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Even from here he could hear the increased beat of her heart, feel the joy that suffused her, along with the shy hesitance that she’d experienced briefly this one by now, but he had a feeling it had lanced nervously at William Her brother looked between them; heat rose in his face as he released her and rose to his feet

"You don’t have to go," Braith infor to break them up, especially for the reasons that he had colanced back at Aria who offered him a small smile and nodded briefly Braith sensed there wasback to him "I do"

Willia around the bench and leaving the gardens Braith walked around the bench and sat beside her "Do you reht me here?" she inquired

He stared at the fountain, clearly recalling that day He hadn’t knohat tothat was happening to him She’d thrown him off balance, rattled him; confused him in a way that he’d never been confused before She still did He didn’t think he would ever get used to her, the way she made him feel; the way she could melt him, infuriate him, and drive him nearly to his knees all in the same moment

"I do"

"I was so uncertain of you before then"

"You sure didn’t act like it," he ainst his side He loved the way she looked at him like that, from under lowered lashes, playful and joyful It al inside, but even through the smile he saw the persistent tor tiently between his as he placed it in his lap "Well I couldn’t let you knoas a little scared of you, you’d take advantage of hter that escaped hie of," he retorted dryly

"Only with you" Her cheeks colored even hter It was so rare and fleeting to see her e

"Even then you’re like a thorn"

A burst of astonished laughter escaped her; she leaned over to press a brief kiss to his lips He knew she’d only meant it to be chaste, a small show of affection, but the h his body He grabbed hold of her shoulders, holding her in place as h him He was shaken, for a brief moment he was unable to control the powerful wave of desire that swamped him He’d most certainly never loved another woman before, but he’d also never been this enthralled or rattled by one either He’d thought that possessing her would ease the need so It had only increased

She was breathing rapidly, her face flushed with a different kind of heat when he regained enough control of himself to finally separate from her Her eyes ith awe, her lips parted and swollen fro et about everything as he lost his they had to settle between the they could push reality away, and though he would have liked a few sI have to tell you Aria"

Reality crashed over her as she straightened her shoulders and thrust her chin out "There is so I have to tell you too"

"Does it have to do hat has been between you and Jack recently?"

She paled visibly as she leaned away fro, I’m not a fool You haven’t been the sa to put some distance between us; I suspected it was because you were nervous that one of us wouldn’t survive, but I’ve cooing to be mad"

He shifted uneasily, but he’d known that he would be "I don’t doubt it for a minute"

"Just please try and control your temper"

His jaw clenched "I’d never hararden, and that fountain, and I’d like to keep it all in one piece"

He quirked an eyebrow at her "It’s that bad?"

She shrugged, but there was no casualness to the gesture "Depends on your point of view"

"Fro to feel like breaking so, but for me, please don’t"

He didn’t like the sound of that "For you Aria, I can do just about anything" He wasn’t going to proh, not when he didn’t know exactly what it was that she was going to tell hi romantic had passed between her and his brother, but there were other things that ht set his temper off

She took a deep breath and blurted her words so fast that in the beginning he had a tough ti The faster she spoke though, and the an to curl within his belly, through his chest, and into his outer extre hard not to clench down on the hand he held

He’d suspected they were plotting so like this, but it did nothing to ease the acid he felt churning through his sto through hiain wouldn’t upset h clenched teeth

She looked as if he’d slapped her as she recoiled from him "It’s not what I wanted to do," she whispered

He released her hand and rose abruptly His e to lift the bench on the other side and srappled to keep hiether in order to keep his half promise to her "Jesus Aria"

"I’m sorry, I truly am But no matter how much I love you, and believe ht possible, my happiness, our happiness is not as important as the thousands upon thousands of lives that depend on you Because of that I illing to forfeitas she seemed to realize she’d said tooto… No, not Jack Jack wouldn’t have the heart and neither would Ashby Gideon," he stated with dawning realization