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His tongue swiped over her cheek, and she gasped Her nipples peaked, straining against the rough, wet fabric

"You’re razed her ear "I’m perfectly clear of mind Want to test my recollection? On Mondays, you have country walks On Tuesdays, sea bathing Toarden and pull you into the shrubbery"

The suggestion ined his body, atop hers The heat of hiround Her rass and earth

"And on Thursday" He pulled back and gave her a wicked look "That’s interesting We never did get to Thursday Please tell me on Thursdays you oil yourselves up and wrestle Grecian-style"

She gasped "You are horrid"

"And you love it That’s the worst of the matter You want me every bit as badly as I want you Because I’e strong enough to take you on You need a realbeneath your surface You need to be challenged, ed, you beast"

"A beast is just what you want A big, dark round, tear the clothes froht I haven’t forgotten how excited you were in the aftermath of that blast"

The nerve of him!

How could he tell?

She lifted her chin "Well, I haven’t forgotten the sound you made when I first touched your brow It wasn’t even a moan, it was more likelike a whimper"

Hewhiin to hold you and stroke you and whisper precious proain"

"That’s absurd," he scoffed "You’re just begging to be taught a hard, fast lesson in what itto put your head in ers in your hair"

He backed her up against a rock "You need a good ravaging"

"You," she breathed, "need a hug"

They stared at each other for long, tenseeach other in the lips

"You knohat I think?" he said, coainst her cheek "I think we’re having one of those vexing arguht?"

"Hell, yes"

And this time, when they kissed, they bothsound

That sound that said yes

And at last

And you are exactly what I need

She could feel the tension and urgency coiled in his muscles But his kiss was patience itself Hisher lips apart Her pulse haue

Oh dear Oh dear oh dear oh dear

There was passion, stockpiled inside her He’d called her a powder keg, but that would be understating She saw it all now, stretching in her azines Here were crates of kisses, never shared Casks of sweet caresses kept sealed frohs, all carefully bottled and tightly corked

He uncapped one noith a clever flick of his tongue Pressed his thu yettime to explore

"Brah his cropped, sleek hair "Oh, Bram"

The further he raided, the closer he came to the other rooms Those unused, cobwebbed chambers of her heart Would he dare to venture there? She doubted Jue, but a h those padlocked doors There were dark, uncharted spaces within her that had been built to house love, and even she was afraid to explore thely e, es, she was both As they kissed, he slid his hands to her backside and lifted her, bringing her pelvis flush against his The proainst her sex Shemore Surely he would kno to answer

And answer he did

He bit down on her lip Hard

"Ah!" He winced away fro their e his head and gri with pain

"What the devil?" he said

"Take that, you brute" Minerva Highwood hted pouch in her hand

"Minerva?" Reeling froer to her lip, testing for blood

"Don’t worry, Miss Finch I’m here now"

She must have swum out from the cave andand seen theaze snapped to the pouch dangling from Minerva’s wrist It looked like a reticule, fashioned from oilcloth "What’s in that?"

"Rocks What else?"

Rocks Good Lord Susanna looked to Brael to the head It was a wonder he hadn’t fallen unconscious She started toward hi her body in front of Susanna’s

"Brace yourself Here he co Zeus"

Bra his head with one hand With a growl of pain and a sudden, lurchinghead, shoulders, and exquisitely chiseled torso out of the water Water droplets sprayed everywhere, catching the sunlight and flashing like tiny sparks

Rutting Zeus, indeed He did rather look like a linen-draped Greek god, dripping with potency and a divine air of possession The sight took Susanna’s breath away She briefly wondered if she’d been hit over the head with a sackful of rocks He was beautiful Dazzling in his masculine perfection