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Lord Maccon alht out of the ar into flesh She did not want to draw blood, but she did intend to leave a h supernatural type, she had better do her worst Anyonce they broke contact and he was out of her preternatural power He tasted wonderful: of salt andand licked delicately at the red crescent-shaped brand she had left behind

"Blast it all" Lord Maccon’s breathing was very rapid "We have got to stop"

Alexia nuzzled against hi to be able to"

Alexia nodded "I suppose that is sensible" She sighed It felt like she had spent a lifeti sensible

The decision, it turned out, was taken away from them by some sort of commotion in the hallway "Well I never," said a lady’s shocked voice

So then ensued, the words of which were impossible to make out and probably emanated from Floote

Then the woman issued forth once more, "In the front parlor? Oh, here on BUR business, is he? I understand Surely not" The voice trailed off

Someone knocked loudly on the parlor door

Miss Tarabotti slid hurriedly off Lord Maccon’s lap Much to her surprise, her legs see properly She yanked her bustle back into position and hopped up and down hurriedly to shake her skirts back into place

Lord Maccon, in the interest of time, simply buttoned the top of his shirtwaist and bottom of his waistcoat and jacket But he seemed defeated in any effort to rapidly tie his cravat

"Here, let estured him autocratically over and tied it for him

While she busied herself with an intricate knot, Lord Maccon tried, equally inexpertly, to fix her hair His fingers brushed the bite mark on her lower neck "I am sorry about that," he said contritely

"Do I detect an honest-to-goodness apology?" asked Alexia, but she s with his cravat "I do not mind the bruise What I mind is that I cannot produce the saiven hi the few seconds they separated while she straightened her dress Then, she added, because Alexia never stayed silent when she ought, "These feelings you engender intheave her a quick look to assess the seriousness, and then, unable to deter or not, remained silent

Miss Tarabotti finished with the cravat He had arranged her hair so that it at least covered all signs of his amorous attentions She walked across the room to draw the curtains and look out the frontto see whocontinued on the parlor door until finally it burst open

Of all odd couples, Miss Ivy Hisselpenny and Professor Lyall entered the roo nonstop She spotted Miss Tarabotti instantly and flitted over to her, looking like an excited hedgehog in a loud hat "Alexia,in your hallway? When I caainst your butler in a ht be fisticuffs Why would such a person be interested in visiting you? And as Floote terribly set on keeping hi finally spotted Lord Maccon Her large red and white striped shepherdess hat, with a curved yellow ostrich feather, quivered in agitation

Lord Maccon was glaring at his second "Randolph, you look awful What are you doing here? I sent you home"

Professor Lyall took in his Alpha’s disheveled appearance, wondering what atrocious thing had been done to his poor cravat His eyes narrowed and shifted toward Miss Tarabotti’s loose hair However, Lyall had been Beta for three consecutive pack leaders, and he was nothing if not discreet Instead of co Lord Maccon’s question, he simply walked over to the earl and whispered rapidly into his ear

Miss Hisselpenny finally noticed her friend’s tousled state Solicitously, she urged Alexia to sit and took up residence next to her on the little settee "Are you feeling quite well?" She reloves and felt Alexia’s forehead with the back of her hand "You are very hot,a fever?"

Miss Tarabotti looked under her eyelashes at Lord Maccon "That is one way of phrasing it"

Professor Lyall stopped whispering

Lord Maccon’s face flushed He was newly upset about so "They did what?" Was he ever not upset?

Whisper, whisper

"Well, proud Mary’s fat arse!" said the earl eloquently

Miss Hisselpenny gasped

Miss Tarabotti, as getting very used to Lord Maccon’s ribald mannerisms, snickered at her friend’s shocked expression

Issuing forth several additional creative stateutter-born variety, the earl strode to the hat stand, shoved his brown topper unceremoniously on his head, and marched out of the roo noise "Fancy going out into public with a cravat like that"

The cravat in question, with head attached, reappeared in the doorway "Watch her, Randolph I will send Haverbink round to relieve you as soon as I get to the office After he arrives, for all our sakes, go hoht"

"Yes, sir," said Professor Lyall

Lord Maccon disappeared onceoff at a breakneck speed down the street

Miss Tarabotti felt forsaken, bereft, and not entirely unworthy of the pitying glances Ivy was casting in her direction What was it about kissing her that caused the Earl of Woolsey to feel it necessary to disappear with such rapidity?

Professor Lyall, looking unco them up on the stand just made vacant by vanished Lord Expletive He then proceeded to check the roouess, but he did not seeht of as required of a fashionable receiving parlor It was greatly overfurnished, including an upright piano that none of the ladies of the house could play, and cluttered to capacity with small tables covered with euerreotypes, glass bottles with suspended ibles, and other knickknacks As he conducted his investigation, Professor Lyall avoided all contact with sunlight In style since the supernatural set rose to proo, the heavy velvet drapes over the frontnevertheless allowed soht to creep into the darkness The Beta was fastidious in his avoidance of it