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Although his expression was sardonic his words were spoken with a wry aarded her unease

‘In that case, Beth, in view of our e on both sides to— cultivate a closer understanding of each other'

It was that tiny hesitation before the word, along with thehint of emphasis, that alerted Elizabeth She had opened herin to her phone calls when she realised that to do so would open herself to all sorts of aard ques­tions She went into a cold sweat just thinking about it If he found out what her Uncle Si he would soon ferret out the rest

He raised his eyebrows as she snapped her ue

'You were going to say so?'

‘I was yawning,' she denied cuttingly ‘I find this con­versation beco'

'Really? I' In fact I find all your conversations fascinating, Beth'

Now she was positive Either he had listened in per­sonally to the calls she had alow or he had had someone else do it Perhaps he had even had them recorded! In the depths of her naïveté Elizabeth had never even considered the possibility of such deviousness She was savagely pleased she had called hi with the frustration of controlling her temper

‘I do look forward to us getting to know each other better,' he continued in that sultry French accent ‘It'll be so ether'

'We are not living together!' Elizabeth rasped hoarsely

'Hest a personal intily

'Nor ever will!' added Elizabeth emphatically

'You think not?' He reached out and touched her treer Elizabeth's lips parted as if stung He laughed, a low, slow, sexy rumble that brushed across her skin as he leant closer, his hand sliding around into her wind-sifted hair so that his palm possessively cupped the delicate nape of her neck while his fingers interith the sun-war is as woolly and disordered as this soft pelt of yours That's the trouble with lying, chérie; it gets you all confused, mixes up dreams and reality until you don’t really knohere you are'

Elizabeth knew exactly where she was and why she shouldn’t be there The ripping talons of a hunting haere not supposed to feel so achingly wonderful to its prey His second hand joined the first and she struggled against the startling discovery of how sensual a scalpand kneaded at the sensitive flesh while his lided closer and closer

The voluptuous tingling spread fro her feeble re­sistance She was going to bite him if he dared kiss her ive her the chance to satisfy her hunger His ly bypassed hers, the hands in her hair tight­ening to pull her head back so that he could nuzzle at her throat, the warainst the hot pulse just under her left jaw His tongue et and rough as it sanded the betraying leap of blood in her veins She gasped, clutching his waist as he sucked gently and then bent her head the other way so that he could pay equal hoe to the opposite pulse