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"What?" she croaked, goggling at him

"That you will not marry me"

"Must we discuss it here and now?" she said, not realizing what she was saying "And why is it silly?"

"Well, at least we have soed The movement shifted all the muscles of his chest and stomach

"Uh uh" stuttered Miss Tarabotti, "couldn’t it wait until I am home and you are, uh, clothed?"

Lord Maccon realized he had the advantage over Alexia; he was not about to sacrifice it "Why, you think your family will allow us soer to meet you ever since I caossiping"

"Professor Lyall gossips?" Alexia tore her eyes away from his body to look up into his face

"Like an old churchyard biddy"

"And what exactly has he told theiving up, you realize?" He said it with deadly calht it was my move? Isn’t that the way this works?" Miss Tarabotti was confused

Lord Maccon’s grin was all wolf "Up to a certain point Let us siht you found rinned cheerfully "Most assuredly"

Alexia’s stomach flipped over, and she was seized with the sudden iainst hiently crooked sht I was too bossy," she said

"And I shall provide you with an entire pack to boss around They could use the discipline I have been getting lax in ht you foundthe a weakness in her resolve

Miss Tarabotti was not certain his return was a good thing True, thatas he moved toward her, but he had that look on his face that said the kissing would start up again presently She wondered exactly how she had et herself into such an untenable position

"But I a else" She gestured ineffectually at her hips and chest

"M with her entirely, "youshe did not s that had worried hie (advanced) and her state (preternatural) But he was not about to assist in her protestations by giving herto his suit They could talk about his own concerns later--preferably after they were ed to survive their current predicament and make it to the altar

Finally, Alexia ca that really troubled her She looked down at her free hand as though finding its pal "You do not lovepleased at this, "says who? You never asked me Should it not be my opinion you take into account?"

"Well," sputtered Miss Tarabotti, at a loss for words "Well, I never"

"So?" He raised an eyebrow

Alexia bit her lip, white teeth gnawing at the full swollen flesh Finally, she lifted trelance up at him, now too close to her once more

Naturally, because fortune is a fickle beast, it was precisely at thatin the dooras a backlit figure, clapping slowly but with evident approval

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Last Roo-fast movement, which bespoke his dexterity as a human before he had become a olf, Lord Maccon shifted around Miss Tarabotti so that his back was to the intruder and he was shielding her with his body In the sarab the shard of mirror off the floor next to them He held it between them, protected from Mr Siemons’s view

"Well, Miss Tarabotti," said the scientist, "you certainly do excellent work I never thought to see a olf Alpha in hu the bodice of her dress over her shoulders as subtly as possible The back had entirely colared at Lord Maccon, who looked back at her in an utterly unapologetic way

"Mr Siemons," she said flatly

As the scientist moved into the room, she saw that behind hi sizes, er end of the spectru no chances should her preternatural abilities be si found no olf in residence, he stared at Lord Maccon’s back with a decidedly clinical expression

"Does his brain return to human reason as well as his body to human form, or is he still essentially a wolf inside?" the scientist asked

Alexia saw the earl’s intent in the narrowing of his eyes and the way he shifted his grip on the shard With his back to the door, Lord Maccon had not seen Mr Siee retinue Miss Tarabotti shook her head alhtly

Mr Sierab the earl’s head so he could tilt it up and look into his face With a spark of rowled loudly and snapped at hih he were still a wolf Mr Siemons hurriedly backed away

He looked at Alexia "Really," he said, "quite re to have to study your abilities extensively, and there are several tests" He trailed off "Are you certain I cannot persuade you to our cause--that of justice and security? Now that you have experienced the true terror of a olf attack, you must admit to how incontrovertibly hazardous these creatures are! They are nothing ue on the human race Our research will lead to eainst this threat With your capabilities, we could determine new neutralization tactics Don’t you see how valuable you could be to us? We would siain"