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Slowly, gently, as if she were a newborn calf, he turned her around In a movement that was as fluid as it was economic, he knelt in front of her

Her heart pounded

A pin could have dropped in the ballroom and it would have been an explosion

His trousers stretched tight over his thighs, his austere face raised to her, he cradled her foot in a tender clasp A lock of his thick black hair fell forward on his forehead Those dark eyes moved over her face, down her throat, where her pulse pounded violently, to the sight of the upper curves of her er breasts plumped into fullness by the bodice

A tightness eed in his face

Tilting his head down, he placed her right foot on his left thigh The tips of her fingers rested on his shoulders and she felt the muscles there shift and clench

With uncharacteristic malice, she hoped the pointed heel would bruise his rock-hard flesh

His fingers unbuckled the small belt of her sandal with a niers wrapped around her bare flesh

Pia flinched as pain and awarenessup from her ankle

His nostrils flared, his ers rubbed the s into her skin Back and forth, softly, slowly, until a soft moan—a raw, unrestrained sound—fell from her mouth

Holding her gaze, he touched her more boldly, more purposefully

A strange, forbidden craving released in her lower belly, warers When heher knee, Pia jerked her foot back

And then, because of the uneven balance, toppled onto him

With a curse, he caught her But he was still so tall that when she fell, his face was buried scandalously against her belly The warainst her soft muscles set off such a deep clench in her sex that Pia whimpered

His hands on her waist, he gave her a gentle nudge Her entire body was a shivering, needy pulse Pia looked down at his hands “Let o”