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"You rutting beast!"

Marcus lifted his head froaze of such fury he couldn’t breathe for a moment Elizabeth stood with her hands on her hips in the stable doorway

"I wouldn’t wed you for any reason!" she shouted, before spinning in a swirl of skirts and running away

"Christ" Marcus leapt to his feet and then yanked the servant girl to hers Without another word, he was in pursuit, rushing past the gaping, sleep- dawn

Elizabeth, a woman well accustomed to physical exertion, was several feet ahead of hithened his stride

"Elizabeth!"

"To hell with you," she yelled back

Her pace was frantic and her path too close to the cliff’s edge for Marcus’s co her and twisting to land on his bare back Srass cut at his back as he slid so body clutched tightly to his

"Stop it," he growled, rolling to pin her beneath hi fists

"Constancy is beyond you, you horrid ly perfect, was flushed and tearstained

"It’s not what you think!"

"You were half dressed atop a woany further injury Despite the chill of the , the pain of his back and hand, and the consternation that drew his brows together, he was still intensely aware of the woht" Elizabeth turned her head and bit his bicep Marcus roared and shoved his knee between her legs, sinking betwixt theain and I will turn you over ain and I’ll shoot you," she retorted

Having no other notion of what to do, he lowered his head and captured her lips, his tongue slipping briefly inside before he yanked his head back fro teeth

He snarled "If you worry so much about my fidelity you should ensure it"

Her ant utterances"

"Selfish wench You don’t want me, but God forbid if any other woman does"

"Another woman can have you, with my pity!"

He pressed his forehead to hers and roomsmen You spooked my horse and caused a tu so close to you?"

"I was injured" Marcus held her wrists with one hand and displayed histo assist , Elizabeth asked, "Why are you bare-chested?"

"It was hot, love" Marcus shook his head at her disbelieving snort "I’ll present the libidinous parties to you for a confession"

A tear slid down her temple "I will never trust you," she breathed

He brushed his lips across hers "More the reason to wedthe fe"

"That was cruel" She sniffled

"I’ruffly, the soft pressure of her curves under his only exacerbating his discoive th of the road left to travel?"

Her reddened eyes met his "Why won’t you cease? Lose interest? Seek the attentions of soned to the ht left her tense body with a silent sob

He hugged her tighter She looked as he did--tired, unhappy Neither one of the each other Physically they were so close, shut off froether, and yet the distance between the

For the first time since he’d met her, Marcus conceded that perhaps they weren’t meant for each other

"Do you … Do you have a e of topic, he blurted, "Yes"

Her ainst his cheek "I won’t share you"

"I wouldn’t make that request of you," he promised

"You must rid yourself of her"

He pulled back "I intend to make herwench" He rubbed his nose against hers "I’ve barely the energy required to pursue you Think you I have the ithal to chase other skirts?"

"I need time to think, Marcus"

"You have it," he proain

She pressed her lips to his throat and gave a shaky sigh "Very well then I’ll consider your address"

Chapter 13

Elizabeth paced the length of her bed The drapes at the ere open, as they had been since the third night of her stay, and the pearlescent light of thethe only an hour or two of rest a night

She covered her face with her hands If she didn’t get so for Marcus she would surely go mad

Over the last ten days she had collected hundreds of i on a blanket on the beach, Marcus sprawled in his shirtsleeves on the settee reading aloud, Marcus at the hearth lit by the light of the fire as he banked it for the night

She had memorized his smiles and the way he rubbed the back of his neck when he was tense She knew the way the overnight growth of beard darkened his face in the leamed wickedly when he teased her, and then darkened when he wanted her

And he did want her

The look in his eyes and the timbre of his voice told her daily that he wished he were holding her, touching her,no overt atte, she stared at her hands clenched in front of her The truth of it was, no effort was required on his part to make her desire him It was instinctual, uncontrollable

So as she here, pacing her rooht was just a door away?

Because he rong for her, she knew The epito she had never wanted A libertine of soain in the stables that he was not to be trusted She wanted to lock him away, keep him to herself, share him with no one Only then would she find some measure of peace Only then could she catch her breath and not feel this clawing ache that she would lose him