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"Well, you did!"

"But I never considered it seriously I could never marry you"

"Because I’m a wallflower," she said sullenly

"No That’s not--"

"I’m undesirable"

"Daisy, would you stop--"

"Not even worth a single kiss"

"All right," Matthew snapped, finally losing the grip on his sanity "Damn it, you win I’ll kiss you"

"Why?"

"Because if I don’t you’ll never stop co about it"

"It’s too late now! You should have kissed me back there in the parlor but you didn’t, and now that you’ve doo kissed by anyone else, I’ to settle for some half-rate consolation prize"

"Half-rate?"

That had been a mistake Matthew could see that Daisy realized it the instant she had said it

She had just sealed her fate

"I-Ito wriggle away from him "It’s obvious you don’t want to kiss me and therefore--"

"You said half-rate" He jerked her hard against hi to prove"

"No you don’t," she said quickly "Really You don’t--" She gave a little cry as he clamped one hand behind her neck, and all sound was ed her head to his

CHAPTER 7

Mattheas wrong the instant their lipswould ever equal the perfection of Daisy in his arms He was ruined for life God help him, he didn’t care

Her mouth was soft and hot, like sunshine, like the white blaze of a heartwood fire She gasped as he touched her lower lip with the tip of his tongue Slowly her hands caers at the back of his head, sliding into his hair to keep hi away There wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening Nothing could have ers as he bracketed the exquisite line of her jaw in the open fra her face upward The flavor of her er that threatened to rage out of control…he searched the daan to breathe in long sighs, her body er he was, howher back, his feet spread to hold her between the powerful length of his thighs Her upper half was bound in a laced and padded corset He was ale desire to tear away the stays and quilting and find the tender flesh beneath

Instead he sank his fingers into her pinned-up hair and tugged it backward until the weight of her head was cradled in his hand, and her pale throat was exposed He searched for the pulse he had seen earlier, his lips dragging softly along the secret pathway of nerves beneath her skin When he reached a senstive spot, he felt the vibration of her suppressed ainst his mouth

This hat it would be like toof her flesh as he entered her, the delicate chaos of her breath, the helpless sounds that rustled in her throat Her skin, warm and female, scented like tea and talcuain, opened it, delving into wet silk, heat, and an intiled, but there was only yielding and an to ravish herher body rhythown, his thigh fitting neatly between the with the color of late summer poppies Had she understood exactly what he wanted from her, she would have donehis ainst the side of her head "I think," he said raggedly, "this puts to rest any question of whether I find you desirable or not"

Daisy gathered the strength to twist around in his grasp until she faced away fro blindly at the rows of leather-bound books before her Her sht to control the turbulent pace of her breathing

Matthew stood behind her, reaching around to cover her hands with his The narrow fraainst his chest as he searched for the tender ridge of her ear

"Don’t," she said thickly, straining away fro the movement of her head, he nuzzled the downy curve of her neck He released one of her hands to settle his palm on the exposed skin over her bodice, just above the rise of her breasts Daisy’s free hand caainst her chest, as if their co of her reckless heart

Matthew tightened all his e to snatch her up and carry her to the nearby settee He wanted to make love to her, to bury himself inside her until bitter memories had dissolved in her sweetness But that chance had been stolen fro to offer her His life, his name, his identity…it was all an illusion He was not the ht he was And it was only a rin he realized he had unconsciously clenched a hand in her skirts as if in preparation to hike theers He thought of her body wrapped up in all these garodly pleasure it would be to strip her naked Toevery curve and hollow, every hidden place

Watching his hand as if it belonged to soers one by one until the yellow satin dropped He turned her to face hi into the rich brown depths of her eyes

"Matthew," she said thickly

It was the first tiled to conceal the strength of his response "Yes?"