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She lost track of his words, her , so iven you pers, Annabelle"

Now he sounded irritated "I know"

"Then why are your hands fisted at your sides, rather than on me?"

"Because you look so enthused by the idea"

He opened his mouth, snapped it closed "Sarcash echoed between theers uncurled and stroked over the arch of those golden wings They were as hard as iron and ridged--until you encountered the feathers Oh, baby, those feathers were softer than goose down She caressed the tips, er ones loosened and fell into her palm

Zacharel latched on to her wrist, but didn’t toss her hand away or claione, he said, "Look at me, Annabelle"

A wave of trepidation swept over her as she obeyed Had she done soel Do you understand?"

Her brow furroith her confusion "Is it against the rules?" But…sex wasn’t Obviously So touching shouldn’t have been, either

"Those who have not experienced sexual desire do not like to be handled in any way, especially by humans Those who have experienced desire will view your attention as a request for a bedding"

And thereby ruin whatever good ed to attain "I won’t touch anyone but you, I promise"

There was a heavy beat of silence "That man, Dr Fitzherbert, touched you without perht?"

Just like that, a dark, sticky cloud tried to envelop her Her shoulders curled in as every eed her Fear, sharief But as quickly as they hit, they vanished She absolutely refused to dwell on the it dead Those things acted like a dinner bell for demons, and she refused to supply a buffet

"Yes," she said

"Perhaps it is ti…what?"

"I will force so terrible on him"

Rather than thrill her, the voorried her She wanted Fitzpervert out of a position of authority and unable to hurt anyone else, but she wanted Zacharel safe far h trouble to his door already

"Is that your job?" she asked, though she already knew the answer

"No" A gru it And don’t try to deny it I distinctly re me that you weren’t allowed to har"

Doubtful! "I get doing all the dae you can to demons They’re pure evil, they’ll never feel ree, will always try to hurt people But har a human isn’t necessary That would make you no better than, well, Fitzpervert He hurt me just because he could" Fire flashed in his eyes, but still she persisted "One day I’ll do what’s needed to let the world knohat a ht way So, I want you to tell o, Zacharel…whatever your last nanoring her boast, her demand and her question He released her wrist, only to snake his arm around her waist and draw her closer

"Zacharel Come That’s a terrible last name I feel sorry for your wife, if you ever decide to ht, I performed that little miracle I made him kinda sorta smile

"We have much to do today, Annabelle"

"So what? I told you I’ until you’ve done a take back"

He slid his hand up her back to toy with the ends of her hair Then, "Give me time to think, at least," he said "I will not lie to you, which means you ic Also irritating and irrefutable "Very well" But she would prevail, and that was that, she thought, tying the end of the feather to the top of her corset The gold gleaainst the blue of the scrubs

Zacharel’s eyes flared with a different kind of heat than before

Anger? "What things do we have to do?" she asked If he was mad, he was mad He could deal

"First, we shop" His voice practically dripped with ice crystals