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She let her head fall forward onto his chest to hide how the sweetness in his caress ainst her belly, urgent and thick, and caught her breath in wonder He wanted her Her

A burst of reliefher with the tautness of wanting hiathered herself behind an invisible wall, before she followed through on her desire to look up and press her lips to his neck

Before she could o, he set her away froowns He rejected the red with a toss toward the bed, his expression inscrutable Holding the blue in front of her, he said with detachment, “This one Give e”

Her led froh to fly while bitter disappoint her fro for affection

As he dressed, Aleksy was still trying to understand what had transpired in the other roo so introspective about Clair’s behavior was as irritating as her trying to hold him off

After resisting te to her Finding her in the spare roo rejection Everyone gave hi unexpectedly Did she fear hialled him

He’d been coap and pull her into his arentleness as he was capable of She had reacted beautifully, her arousal instant and obvious

When he’d kissed her, her mouth had parted beneath his The silk of her robe had revealed the tension in her belly and the sharp points of her nipples Her supple body had even leaned into him She, however, had not been involved

Why not? She’d called herself practical when they were in Paris, her interest in her financial future blatant enough to assure hi about him that had turned her off?

The way she had stared at his scar had seeest so Then she’d folded into hiardless of what she thought of hilance, she’d reminded him that it didn’t matter how mercenary she was, he still didn’t deserve to touch her

Even she seemed to know it

Froave an impression of chilly silence The few people on the street wore overcoats and furred hats as they hurried down the street, breath fogging in the frosty air Yet their very presence in the cold evening spoke of perseverance and a steadfast grasp on life, entrancing Clair into forgetting she didn’t want to fall in love with anything, even his country

How could she stay ih, when he’d put her in the center of a fairy tale? The li a hand to help her stand, so courtly he stole her breath

He wore a tuxedo with a white bow tie and gloves It ought to have seemed affected, but his features were carved withabout him serious and deliberate Backlit by an enorlow, he was devastatingly handsome

She stood on unsteady legs, taking in thearound the frozen fountain toward the spectacular entrance of the theater This was the world he inhabited Miles above any she’d ever thought to visit Her treacherous eht in a spell of beauty and wonder

As if that wasn’t h the crowd of people One glance over their shoulder and people moved aside Aleksy kept her pressed close to hi murmurs of “Dmitriev” and Russian phrases she didn’t understand, coupled with glances at his scar

Taking her cue froe the randeur of the theater She was genuinely awed The ornas looked as if they’d been finished yesterday For a moment time slipped away and she was a nineteenth-century aristocrat carrying a fan and wearing lace to her throat The e husband—not a far cry froht with a wry, inince He was supporting her and there was no hope for love

An attendant approached to take her cape and Clair revealed theto eht than she really had Aleksy procured thene and, after a brief consultation with the attendant, told her, “We have the czar’s box”