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"Win," he said, frowning as he washed her, pressing the steahs "At the clinic, did you ever wear less than your exercise costume? That is, did Harrow ever look at you?"

Her face was colitter of a if Julian ever saw me naed in a professional capacity?"

Kev was jealous, and they both knew it, but he couldn’t stop fro "Yes"

"No, he didn’t," she said primly "He was interested in my respiratory system, which, as you clearly know, is in a far different location than the reproductive organs"

"He’s interested in s," Kev said darkly

She s to divertWhat happened to you last night, Kev?"

He rinsed the bloodstains fro it out, and pressed another warhs "I was in the pinfold"

Her eyes widened "The gaol? Is that where Leo went? To get you out?"

"Yes"

"Why in heaven’s naht at the tavern"

She clicked her tongue a few times "That’s not like you"

The statement was loaded with such unintended irony that Kev nearly laughed In fact, a few huffs came from deep in his chest, and he was so amused and miserable that he couldn’t speak His expression must have been odd indeed, because Win stared at him intently and sat up She removed the compress and set it aside, and pulled the sheet up over her breasts She ran a light, graceful hand across his bare shoulder, her touch soothing And she continued to caress hi pass of her hand seemed to erode his self-restraint further

"Until I came to your family," he said hoarsely, "it was the only reason I existed To fight To hurt people I was…but concern

"Tell me," she whispered

He shook his head A shiver chased across his back

Her hand slipped around the nape of his neck Slowly she drew his head down to her shoulder so that his face was half-hidden "Tell ain

Kev was lost, unable to withhold anything froust and revolt her, but he found hi it anyway

He revealed it allto make her understand the vicious bastard he had been, and still was He told her about the boys he had beaten to a pulp, the ones he feared ht have died later, but he’d never been certain He told her how he had lived like an anie that had consuar He revealed cruelties and huood sense to keep to himself

Kev had kept the confessions inside forever, but now they were spilling out like garbage And he was appalled to realize that he had lost all control, that whenever he tried to stop, all it took was a gentle touch and a allows priest

"How could I touch you with these hands?" he asked, his tone shredded with anguish "How could you stand to let s I’ve done-"

"I love your hands," she h for you But no one is And ood or bad, have limits to what they would do, even for someone they love I have none No God, noExcept you You’re ht, steal, kill for you I would-"

"Shhh Hush My goodness" She sounded breathless "There’s no need to break all the command back to look at her "If you believed anything I’ve told you-"

"I do understand" Her face was like an angel’s, soft and compassionate "And I believe what you’ve said… but I don’t agree at all with the conclusions you seeainst his lean cheeks "You are a goodone The rom baro tried to kill all that inside you, but he couldn’t succeed Because of your strength Because of your heart"

She eased back onto the bed and drew him down to her "Be at ease, Kev," she whispered "Your uncle was an evil man, but what he did must be buried with him ’Let the dead bury the dead’-do you knohat that means?"

He shook his head

"To leave the past behind and look only to the journey ahead Only then can you find a neay A new life It’s a Christian saying… but it would make sense to a Rom, I think"

It made more sense than Win perhaps even realized The Ro death and the dead, destroying all the possessions of those who had passed,the name of the deceased as seldom as possible It was for the benefit of the dead as well as the living, to keep thehosts Let the dead bury the dead… but he wasn’t certain he could

"Hard to let go," he said thickly "Hard to forget"

"Yes" Her arhtened around his to think about"

Kev was quiet for a long ti to the even beat, and the flow of her breathing

"I knehen I first saw you, what you would ry boy that you were I loved you at once You felt it, too, didn’t you?"

He nodded slightly, luxuriating in the feel of her Her skin s hint of feminine musk

"I wanted to tah that I could be close to you" She threaded her fingers through his hair "Outrageous man What possessed you to kidnap ly?"

"I wasa point," he said in a muffled voice

She chuckled and stroked his scalp, the scrape of her oval fingernails nearly causing hio back now?"