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My past?

Munro asked, "Will, did you?"

"Aye" When Munro let out a relieved breath, Will ado well There were, uh, soet past them"

"Are you prepared to take her veno the sound didn't carry over a transatlantic call "I've accepted that I have no choice but to do so I canna lose her Dahts on this"

"Tell me what happened"

Will was so desperate for help that he relayed everything that had occurred, stinting on few details He told his brother what Nix had said

"You've ree with Nix that you need to win Chloe"

"How?" He'd lost soht

"It's verra sian "In the morn"

By the end of the call fifteen minutes later, Will felt somewhat heartened At least he had a plan He made his way up to thein the doorway, he watched theher beautiful face in silvery light

Her nose was no longer red fro Her eyes weren't puffy Unlike Ruelle, his Chloe did not cry prettily-because her grief was sincere

He crossed to the bed, sitting beside her When he brushed the locks from her forehead, she cracked open her eyes

"What're you doing?" she asked, her words slurring " 'S'not tiinning "Chloe, ould it take to start aneith you?"

Hopelessness settled over hiot"

Yet then he reot

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I feel aht bitterly as she troain, wasn't even sore froht before Because of him

Fucker

After she'd vented in the pantry and returned to bed, the whiskey had hit her like a tsunami Before she'd passed out, she would've sworn the entire keep had been spinning

Later in the night, MacRieve had awakened her She barely reht he'danew" Then he'd stroked her hair and tucked her in, hts at the compound She'd missed it

She'd missed the side of MacRieve she'd first known

What would she encounter when she faced hi and sexy?

She strode into the kitchen, then stopped short

MacRieve was shirtless in a pair of low-slung, broken-in shorts, drinking orange juice straight out of the jug Her lips parted, her gaze lovingly taking in all his rigid oody trail She wanted to nuzzle it like he'd done between her legs last night-

No, don't think about that!

He finished his drink and swiped his forearot a busy day planned"

She blinked to attention "Doing what?"

"You're to go running withthe Scottish countryside? Her new gear upstairs was just waiting for her

Then she re with hio by yourself? I could kick back and watch TV" Escape "Then we could ain

The thought brought on another pang Did Dojo Dummy still want him?

"And leave you to flee? No' likely" He set down the jug, ainst the counter, until she could feel the heat e scent His voice was husky when he said, "I'o, lass"

His nearness piqued her desire, one that had nothing to do with hunger

"Do you re?" he asked

"Yes" Mostly

"I want to try this again with you I' an olive branch Will you take it?"

She shook her head, saying, "Fool me once MacRieve, you were all I had and you turned onelse that you hate aboutI want a chance to win ood reason why I should trust this" Again she felt like she was running with a cleat and a cli boot Would she ever feel on-kilter with him?

He leaned down to say at her ear, "Because for a ti inside you verra ht Now, if only you had liked it, whiskey dick"

He drew back with a scowl "Stop saying that, woman! I dinna have-never bluidyher in, peering down at her with intent golden eyes "Doonainside you felt incredible And whether the beast was at the fore or no', I still caed for mercy"

"Must've been nice For you Not so asms you promised, you were twelve short"

A flush spread over his chiseled cheekbones "I'ht"

"Ha! Your last atteoal ide Not even close As a a into hers, he grated, "I want-back-in"

Her lips parted at the double entendre His eyes were pro

She feared hers were begging for it She darted her gaze away

He tucked her hair behind her ear "I've been up all night, thinking about us"

"Is there an us?"

"I want there to be"

"MacRieve, I haven't even agreed to go running with you,the verbally abused half of your us"

"I vow to the Lore that I will never speak to you that way again" He said this as soleth, she said, "I'll go, but only because I' for a run" She ducked under his ar over her shoulder, "Need to change"

As she hurried up to her room, she wondered if she could trust his sincerity Oneher an olive branch with orgased so drastically? She wished she could read his cues better He was like a skilled opponent telegraphing fake plays to keep her running in circles She sensed that anything he'd told her about his he hadn't

She frowned, reht, when she'd been too tipsy to analyze it Sex for him was co" What guy didn't find sex pleasant?

Right before he'd lost his erection last night, he'd said, "Succubus green," about her eyes Later he'd confessed that the reason he'd flagged was because he'd thought of a past time Because Chloe's succubus eyes had reminded him-

Oh, dear God

Munro had told her that his faured someone they loved had been seduced by one She now suspected that the victim had been MacRieve-and that there'd been no "seduction"

Do you have any idea what it's like to have no control of your mind? he'd asked Your body? And then he'd told her that maybe she wasn't the one as broken