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She sh her veins “Clearly”

His jaw clenched briefly “I want to see you, Jade All of you”

Aaway the deliriueous, ht, other than his internal scars She hadn’t been naked in front of another person since she was eighteen And even then, she and Michael had been shrouded by bedcovers

She couldn’t help but wonder about the female forms in Darien’s past Even Sheena was picture-perfect Did he find her alluring?

“No”

Her gaze snapped up to hts”

“Easy pickings this time I could see the doubt in your eyes”

“Have you…” Her hand whiestured toward the door “With Sheena? Or Jocelyn?”

He let out a hearty laugh, cutting the previous edginess that had set in as they’d discussed their precarious predicaments “Absolutely not Both are in e of that relationship But beyond that…I don’t find either one as appealing as I do you Besides, Sheena sticks to her kind”

A point that did not fall on deaf ears “That’s a good practice, I suppose”

He nodded, yet he didn’t relinquish his hold on her “The path we’re traveling is much more convoluted But difficult to step off of”

She knew she’d be false to insist otherwise So she boldly said, “The slayers will coan to alert theht ether”

Fire lit his eyes “And every moment wasted is one on’t reclaim”

Her need for hi entity she found it igled out of his loose earment drop to theup on her as Darien gazed at her, lust and longing in his eyes

She slipped out of her drawstring pants and stood before hi but her bra and panties They were as simple and functional as could be, and yet his irises darkened and his breath caught Spurred on by his reaction to her, she discarded the lingerie