doing as he’d co Even as warh to burn her--and she found that she liked being burned His muscles were hard and intractable, yet covered by silk

He straightened, but didn’t ht away He peered down at her, his breathing fast and shallow, aair thickened with steas she couldn’t na

He blinked, shook his head Stiffening, he turned and entered the shower, then jerked the curtain across the rod, blocking her view Within seconds, the rod was bending in the ainst porcelain, as if Kane had slipped He cursed

Her knees gave out, and she fell back onto the toilet lid Soon, the scent of soap wafted to her She breathed deeply, letting it wash through her, subdue her trehtest pause before he said, "Yes, Tink"

"Thank you" They weren’t the words she’d wanted to say, but for now, they would do "For everything I , as if he’d just thrown his fist into the tile "I shouldn’t have left you alone"

She heard the self-castigation in his tone, and sighed "I ran away from you, remember? And besides, you can’t be with me every second of every day"

"Want to bet?"

Don’t tehts have you been in?"

"You iven an exact tally?"