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The hand clutching a tight fistful of the blanket covering her loosened and sh the fabric that she wished wasn’t there She arched into that hand, crying out as those splayed fingers pressed and caressed her back

"Miss Anna, do you need any help yet?"

Owen launched hi, her hands bare, eood distance frolare at the housekeeper

Mrs Kirkpatrick grasped the edge of the door, looking back and forth between the two of theive ered on Annalise Self-conscious beneath the woaze, she pulled the blanket back to her chin

"I was just leaving" Without another glance at her, Owen strode fro Mrs Kirkpatrick on his way out

"Well, then Let’s get you dressed," the housekeeper said as she advanced But Annalise paid little heed as Mrs Kirkpatrick buzzed about the roo her bedclothes

She brushed her lips, still tender and warm from his mouth He’d proven he wasn’t immune to her He wanted her And in a week she would be on her feet again Then he couldn’t hide behind his excuses of honor She wouldn’t be bedridden One more week and he couldn’t hide froest week of her life

Owen fled to his chamber as if the hounds of hell were after hi door, but he’d been too rattled at the tith of his bedcha to the sounds of female voices on the other side He had no doubt Mrs Kirkpatrick would be in there for a while helping Anna dress that te her curves, the brsts with their dusky dark niles that begged to be tasted

Groaning, he dragged both hands through his hair He wasfroness, the invitation in her eyes--none of itwho he was He wasn’t that ht be soulless, depraved, but he liked to think there was still some code of honor within hirowl of frustration, he stormed from his cha to occupy hiet a ed for his touch

Chapter Eleven

Are you ready?" Mrs Kirkpatrick asked

Annalise looked down at her legs, already in position, dangling over the side of the bed The eager yearning she had felt over the last weeks to finally be rid of the bed, to finally rise and walk, had swerved into soh she understood it It was the sao when she rose fro she woke and li--across the small chamber she shared with her mother toward the basin of water

Even er a few h the curtains of her , praying that today would be the day when she rose and walked like she had before the accident Sound of body No liirl

What if I can’t walk at all?

What if the round, she crumpled? A wash of bitter fear coated her aze back to Mrs Kirkpatrick The housekeeper watched her expectantly, a hint of iood portion of the woman’s day was now devoted to her She doubtlessly wanted to see her up and about, too

Nodding, she pressed her hands against the side of the ripped her ared as Annalise stood, a faint hint of her brogue creeping out

For several ht on her feet She offered up a wobbly sround The only question that reht as she walked

Mrs Kirkpatrick nodded "Ready for a step?"

Sinking her teeth into her bottom lip, she nodded, not convinced she was ready at all, but unable to hide from reality Noas the ed on her ar her to ed her arm free "I’m fine" If she was to do this, she needed to see if she could do it on her own

She didn’t breathe as she lifted her right foot and set it down Now ca quickly in a step And didn’t fall

A sh escaped her She’d done it without collapsing She sht herself She needed to attele step to know for certain that she could still walk Then she could celebrate

"There you go On with you"

Sucking in a lungful of air, Annalise pressed forward One step and then another She staggered a bit, a little unsteady, cautious, fearful of falling Mrs Kirkpatrick hovered close

Gradually, her steps evened out as she walked Her leg felt weak, but that was natural after being abed for so many weeks She frowned as she approached the door to the roo her up and down curiously as she hovered close "Are you in pain?"

At the door, Annalise stopped and turned, hesitating for a"No" She walked a littleher brow furrow in bewilderait "I’ood news" The housekeeper studied her face before glancing back down to her legs "Then what is it?"

"I’?"

I used to, she alht herself She didn’t want to refer toohtI feared there could be a li inside her She didn’t want to think it could be true, but the evidence was glaringly clear with her every step

"Well, apparently those Gypsy folk knehat they were doing when it ca Appears you can walk on it just fine now"

She could walk Without a limp

Her heart thunderedat her s into full-scale joy