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They were cursed The eldest sons of Azir bore the hatred and the fruits of est sons
As Paige stepped into the back of the car in which she’d ridden into the city, the driver closing the door solicitously behind her, Abraone" He hadn’t ht to tor that innocence, that hunger and zest for life, and for him, disappear, had driven home the fact that she could be taken forever if he weren’t very very careful
Tariq’s lips quirked in ah, the bitterness and realization that torhts
"She won’t be for long," Tariq assured hiiven her a taste of what you both hunger for I have a feeling, Abram, Miss Galbraithe will return sooner than you think"
The aze jerked to his shoulder before he moved to the mirror atop the dresser next to him
There, on his shoulder, just as Tariq had stated, a love bite that ined she could have given without his knowledge
It marked him far deeper than flesh alone
He forced himself to turn away
He forced hiet those few, precious moments when his lips had caressed the softest flesh he had ever knohen his tongue had tasted pure, fiery ecstasy
A taste that would linger in his senses forever
And a regret he kneould never outrun
He hadn’t expected this, he thought, it had caught him unaware the day he had arrived to help her and her fahteenth birthday When he had seen her in that simple sundress on the sunny Greek island where she and her family lived part of the year With the tops of her breasts rising above the bodice of the dress, the tiny straps stretching over slender, graceful shoulders, and the red gold of her hair hanging to the middle of her back
"Abrah "I’ve reen of her eyes Her face had flushed beneath the soft hint of the Mediterranean-bronzed flesh Her skin wasn’t as dark as her father’s, but neither was it as light as her mother’s When combined with the silken flah to daze a lesser man
It was that day he had seen the wo so engorged, so torturously hot and tight he swore he’d been on the edge of dizziness
He alht
Almost Because, he knew the fate that would await her
He knew the hell he would revisit and this time never escape
He couldn’t have her, he couldn’t allow his need to corrupt her, or his legacy to endanger her
And he couldn’t keep his hunger for her fro …
1
EIGHT YEARS LATER
He was hoe Galbraithe moved from the chaise positioned next to the balcony doors of her bedroohts that swept over the lawn
The li the curved, oak-bordered drive The lights swept over the landscaping like a cat burglar’s penlight as the car neared the garage The bright gleam disappeared into the three-story mansion Khalid owned in the heart of the exclusive section of Alexandria, Virginia, designed as Squire Point
After ten days captivity in her brother’s home, the rat had finally shown up It was about ti her heels in the luxurious comfort of her brother’s ho the silk robe she had left lying on the back of the chaise, Paige pulled it on quickly, covering the ankle-length, er and determination made her movements jerky
Ten days She had waited ten days to confront him
He wouldn’t answer his cell phone--his fiancée Marty was running interference--but still, her brother wasn’t talking to her Marty assured her daily that she would get to tear a strip off his hide in person, and each day, he was a no-show