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She couldn’t think past theof her blood She sed painfully "I feel you too"

He sucked in a sharp breath

Miranda stepped closer, closer to the heat of his body, to the place where her senses came alive--toward him Her hand trembled as she touched her breast "I feel you here," she said, both an admission and the true reason she could not leave hisbut a handbreadth apart She felt his legs tense, a gather of his resolve His hand lifted

She watched it coht from the s at his back The swells of her brsts rose and fell over her bodice with a rapid rhyth the upper curve of her left breast, and she gasped

"Here?" he asked thickly

A trehtless anticipation filled her,her head spin "There"

Smooth leather burned a path to her neck Archer watched his fingers, the line of his ry Then, as if in answer to a challenge, he lowered his head Miranda’s breath ratcheted in her chest, became trapped by her corset Unable to bear it, she closed her eyes

Soft lips pressed against her breast, barely a touch that sent a bolt of feeling through her heart

"Archer"

"Miri" His breath steaile skin "Sono consuers made Up, up, over the curve of her breast to the indent just above her collarbone Not quite touching her, but ski the surface Hot breath ebbed and flowed in waves over her skin as he explored with unhurried languor

"I aainst her ear, and she shivered "By you" Soft lips grazed her jaw in an agonizingly slow trail toward her waiting ht She could not bear it The heat in her was fever bright No part of him touched her, except that mouth But oh, that mouth It destroyed her composure as it moved with steady deliberation toward her lips

The tip of his nose brushed against her hair as his lips touched the corner of her mouth A universe of nerves occupied that sh to leave her dizzy

Archer held still, treainst his chest as she struggled to gain equilibriuh her veins like wildfire She wanted torash, crush her lips to his and siainst his She did none of those things, only clutched her skirt like a lifeline as he moved his open lips just above hers

His breath left in a pained rush that flowed into her In, out, in Still he did not kiss her, but let his lips brush against hers as if he knew, just as she, ould happen should their e She wanted more She wanted a taste Her liue inch forward, slip out between her parted lips Of a like ues touched

A choked cry broke fro a bolt of heat to her core Archer ues retreated And then

She flicked her tongue, a s filled her ears as their tongues caressed, retreated, andeach other Every flick, each wet slide of his tongue felt like a direct touch to the center of her sex, until she throbbed there, grew so hot she feared she ht combust

Their lips never melded, only danced with the possibility of it It was not a kiss It was so infinitely worse It was torture And God help her if she didn’t want ers fisted her skirts with near violence His tongue slipped deeper, lighting across her lips, invading herArcher’s big hand clasped her nape, hard and impatient Noould kiss her, take her Now Her body screamed for that sweet release

He wrenched his ainst his hard chest Her heart leapt to her throat, her senses jue thu the wall behind her She froze, panting softly, her nose buried in the black folds of his suit coat for what felt like an eternity but was at most aher teetering on her feet She righted quickly and found hi But the long hall behind them was empty Slowly he turned his attention to the wall before theer embedded deep in the plaster still quivered from the i to slits The force of the throas uner would have now rested deep within Miranda’s back

"What the devil?" she hissed, disbelief and sheer terrorher voice unsteady and her heart pound

A mad cackle echoed in the empty corridor behind them, and Miranda started The voice was neither feminine nor masculine--only evil Footsteps sounded in the far end of the gallery, near the end of the corridor where shadoelled

Archer squeezed her shoulder "Stay here"

He took off running Grabbing her parasol with one hand, and her skirts with the other, she followed The long corridor veered right, opening to a larger hall and the stairs to the lower exhibits and great court There the devil stood, paused at the top of the marble stair He lifted his head, and her heart skittered Were it not for the ht him Archer’s twin The villain wore a suit of black and acarnival mask that covered his entire face

"Hell," Archer said

Thesalute and then turned to fly down the stairs A dash to the high marble balustrade found the stairwell empty; the villain vanished as if by illusion

"Hell and damn" Archer’s hand came down upon her wrist "Stay here I will couentle "Stay here"

She hadn’t the ti and leapt over it, straight down the stairwell

Chapter Fourteen

Archer!"

Miranda leaned over the rail in time to see him land sure-footed as a cat three stories below and then race off

"Christ al off theher skirts higher than propriety allowed The only trail left was irate pedestrians glaring in the direction Archer had taken when rushing past