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A soft id shaft in his jeans swelled more fully from the small sound she made

The prie and his voice was sharper than he intended, "Emma!"

Her eyes flew open and she jerked in her chair when she canition was slow in co and he saw the panic and fear that shone from her eyes as she whimpered

"Shh, it's ht, you're safe," he soothed at the sa insidiously through his body

He needed to get her fed and into bed

Into her bed, alone

Enized the man in front of her Her muddled brain tried to understand the differences she saw in hiaze, the ropes of tension bracketing his s braced apart as if prepared to ward off an attack But that made little sense

A wave of apprehension burned through her and she had to physically get a hold of herself He was the saant, yes But the sa to hurt her If his intent was to hurt her, he would have done so already

She studied hies in his demeanor

"What's wrong?" she questioned him in a voice husky from interrupted sleep

"Nothing's wrong," he bit out as he turned to pick up the plate and put it on her lap

Emma reached out to steady the plate and juh It was ridiculous to jump, she knew It wasn't as if she was naked She had on a dress and two petticoats But still, the brush of his hand against her was like a streak of fire running through her

Her eyes flew to his and were ensnared by the heated look in his eyes His nostrils flared as he lifted away froht

"Luke, I--"

Luke felt her voice hit him on another wave of arousal She had to choose this moment to spontaneously call him by his first name?

He cut her off "Eat"

She licked her lips and glanced down at what he had placed in front of her The bread was yeasty and fresh and the cheese was a war She hadn't eaten since early thatAnd that had only been a hurried snack while on the road

Luke watched her as she picked up the sandwich and with greedy little bites silently devoured the simple meal He stood in front of her until she had finished every scrap and then handed her the milk

She drank half the ainst the chair and slowly lifted her eyes to his

"Finish it"

Dish her at his tone "Finish the milk?"

"Yes," his ansas succinct

"I can't right now"

"Yeah, you can"

Alar told to eat or drink so when she was full or when she absolutely couldn't stand the taste was one of her biggest fears It was ridiculous, she knew But for two e, she and the other children had been terrorized by a controlling matron who took pleasure from forced consumption

The knot of panic in her throat grew and she knew she wouldn't be able to get down another drop

She trembled and reminded herself that she was an adult; he couldn'tshe didn't want to do

At her continued silence, he spoke "Why are you looking at me like that?"

She ignored the question and tried to move past the conflict "I'll just take it to bed with me, I'm tired Can you shohere I'll sleep?"

"Finish it now and then I'll get you settled"

Luke was shocked when his reasonable request was limmer of tears in her eyes