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Whether it was by accident or design, she’d never know, but the lurch sent Sebastian onto her side of the vehicle instead of the bench politely across fro into his seat, he turned to face her His knees bu the back of the cushion behind her His gloveless fingers jutted into the long, simple braid she’d tucked into the back of her tunic, his thu over the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck

The carriage was very dark, and there was only the auous illumination from the lantern that swayed at the front of the vehicle She didn’t have the chance to speak, or even to think--for, all at once, Sebastian was there, kissing her

His kiss was hungry, one that surprised her with its intensity One e, and the next, it was a tangle of lips and tongue, and hands that seemed to be everywhere

Hot and sleek, his mouth covered hers as he held her face steady so he could delve and taste Warers settled at the base of her jaw, and Victoria raised her chin to gasp for a quick breath before slipping back into the kiss, fighting to keep back the red-edgedthe corner of her mindthe lull of pleasure snapped by the sharp thrust of fangsthe pull of her blood as it coursed through her veinsthe bizarre sensation of cold and warainst her skin

She , at the inability to stop ithalf withpleasure, for this es, she forced herself to explore Sebastian, to reardShe wove her fingers desperately through his thick curls, arching up against his hard belly and insistent erection as he straddled her thigh, the edge of the bench slicing into her skin froainst her hips, and she moved her hands so they eased up over the smooth muscles of his chest to curl at the top of his shoulders Wide, strong shoulders beneath the coat, and under the dark linensht brush of hair stroked her cheek when his lips lifted, then fell to trace the curve of her jaw, nibbling and licking His breath puffed hot and hard against her neck, and Victoria are of her own breath rising to meet his as she focused on the momentthe man The sensations Not thebeneath theent, slick kisses and to feel the skim of fresh air over bare skin as her tunic was liftedwar and coaxing as she closed her eyes The sensations mixed and whirled, and the coach seemed small and intimate as he stripped off his coat She pulled his shirt fro the war of hair Her fingers slipped around, rediscovering the unyielding silver of the vis bulla that dangled from the hollow of his navel

Release, relief, pleasure slid through her, loosening her li her feel liquid and warm His mouth settled over a breast, bared by the tunic piled over her collarbones The way his lips closed over her tight nipple, sucking gently and drawing it deep into slick war on the bench

He pulled away, settling himself over her, his face close His linen shirt brushed over the tips of her breasts and she could see, just so, the half smile on his face

"And so," he e ride for us"

She sasp as his handbeneath the band of her trousers He watched her, his face jolting and swaying with the ers, sure and firht at the first touch, and then she felt herself gathering up, tight and ready, as he stroked and slipped and slid down in the heat

"Now this," he said, his voice filled with aht on the hunt"

She closed her eyes, fell into the pleasure that surged and opened inside her, pushed away the worries, the ry eyesShe tensed, and reached between them to lift his hand away

Then there was a sudden lurch and near tip as the carriage barreled around a corner and Sebastian, half on top of her, lost his footing and nearly sprawled on the floor The unexpected ht her back to reality, and when he would have pressed back down against her, she placed her hands on his chest His heart raced beneath her fingers; she felt it through the linen shirt

"Sebastian," she said as he would have bent to her again "Iit’sI can’t"

He stilled against her, and she felt his chest rising and falling, as though he had to decipher her words "What?" His voice waswounded He didn’t sit back, but remained poised next to her, nearly on top of her "What is it, Victoria? What’s changed?" He gave a little laugh; it sounded forced, she thought "You always e, of course, and it was fun for both of usbut this isdifferent"

"I" She didn’t like that she sounded weak, but she knewshe couldn’t continue on the path they were going She was confused, and frightenedand ee of those black, furious eyes

Then, suddenly, before she could think of how to respond, Sebastian said so in French, so violent and sharp that she kneas filthy He grasped her shoulders now--not in a gentle, loverlike way, but with the need to know "Beauregard Was it Beauregard? Did hetouch you?"

Yes, yes, he hadbut she remembered few details She didn’t want to reh to be able to answer his question Victoria closed her eyes; what had happened with Beauregard had been ugly, horrificbut it wasn’t the reason

It wasn’t because of Beauregard that she felt e," he said softly "Victoria, I’athered her into his ar her face to his chest, and wrapped her tightly "I didn’t know"

Suddenly, before she could stop it, her emotions burst forth and the tears cast, of fear and horroras happening to herwhat had she donelonelinesssorrowconfusion

Sebastian held her, let her weep into his shirt until it was sopping His face pressed into the top of her head, the warth of his ar the back of her head

Heinto her hair, and pressed a soft kiss onto her scalp