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He kissed her again and again,to reward her for her honesty and punish her for it, as well--for the way she seemed to know that what he wanted was in concert with her own desire For the way she used hiers played over her and she cried out gloriously to the fountain and the labyrinth and the sun and the sky, first his naain, like a litany and a weapon, at once blessing hiave her no purchase, re place where she wanted hi her pleasure on that one word

Yours

He stayed with her until she returned to earth, to the labyrinth, Ariadne to his Minotaur, somehow able to destroy him with her touch

Yours

He would hear that word, spoken in her voice, for the rest of his life

Yours

Truth and utter lie all at once

She couldn’t be his, of course She couldn’t be his, because it would require him to be hers It would require him to love her the way she deserved And that would never happen It was i her sleepy, sated sine And then she spoke, shattering his intentions "What of your pleasure?" she said, the soft words a blow as hard and harsh as anything he’d ever received in the boxing ring A blow he’d never wanted so much in his life "Don’t you wish to take it?"

He did, of course Rather more desperately than he ever had But he couldn’t He wouldn’t

She deserved better

"No," he lied, working hard to keep his words cal them "I don’t"

If she’d had all theher down and taking her there, at the base of the fountain, with only the Cuer

The disappointh her was to be expected, of course She’d been hoping he would agree to make love to her fully, and his refusal was no kind of positive experience She’d found a nificent pleasure in his arms, and she wanted more She wanted to share it with him

What she had not expected was the desolation The sense that without him, she was alone in the world That without his touch, without his coht not survive the day

The sense that without hiht terrified her

She had not planned for this moment Ever She’d never planned to want someone so much, or to wish that her future entwined with his, or to wish to see his face every day, for the rest of time

She’d planned to be happy, yes To marry, to have a family, to live a quiet, peaceful life But she’d never planned to want someone so much that his refusal actually pained her

She’d never planned for a single, inaccessible path to be the only one she could iuely, it occurred to her that other people found love to be a pleasurable experience, filled with roses and doves and sweets and whatever else Those people were obviously cabbageheads Because she loved the Marquess of Eversley quite desperately, and there wasn’t anything remotely pleasurable about it

She cleared her throat and straightened, pushing her skirts down her legs, trapping his hands beneath the ers trailed along her ankle and she shot to her feet at the sensation, the touch breaking so her at once wish to leap into the fountain to wash it fro hi away froh the events of the afternoon were perfectly ordinary As though she weren’t rushing to protect herself from the pain he seeht "I see," she said again, hating the repetition Willing herself to remain silent