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"As I believe I said before, you&039;re a hardass I like that"

"Good thing, &039;cause that&039;s not going to change at this late date In any case, on her way out the door, she cursed my name and said it was a black day when Harper House ca, incohtful I&039;ll write her tomorrow"

"Just don&039;tfor me"

"It wouldn&039;t be hard for her to find out"

"True enough, but the less youelse on your e to work all day and still look as, anyway"

She waited anotherto mention it"

"What would it be?"

"The visit ht"

"Oh" Because she atching his face, she caught the flicker of surprise that lasses he&039;d taken off and began to polish them with his sweatshirt "He told you?"

"Yes He was angry, so he acted rashly"

"Like grabbing a fan rake instead of loppers"

Her laugh snuck out "Very like We have, both of us, horrible tempers Which is e both make a concerted effort not to lose theize for his behavior"

"I can&039;t accept"

There was distress, so he rarely saw from her, in her eyes "Mitch, I know he overstepped, but he&039;s young and - "

"You y when there&039;s no need for one Fro out for you"

"I don&039;t need, or want, looking out for"

"Maybe not, but that&039;s not going to stop so We discussed, came to understand each other, and that&039;s all there was to it"

"And you&039;re not going to elaborate on that"

"It was between him and me"

"You men do have your codes of honor"

"You weren&039;t going to tell me about this latest harassht of the phone call fro to tell I&039; with it"

"What&039;s happened since last night? You&039;re good, so I uard What else happened?"

"Just a minor irritation, one I&039;ve already handled It&039;s not important More accurately, I won&039;t let it be important If I do, it makes me the victim, and he wins I won&039;t be his victi I never allowed myself to be, and I won&039;t start now"

"Tellingsome of the stress, doesn&039;t make you a victi my problems I&039;m not comfortable with it But I appreciate the offer"

He took her hand, held it "Consider it a standing one Forto the Orpheum next week Come with ht Are you courting razed back and forth over her hand "I like to think I&039; you, Rosalind"

"That&039;s a pretty word,roYou&039;ve been careful not to pressureinto intimacy"

"If I pressured you, it wouldn&039;t be roine the door would hit me in the ass as you shoved me out of it"

Humor danced over her face "That&039;s astute I think you&039;re a clever man"

"I know I&039;m a besotted one"

"Another pretty word"

"I&039;ll have to be careful with the you&039;d distrust"

"Yes, a clever man Well" She had a choice, and she made it "Coht, she watched surprise run over his face Then he lifted her hand to his lips "Would this be serious business?"

"It would Very serious business"

"Then I&039;d love to"

She led him out of the rooht So it&039;s just the two of us Well, three" She looked up at him as they walked up the stairs "Will that bother you?"

"The fact that she uess we&039;ll find out Did you - " He cut himself off, shook his head

"What?"

"No, we&039;ll save that"

"All right I hope you don&039;toff dinner a bit"

As an answer he turned to her, into her, backing her against a wall Then laying his lips on hers

It began wared up to heat, and demand She treh her system and reminded her what it was like to be poised on the brink

He lifted his head, angled it "You were saying?"

Ithis hand, she drew him into her bedroom Shut the door

He took a moment, scanned the room with its lovely old four-poster and tall ith the curtains drawn back to let in the night

"It looks like you The rooreen walls, the antiques, the clean lines and elegant details "Beautiful and classy with a sirace and sense of style"

"You make me wish I&039;d taken the time to fuss with myself a bit"

He looked at her then, the casual sweater, the coht or not, I&039;m what I am I think a fire would be nice" She stepped toward it, but he laid a hand on her arm

"I&039;ll do it You&039;d have a view of the back gardens froan as he crouched in front of the fire

And the terrace doors slashed open on a frigid gust of wind

"Yes, I do" Calain "Sos, when there&039;s time, I like to take coffee out on the terrace"

He set the kindling to blaze, and his tone was as matter-of-fact as hers "I can&039;t think of many better ways to start the day"

She stepped to the bed to turn down the duvet "Or end it I often have a last glass of wine or cup of coffee out there before I go to bed It helps ses left over from the day" She reached over, turned out the lamp

"Why not leave it on?"

She shook her head "The firelight&039;s enough, the first tih to prefer that"

She stood where she aited for him to come to her As he laid his hands on her shoulders, the bedrooht have more of that to contend with," she said

"I don&039;t care" His hands slid up to her face "I don&039;t care," he repeated and took her lorious jolt The sort that woke the whole syste life In answer, she lifted her arle of the kiss to deepen it

Clocks began to chime, insanely In defiance as much as need, she pressed her body to his "I want you to touch ainst his mouth "I want to be touched By you Your hands on me"

He eased her back on the bed, sank in with her The weight of hiht of a man, and what it meant Then he touched, and she moaned

He felt the heat fro and cool veneer Her skin was like velvet, warmed velvet, over her sides, her torso, the lovely curve of her breasts

Slih and disciplined Like her

She tasted of ripe, forbidden fruit and sardens

Her hands slid under his shirt, up his back Hard, strong hands, an arousing contrast to the wand-slim body, the satiny skin

She drew his shirt over his head, reared up enough to set her teeth on his bare shoulder And the shock of it speared straight to his loins

The terrace door flew open once h to slap over him He simply reached down, hauled the duvet up And burrowed under it with her

She laughed, and found hisher, feasting on her, he tugged her sweater up and off "Tell me if you&039;re too cold"

"No I couldn&039;t be"

She was burning up from the inside out, and only wanted more More of his hands, hiswhen those hands, that h her, the bliss of giving her body, of having itused

They rolled together, tugging each other free of clothes, sliding together naked as flesh began to slick from heat and passion

The blankets fell away, so firelight flickered over them And if in so, she could feel only that steady rise of excite over her

She lifted to hed, when he slipped inside her

He watched her now as she watched hiazes and bodies locked Then the moveged, as dark, deep pleasure flooded her, swept her away

He watched her crest, the arch of her throat, the blur of her eyes, felt her fly over as she squeezed around hiht to hold on another moment, just another moment while she quaked under hi, low moan And her body went soft and limp in surrender

He kissed her then, one last, desperate kiss before he plunged, and emptied

THE DOORS WEREclosed as they should be The fire crackled and simmered And the house was quiet, settled, and warm

She was cocooned with hi herself to enjoy the bliss and the glow With very little effort, she could have drifted straight off to sleep

"Looks like she gave up," Mitch commented

"Yes For now, anyway"

"You were right about the fire It&039;s nice Very nice"

Then he rolled so that she was under hi with you," he began, then shook his head, touched his lips to hers "Being with you"

"Yes" Sh his hair "That&039;s very nice, too I haven&039;t wanted to be with anyone in a very long tiave his biceps a squeeze "I like good arms I don&039;t like to think I&039; naked with a e that to a woman, then say the same The first tiot one excellent ass, Ms Harper"

"It happens I do" With a laugh, she gave his a light slap "We&039;d better get dressed, go on down before everyone starts co home"

"In a h ht ed whiskey - and I did love a good whiskey But that&039;s not it It&039;s the way they look straight at al"

"Please"

"Oh yeah, there&039;s lady of the manor in there, and it beats the hell out of , or inti at least But for "

"If that&039;s the case, I&039;lasses so I don&039;t get you heated up at inappropriate tiave her a light kiss, then shifted Took her hand "This mattered This was important There isn&039;t anyone else"

Her heart tre and just a little foolish "Yes, this mattered This was important There isn&039;t anyone else"

"Serious business," he said, and drew her hand to his lips "I&039;ain, real soon"

She squeezed his hand "We&039;ll have to see e can do about that"