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"I know this will not please you," she said, "but I have decided to call on Lord Akelda while uards can follow me I am convinced LordAkeldarunted "If you s," she tried to reassure hienerally knows too s, if you ask me"

Miss Tarabotti tried to make her position clear "He is not interested in nificant"

"Why would he be?" wondered Lord Maccon "You are a preternatural, soulless"

Alexia winced but strode doggedly onward "However, you are?"

A pause

Lord Maccon lookedthumb movement stopped, but he did not withdraw his hand from hers

Alexia wondered if she should force the issue He was acting as though he had not given the ht Perhaps he had not: Professor Lyall said the Alpha was acting entirely on instinct And this was full moon, a notoriously bad time for olves and their instincts Was it appropriate to inquire as to his feelings on the ood self at this particular tiain, wasn’t this the tiet an honest answer?

"I a this easy for her

Alexia sed her pride, sat up very straight, and said, "Interested inthat at that moment--her small hands in his, the smell of vanilla and cinnamon in the air, the neckline of that damnable dress--his mind possessed all the clarity of pea soup full of ha in said soup Whatever it was, itin his well-ordered life, and noas not the tiy during the course of our association trying not to like you," he admitted finally It was not an answer to her question

"And yet I find not liking you cos such as that!" Miss Tarabotti replied, trying desperately to extract her hand froed and lifted her forward as if she weighed noflush against him on the small couch The day was suddenly as warm as she had previously ih by intiious muscles What is it, she wondered, about olves and ," said the earl, turning toward her and caressing her face with one hand, "it very difficult to iular and inti time to come"

Miss Tarabotti smiled The smell of open fields was all about her, that breezy scent only the earl produced

He did not kiss her, si

"You have not apologized for your behavior," Miss Tarabotti said, leaning into his hand with her cheek Best not to let hietting her all flustered She wondered if she dared turn her face to kiss his fingertips

"Mressions?" Lord Maccon was fascinated by the smoothness of the skin of her neck, just below her ear He liked the old-fashioned way she had put up her hair, all caught up at the back like a governess--better access

"You ignored me at that dinner party," Alexia persisted It still rankled, and Miss Tarabotti was not about to let him slide without so her arched black broith a fingertip "Yet you spent the evening engaging in a farthe nextscientist"

He sounded so forlorn, Alexia aly, but this was as close as an Alpha got, she supposed She looked hi"

Lord Maccon looked livid at that revelation "Of that I ahed She had not ry, fun as that could be "What am I supposed to say at this juncture? What would you, or your pack protocol, like me to say?" she asked finally

That you want ht That there is a future, not too far away in space or tie bed He tried to grapple with such salacious visions and extract hiht, aled to control hih so that he did not actually attack her But with the da down of his needs, he was forced to deal with his emotions There it was, like a stone in the pit of his stoe Further than just need, or want, or any of those less-civilized instincts he could so easily blame on his olf nature

Lyall had known Lyall had not mentioned it, but he had known How many Alphas, Lord Maccon wondered, had Professor Lyall watched fall in love?

Lord Maccon turned a very wolflike gaze on the one woain He wondered how much of his love was tied into that--the very uniqueness of it Preternatural and supernatural--was such a pairing even possible?

Mine, said his look

Alexia did not understand that glance And she did not understand the silence that came with it

She cleared her throat, suddenly nervous "Bitch’s Dance Is it ive herself some credence She did not knoas required, but she wanted him to know she had come to understand some part of his behavior

Lord Maccon, still bowled over by the revelation he had just coh he had never really seen her before He stopped caressing her face and tiredly scrubbed at his oith both hands, like a little child "My Beta has been talking, I see" He looked at her through his hands "Well, Professor Lyall has assuredof this situation That Alpha you h I will add that, appropriate or not, I have enjoyed our interactions iehog?" Miss Tarabotti was not certain as happening Had he just admitted intentions? Were they purely physical? If so, should she pursue a liaison? No word ofsupernatural and mostly dead, could not have children Or so her father’s books purported They rarely married as a result, professional experts in bedsport or clavigers being the preferred approach Alexia conteet another opportunity such as this, and there ays to be discreet Or so she had read Although, no doubt, given the earl’s possessive nature, all would be revealed eventually Reputation be danificant prospects to ruin I would si footsteps Perhaps Lord Maccon would stash e in the countryside so bed She would miss Ivy and Lord Akeldama and, yes, she must admit, her silly family and sillier London society Alexia puzzled Would it be worth it?