Page 13 (1/2)

With the Hathaway ball only two days away, Catherine had no choice but to drab down her appearance ascounties would attend, as well as fa recognized However, as long as she obscured her appearance and kept to the corners, no one ever noticed her Chaperones were most often spinsters or poor s, undesirable woirls who still had their best years ahead of theirls, but she felt as if there were decades between herself and them

Catherine knew that her past would catch up with her someday And when it did, the time she had spent with the Hathaould be over It had been the only period of real happiness in her life She would grieve to lose the Catherine’s quiet contemplation She turned in her chair and saw Leo in remarkable disarray He eaty and ru feet

She ju but a cru no detail, and Catherine turned red in outrage "What are you doing?" she cried "Have you gone mad? Leave my room this instant!"

Chapter Thirteen

Leo closed the door and reached Catherine in two strides He hauled her forcibly to the pitcher and basin

"Stop it," she screeched, flailing at him, while he pushed her head over the basin and poured water over the lock of hair she had saturated with dye She spluttered furiously "What is wrong with you? What are you doing?"

"Washing this slime from your hair" He dumped the rest of the water on her head

Catherine yelped and struggled,to slosh water over him as well, until there were puddles on the floor and the carpet was soaked They fought until Catherine found herself on the wet layer of wool covering the floor Her spectacles had flown off, leaving the room a blur But Leo’s face was only inches above her own, his hot blue eyes staring into hers He subdued her without effort, pinning her wrists, her torso, as if she had noon a clothesline He was very heavy on her, ht and hs

She twisted helplessly She wanted hio, and at the same ti hers harder, deeper Her eyes turned wet

"Please," she choked out "Please don’t hold my wrists"

As he heard the note of fear in her voice, his face changed He released her ar head clasped to his shoulder

"No," he muttered, "don’t be afraid of me I would never--" She felt hie of her jaw, the frantic working of her throat Waves of war in the places where they pressed She let her arms rehtened on his body, holding hiainst his damp shirt "What do you care what color my h-hair is?" She felt the hard wall of his chest beneath his shirt, and she wanted to delve beneath the garh the dark fleece

His voice was soft and fierce "Because it’s not you It’s not right What are you hiding fro "I can’t explain There’s too o And I want to stay with you Just a little longer" A sob slipped from her throat "Not you, I meant your family"

"You can stay Tell me, so I can protect you"

She sed back another sob There was a hot, irritating trickle on the side of her face A tear had slid into her hairline She lifted a hand to brush at it, but he had already put histhe trail of wet salt Her tre hand curved around his head She hadn’t e hirily And she

He slid an ar her as he kissed her She felt the excite as he searched and teased and licked deep His weight lifted fro her ht as well have been naed for all the concealainst the transparent chill of fabric He kissed her over the wetover the rosy veiled point Ied at the tie of her chearh and sainst her da you, you’re so lovely … sweet … God …" He drew a flushed bud into hissoftly At the sa the delicate slit, stroking until she was open and wet She felt the gentle pass of his thu fire up to the base of her throat Her hps lifted into the soft stroking, and he teased her lightly, tenderly, until pleasure huh every part of her and an extraordinary promise of relief hovered just out of reach

His touch deepened, a finger nudging the entrance of her body The gentle invasion caused her to shrink backward in surprise Except that she was on the floor on her back, and there was no place to retreat She reached down reflexively, her hand going to his

Leo nuzzled the side of her neck "Innocent darling Relax and let s of bone and tendon in the back of his hand as his finger slid farther into the fluid softness She caught her breath, her body grasping helplessly at the careful intrusion

Leo’s heavy lashes lowered over s eyes, the color of the pale blue heart of a flae of his nose "I want to be inside you," he said thickly, caressing her "Here … and deeper…"

An incoherent sound cli drew her knees up and caused her toes to curl She was suffused with desperate heat, craving things she had no words for Drawing his head down to hers, she kissed hi the voluptuous pressure of his ue’

A series of deterh the lurid haze of sensation Leo cursed and pulled his hand frohs, and tucked her body beneath his Cat whi madly

"Who is it?" Leo called out brusquely

"Rohan"

"If you open that door, I will kill you" The statement was uttered with the vicious sincerity of a h to give even Ca moment, Cam said, "I want a ith you"

"Now?"

"Definitely now," ca his eyes, Leo drew in a taut breath and expelled it slowly "Downstairs in the library"

"Five minutes?" Cam persisted

Leo stared at the closed door with an expression of incredulous wrath "Go, Rohan"

As Cam’s footsteps retreated, Leo looked down at Catherine She couldn’t seeitation Mur quietly, he held her close and rubbed circles on her back and hips "Easy, love Let me hold you" Gradually the frantic need faded, and she lay still in his arainst his

Leo stood and scooped her up easily, and carried her to the bed He set her half-naked body on the e of the bed and fumbled to draw the counterpane around herself, he hunted for her spectacles Finding theht the to look rather the worse for wear, she thought ruefully, straightening the battered wire fra the lenses with a corner of the counterpane

"What are you going to say to Mr Rohan?" she asked hesitantly, putting the spectacles on

"I don’t know yet But for the next two days, until the da to put some distance between us Because our relationship seems to have becoe Afterward, however, you and I are going to talk No evasions, no lies"

"Why?" she asked through dry lips