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The inal children had pers that apparently couldn’t retract like the adults’ They were filthy, naked, and started shrieking and calling out in unintelligible noises when Dev entered with Lord Charles and several of his men

“I don’t want you to think I’m inhumane,” Ruskin coe, as well as a large enclosure”

He put out a hand One of the men reached into awith blood The children went into a frenzy, crashing against the bars

“Only a little bit, et real blood, but you must hunt fiercely for it” As the e caht When he put a hand into each of the cages, without exception, they were tentative in how they reached out to take it, though once they did, they set about snarling and tearing it apart between thelanced toward one of the men as he brandished a wicked roup

“What’s that for?” he asked while Charles was crooning to the children

“If they get too hungry and turn on each other He doesn’t feed ’em for a while before they hunt, so they’ll stay on track Most the ties, but they’re a bit crowded in Still, they know if they dae each other, he’ll punish the lot of them He’ll—”

Dev shook his head, a short, sharp shake He didn’t need to know He felt sick When Lord Charles finished and turned, a cruel, satisfied look on his face, Dev didn’t bother to mask it

“You’re a right bastard, you are,” Dev said “No wonder she thinks you shouldn’t be running this region” Lord Charles’s lips thinned, but when two of his men moved forward, he raised a hand “No Lady Daniela would feel I’d been unsporting if I paid you for that remark as you deserve You must start out in the condition you’re in now” His voice dropped, his eyes as dead as a reptile’s “But toht, when they catch you, and they will, I’ll have the pleasure of hearing your screams

They’re children after all, and have to squabble They usually tear apart the body in their eagerness” He didn’t want to be here any Danny the truth For whatever reason, he felt he had to stay, see this through Not only because he’d given his word, either

He knocked

Inside, Danny closed her eyes She’d been sitting on the bed, brushing out her hair, staring into space She could touch his hts Feel him move around the house, do a quick check of the outside She’d told him to come to her, but knew after what he’d seen in the barn, what he’d seen in the dining rooht not And how could she blame him?

She could have reinforced the call, brought him to her But she didn’t One, she wanted him to come to her of his own volition, didn’t want to have to coax hioing to have to take another choice away from him If he came to her room of his own free will, well, that would help her rationalize it was all for the best Not for the first tilad she didn’t have to face herself in a mirror

But when she bade him enter and rose, all that went away for a hted on her, and for a moment he had the expression he’d had at dinner, when he first saw her in the dress, before everything happened Yes, vampires were beautiful, there was no way around it But when he looked at her, she felt like he saw her in the dress, and found her beautiful, with or without the vampire allure And thatand stupid, she was sure But maybe she’d outlive her folly She hoped he’d outlive it

She’d worn a peach satin nightgown and robe As he entered, she released the diaathered waist of the robe, let the sheer cloth float to the floor The gown had a V neckline, and an inverted V seam beneath the bust that made the nip of her waist evenIt was the type of gown he ht have seen Greta Garbo or Mae West wear in the pictures in England or Europe, but here she was in full color, very real, and ready to let him touch

She knew the color combined with her pale, cream skin to ile to a aze coursed over her, then dropped to her bare feet Since he’d discovered the pleasure of worshipping her feet, she thought it was a new obsession for him However, in hisher bare feet helped his in perspective Her feet somehow said she was real, approachable A wo that helped hiht

It was a rationalization to help him cope, not the true reality For she wasn’t huht have ehtly vulnerable when it ca with a human male But she wouldn’t disabuse him of the notion Not until she had to do so So she told herself as sheat him

Come here I want you