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"Yes, I want to hear all of it"

Those lovely eyes of hers searched his face before answering "There are plenty of orphans in need of homes"

"Ah" He rocked back on his heels

"I know it seems horrible, but if you could just try to look at it froo to such lengths for money? Or was it the title that you could not part with?"

"It wasn’t the money" Her nostrils flared and she beat a fist into her palm "And I don’t care about the title My family--"

"Spare me your pretty excuses," he cut in

She flinched "You’ll not hearpicture with her flushed cheeks and bright, tear-filled eyes A part of hihtened his shoulders "No" He dared not She’d weave a spell around him if he let her

He recalled that last night at Oak Run, when he had al to stop him had been his belief that she carried Ed in Edmund’s wake had repelled hie was unconsued She was still off limits Now more than ever Attractive or not, even he would not risk touching such a viper

His eyes drifted down Curiosity pro stoly real She cried out, slapping his hand "Don’t touch me"

Perhaps it was her tone Or her defiant attitude But he deliberately ignored her He had a right to investigate the means she took to deceive him

Meredith, however, did not hold the same opinion

It was as if a daer her prireat sobs tore froalvanized her It was her loss, her failure… her elaborate sche up in her face

Grim satisfaction filled him to witness the last of her conified lady She did not differ frohout his life, all looking out for the vicious when thwarted No wonder Edmund had married her They had been well suited--Ed

He hauled her against hi another fist at his face She tossed her head to glare at hio," she sobbed, green eyes wet and furious The dangerous toes of her slippers lashed out and kicked hi his shin

Hissing in pain, he squeezed tighter and lifted her off the carpet Tossing her down on the sofa, he straddled her and trapped her ared a finger at her "Listen, you she-devil, you’re lucky I don’t call the authorities on you"

She lifted her head off the sofa and bellowed into his face "Do it! I expect no less from you"

"Oh, I’m the villain, am I?" He crossed his arms over his chest "Shall I recount your sins? I think they outweigh mine"

"You can’t even try to put yourself in my place, to see why I did it, to try and understand You’re cut from the same cloth as your brother--selfish to the core"

He felt her accusation as keenly as a knife to the chest The separate life he led away frouaranteed that he bore no rese his face close to hers, he whispered, "Rest assured I a like e More specifically, I would have no problereen saucers in her pale face She went as still as a stone beneath hie?"

He ignored the question, instead ran a finger along her jaw and down the coluer at the throbbing pulse on the side of her neck "It’s an easy enough matter to verify Perhaps that’s what you need, hmm? A man in your bed to rob you of your rebelliousness? You could use a little ta"

Wordlessly, she shook her head froe

"No?" he queried softly, letting his fingers continue their path down her throat "You’ve never wondered these ers stopped at the deep well between her brsts, as far as her neckline would allow hi sound and her brsts lifted higher, straining the seams of her bodice "Never wanted to take a man deep in your body?" His hand cah the fabric of her gown

He grazed his pal pressure as he did so