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He opened the glass door that led to thethe operative word"

"And yet you’re very modern"

"A Renaissance man trapped between cultures"

"Is that what you are?"

He cast a playful sideways look to her "Honestly?"

"Yes"

"I’ain you don’t believe me"

"Let’s just say it’s no wonder you said you wanted to steal the tapestry I suppose there’s not ical beast, especially in this day and age"

Those greenish-gold eyes teased her unons?"

"No, of course not"

He tsked at her "You are so skeptical"

"I’ue over his teeth as a sly half-smile curved his lips A practical woon tapestries and wore a misbuttoned shirt Surely there wasn’t another soul like her in any tiest effect on his body

He was already hard for her, and they were barely touching Her grip on his arht and delicate, as if she was ready to flee hi he wanted, and that surprised him most of all

A reclusive person, he only interacted with others when his physical needs overrode his desire for solitude Even then, those encounters were brief and li sure they were as well sated as he, then he quickly returned to his solitary world

He’d never dawdled with idle conversation Never really cared to get to know more about a woman than her name and the way she liked to be touched

But Channon was different He liked the cadence of her voice and the way her eyes sparkled when she talked Most of all, he liked the way her smile lit up her entire face when she looked at hiels in heaven could make a more precious melody

Sebastian opened the door to the dark restaurant and held it for her while she entered As she swept past hiaze travel down the back of her body He hardened even ive to have her warm and naked in his arms so that he could run his hands down her full curves, nibble the flesh of her neck, and hold her to him as he slowly slid himself deep inside her while she writhed to his touch

Sebastian forced himself to look away from Channon and to speak to the hostess He sent a mental command to the unknooman to sit them in a secluded corner He wanted privacy with Channon

Hoished he’d met her sooner He’d been in this cursed city for well over a week, waiting for the oppor­tunity to go home, where if not the comfort of warmth, he at least had the cohts in this city alone, prowling the streets restlessly as he bided his time

At dawn, he would have to leave But until then, he intended to spend asher company ease the loneliness inside him, ease the pain in his heart that had burned hih the restaurant, but all the while she are of Sebastian behind her-- aware of his hot, predatorial gaze on her body and the way he seemed to want to devour her

But even more unbelievable was the fact that she wanted to devour him No man had ever made her feel sohis body with her hands and ain," he said after they were seated in a dark corner in the back of the pub

She glanced up froold eyes that reminded her of some feral beast "You are incredibly perceptive"

He inclined his head toward her "I’ve been accused of worse"

"I’ll bet you have," she teased back Indeed, he had the presence of an outlaw Dangerous, dark, seductive "Axe you really a thief?"

"Define the terh she wasn’t quite sure if he was joking or serious

"So tell ht their drinks, "what do you do for a living, Shannon with a C?"

She thanked the waitress for her Coke, then looked to Sebastian to see hoould deal with her occupation Most h she’d never been able to figure out why "I’inia"

"Ienuinely interested "What cultures and ti about her job "Mostly preNoruas ellen frelish He spoke it as if he’d been born to it I a subject so dear to her heart

She offered hione by and the kings who ruled thereatness We have heard of those princes’ heroic cans"

His inclined his head to her "You know your Beoell"

"I’ve studied Old English extensively, which, given my job, makes sense But you don’t strike me as a historian"

"I’m not Rather, I’m a sort of reenactor"

That explained the way he looked Now his presence in the htly air of authority es what had you in the museum today?" he asked

She nodded "I’ve studied the tapestry for years I want to be the person who finally unravels the mystery behind it"

"What would you like to know?"

"Who made it and why? Where the story of it comes froot it They have no record of when they acquired it or from whom it was purchased"

His autoht it in 1926 from an anonymous collector for fifty thousand dollars As for the rest, it was made by a woman named Antiphone back in seventh-century Britain It’s the story of her grandfather and his brother and their eternal strug­gle between good and evil"

His gaze was so sincere that she could ale way, it

But she knew better "Antiphone, huh?"

He shook his head "You just don’t believe anything I tell you, do you?"

"Why, kind sir," she said ilish accent " ’Tis not that I don’t believe you, but as a his­torian I n myself with fact Have you any proof of this Antiphone or transaction?"

"I do, but I so it to you"