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"It’s the same in the back We cannot leave the house until this dies down, Daisy"

Theo considered snarling at hied to stop herself She couldn’t relinquish all civility simply because a foolish journalist had co, swanno difference

For a moment they merely stood there, Jah the curtain at the crowd excitedlyabout our situation," she stated, watching as a group of young boys rounded the corner and joined the throng

"Let’s give the scribblers so to write about," James said

Before she could answer, he jerked open the curtain, pulled her into his arms, and sla stor

She had

He was hot and possessive and--

Protective She jerked her head away Pushing against hi to move a block of lanced at theOut in the street, people were ju to see better He raised his hand and waved at theroaned

Then he raised her chin with one hand and dropped another kiss on her lips, while with the other he jerked the curtains closed

They stared at each other for a ht? Peeled away That was lust starkly written on his face

Pure, shameless lust

A wave of panic hit Theo, and she stepped back

"Daisy," James said sharply "Daisy, you’re not afraid of me, are you?"

She couldn’t tell him the truth Of course she wasn’t afraid of him

She was afraid of herself

So she ran for the safety of her bedchaht

For years, Theo’s life had been beautifully organized She knew each book on her bookshelves, each ribbon in her drawer, each gown in her wardrobe She surrounded herself with beauty Not one of her possessions was less than exquisite

Ja perfection

But now--notwithstanding his extraordinary costuht before--he was y was still there, but the excess had been converted into physical power There was no question in her mind but that he would want to resume the undisciplined erotic relations they had briefly shared

She would never do that with hiain Never

Still, other than royalty, there was no land than a duke If James wanted to keep her, he would keep her And he wouldin her throat again in a desperate rhythm, and she suddenly felt as if the room was as hot as the inside of an oven Jaht into her chahts The way he had walked into the bathing roolish law

She stood up jerkily and pulled her own over her head, followed by her chemise She’d wear sackcloth to dinner She crawled into bed wearing no ht as she could

Perhaps if she napped, she would wake to find that this day had never happened Perhaps she was in a fever dream