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Although she’dall over hi brought heat, desire, darker feelings from a side of hiht now One nudge and he’d fall over the edge

She stepped closer, bringing all that sames And believe ers went to the top button of her dress Ah, hell He knew he should stop her, but his battered brain went on stun She couldn’t actually be about to

Black linen slid fro free to pool around her ankles in a dark cloud And she wasn’t wearing a dae, she’d packed a full-out shove to a e

Chapter 15

Yasaze locked on her naed body If he laughed at her, she would die Or kill hied She was so certain he desired her and would welcome comfort Her comfort

Stay resolved She wanted this and perhaps she was selfishly taking advantage of a weak lad Yes, she was being greedy, but she also saw the pain of loss in a man who looked out for everyone and had no one to look after hie

Drew scrubbed a hand over his face "Please tell me you haven’t been like that under your clothes all the tiht Only for you"

His blue eyes flecked witha little ferocious about hirief, but she kept focused on his eyes She kneould never hurt her

Then he exploded into action She forced herself not to flinch

"Shit" He yanked his sleeping bag off his cot and threw it around her shoulders "You don’t knohat the hell you’re doing"

"You are wrong" She stepped closer, kicking her clothes aside

"Wouldn’t be the first tiht" He scooped her dress off the floor and thrust it toward her "Now get dressed And for God’s sake, find some underwear"

Embarrassment burned her chilled skin but she was not the type to quit She released the sleeping bag

"Daain as he grabbed the quilted blanket and folded it around her

Which brought the bag The heat of the backs of his hands branded the sides of her breasts I her

Hi froray of arousal His chest expanded and she kneas catching her scent Eid heat of his erection pressed against her stoh the fabric between them

She smiled, slow, sure

"Shit" Drew cursed low

Yasmine clasped her hands over his "You really need to quit saying that every tirejected melted to warm butter in her veins "I do that?’’

"You know daed to toss aside the blanket to feel the undiluted sensation of his hands on her flesh Her skin cried out for his touch, for contact For so long she had gone without the most basic of physical affection from even family Her half sisters from her father’s side resented her because of her mother Her sisters from her mother resented her because of her father

She was lonely and aching and so very alone She’d been denied freedo Thisfor ht now?"

To steal some comfort for herself?

"Do you make it a practice to dole out comfort this way to any ht this on herself with her behavior Even if he had guessed at her liht not know just how li to push her away? "Take me and you will have your answer as to whether I have ’coht, Yasmine, you can cut the crap I’ve had worse days than this I can assure you I’ll survive without your virgin sacrifice"

A s him more Of course he kne innocent she was He had kissed her and would undoubtedly have recognized her inexperience "Before you can roll out anya hand loose to reach down to fish in her dress pocket, tugging free a sht protection"

He stared down at the condom nestled in his hand with more shock than when he had found her note in the saet this?"

"Froh "You talked to your sister about us?"

She couldn’t help but laugh as she slid back against hiht advice fro naed in your ar must mean either I am not attractive to you or I a dae showing above the claspeds before he forced his eyes back up "I just can’t figure out why the hell you’re doing this How does a woman who’s held out for twenty-three years uy she’s known about a week?"

"Would you like to hear the whole list?"

"Yeah, I think I need to"

If he wanted to hear her list, then he wanted to be convinced Yes

"Number one, the opportunities were rare before" She counted down on her fingers "Two, I am finally free to make my own decisions and three, I like you Four, you are a sexy, fascinating man And why am I so quick to decide? Well, women in my culture often end up married tochaperoned prior We’ve spent ether than that, and this certainly is not about ht there"

All of which did not appear to be swaying him