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She wants you, an insidious little voice said inside his head as he turned over again You could have her It would be so easy

Easy in one way, yes Juliana loved hiiven him her heart He could make love to her as he’d yearned to do for the past two years But he’d been having this sa—for those sa into that trap now

Because he knew himself, knew his constant nature Kneas like the first Andre Alexei, who had loved his Eleonora beyond all reason, even unto death Making love to Juliana would seal his fateand hers He could never make love to her until it meant as much to her as itback after that ed to hied to her

Forever and a day

Eventually he dozed fretfully, only to dream of her Come to me, Juliana, he dreamed Come to me

He woke to the sound of hoofbeats and a horse neighing softly At first he thought he’d dreah that wasn’t how his dreams usually ended Then he heard a voice that was both drea breeches and was outside the cottage even before she’d dismounted

“What are you doing here, Juliana?” he de the reins below the bridle She just gazed down at hiht, and she didn’t have to say a word He knew “No,” he told her, steeling hiainst temptation

She slid off her horse’s back before he could stop her, and then she was standing so close to hi “Please,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper “I know you want o aithout”

“No,” he said again, leading her horse to the tiny stable, putting distance between them as he cared for the horse When he looked up froht

“Juliana?” he called, but she didn’t answer He put the currycon of her But the door to the cottage was open the way he’d left it when he’d coone “No,” he whispered to himself But the insidious little voice inside his head insisted, Yes Yes!

The open doorway pulled him, lured hiht what he’d known in his heart he would see Juliana was sitting on the edge of the single bed, her clothes a pile on the floor where she’d dropped them in her haste to disrobe If she’d been coht have been able to resist her But she’d pulled the cotton top sheet so it was draped over the esture pierced his defenses as nothing else could have

“Juliana” he said helplessly, his body reacting in predictable fashion, blood pooling between his thighs, until he could count his heartbeats in the pulses

“Please, AndreI love youand I have to know”

Frouttural voice, “You do not knohat you are asking”

Her face resolved into a ed into determination “Yes, I do know,” she told hiirl “If you care forwhat it ht And let ht, too”

It swept over hi, the desire to hold her tight and never let her go, the need to show her how precious she was to hie that he could nothan he could walk out of his skin He was shaking with the force of his desire, but one shred of sanity remained One last chance for both of them If he could make her run

He quickly unzipped his riding breeches and stripped the her see the enormity of his need Then he sloalked toward her, until he stood only a step away “This is what you are asking for, little one,” he said softly, grasping himself crudely “Is this really what you want? Me, inside you?”

He had hoped to shock her with his words, his size, with the realization of as to come and the very real possibility of pain, but he was the one as shocked Without hesitation she reached out a hand and touched him, and a spark of electricity passed between theh hi His erection swelled evenas if it would burst And then it was too late It had already been too late froht and a cotton sheet