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"Ah, sweetheart" He sat down next to her on the couch, put his hand on her foot She choked out a sob

"Soentle hands, brought it up to hi outside of you destroys who you are, what you want to be If you’re strong enough, you can put it back together, nothat to aze fixed on his face, and he nodded "I don’t know everything about being a Mistress or Master, but I know nothing prepares you for so, maybe that makes it harder for you, because you’ve been used to holding the reins, figuring things out for others You haven’t failed at all It was like he said fro to let us help you, you stayed in control"

"When I overrode your co upstairs, I lost all of it"

"Hey" He dropped his hands, squeezed her foot, running his thuht? It was the wrong one, but it was et there It’s just going to take tiram," she said in a weary voice

"Yeah Maybe the principles are similar Because in the vahed "In fact, most of the time they’re brutal and violent et past it and just keep working toward that day when you’ll be a hundred percent again A hundred and twenty, since you’ll be a vampire And then you’ll be the most formidable Mistress a man’s ever seen"

"You didn’t ask for that third mark You didn’t want that"

"You didn’t want to be a vaht?" He won a surprised look, followed by a sed on the chains "And seriously, I’s out"

Instead, she reached out, traced his features At the contact, her eyes closed, her face suffused with a sudden overwhel her to hi theround with a decided clank He enfolded her in his ar to hiain, for not holding on to her control, for nota hand under her chin, he tipped it up

"Anwyn, you’ve been turned to a vampire, raped, and you almost killed me" At her flinch, he shook his head impatiently "I didn’t tell you that to upset you, but to reh all that, I’d think you were a fucking cyborg Crying and breaking down is how you get past this kind of stuff, find what you need to go on I’ve had some wretched days as well, and you can’t hold it all in"

"Do you cry?" Her lips trereen eyes focused on him They were back to their rich color, but with his enhanced senses he could now see the permanent trace of red in the pupils

"Of course not," he said "I vandalize property That’s the lass " She pressed her lips together, took a hard s, and now her eyes intensified, clinging to his face "I wouldn’t have survived losing you, Gideon You know that?"

He didn’t kno to respond to that, the raw e that swa to whisper in that broken voice "You balance ht about that The ain, I felt better And horribly guilty for being so relieved about that, even et your feet back underneath you, you don’t have to feel guilty about anything You won’t take anything I wouldn’t give you willingly Okay? You have to trust soht about that as well Stupid, know-it-all vaaze now so different Her hands closed around Gideon’s forearainst his jaw E he sensed was too hard for her to feel, let alone say Soo at theainst him

"Why does he call you ‘cher’? I , heshocker--but I was curious"

"Seriously, sexy, suave" She gave a half laugh, tinged with despair "Say that three times fast"

"Seriously, sexy, sauve Seriously, sexy--"

She placed her hand on his aze at hi was, if she was in the next roo, maybe even the next town, he’d feel this close to her It was as if there was nothing that could separate hile" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>