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The couple of weeks that had passed since she’d last seen hi with hinite a fla to douse He had to leave her be They could no longer have any association Because it only s more difficult all the way around It threatened her resolve to carry on She had moved past Walter Now she needed toarm snaked around her waist and drew her into the darker shadows of the garden, when a mouth covered hers with purpose, when her curves were pressed against the familiar hard lines and planes, she sank into him with nary a protest It was rance, to have his taste teasing her tongue, to have his hands stroking her shoulders, cupping her breasts, to hear his groans hs

"Daed hisher throat and lohere the swells of her breasts awaited his questing lips

Heat spiraled through her and her knees weakened Why did she have so little control when he was near? Why did she have to yearn for what she could never fully hold? She didn’t want to not have moments of passion like this, but they would be too few and far between Loneliness was a bitter cohts It wouldn’t comfort her when sorrows struck It wouldn’t celebrate with her

Tristan had left the ballroo with her, fetching her some refreshment He would be there until she left That it was his honified What mattered was that he would always be within easy reach She wouldn’t be sitting so where he was She would always know She wouldn’t be worrying that he was brawling with soht break the ship apart With Tristan she would spend her life in uncertainty

She had done that once with Walter She knew the strain that the constant not knowing placed on her It aged her It killed her spirit It left her in perpetualhis suit"

Tristan stilled, hisher backside, the other her breast She felt the bulge in his trousers nudging against her belly She listened to his harsh breathing in the stillness of the night

"You’re going to marry him?" he asked flatly

"Perhaps, if he asks I don’t know"

"But we can have tonight"

"No Having decided my course, it wouldn’t be fair to hiht with you"

Even though he did little ered back She hadn’t realized howon hiarden"

"To explain--"

He snagged her waist, brought her back in, and captured heraccuracy She heard a ue with hers Her arled in his hair, her body straining to be even nearer

"You can’t resist me," he said

It was the triuant cad She here he was concerned She wanted to shriek She wanted to pound her fists against his chest She wanted to tell him that he held the power to destroy her

"I can’t deny that there is an attraction and that you are extre pleasure, but ht, Anne Give us tonight On the ship"