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247a542
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My heart only ever had one thought, one want. One need. Despite all, in spite of all...All my heart has ever wanted is you.
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romance
dream
love
yearning
need
longing
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Stephanie Laurens |
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d2bed66
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Just because I'm not forever by your side doesn't mean that's not precisely where I want to be.
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romance
love
demon-cynster
longing
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Stephanie Laurens |
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ae6d98b
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Frowning, she looked up. "You can't want to ravish me every time we meet." Oh, yes, he could. Demon gritted his teeth..."
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romance
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Stephanie Laurens |
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ff1a582
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I'm not a gentleman, I'm a nobleman, a distinction I suspect you understand very well.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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aac890b
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Love wasn't a happening one decided on---to indulge or not, to partake or not. To feel or not. When it came, when it struck, the only decision left to make was how to respond---whether you embraced it, took it in, and made it a part of you, or whether you turned your back and let it die.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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7385125
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Climb every mountain , Ford Every stream Follow every rainbow ,'Till you find your dream
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dreams
finding-love
rainbow
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Stephanie Laurens |
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d41d3b6
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She searched his face. "Why did you do this -- go to all this trouble, indulge in what I'm sure will prove a shockingly hideous expense? He returned he gaze steadily "You like music." It was that simple -- he let her read the truth in his eyes. Then she shivered. He reached for the shawl she'd left over her chair and held it up. She hesitated, then turned so he could drape it over her shoulders. Releasing the fine silk, he closed his hands ..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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9b032bf
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I'm a Cynster--I've been raised to acquire, defend, and protect. My family is the core of my existence--without a family, without children, I'd have nothing to protect, no reason to acquire.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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f2476a0
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You may set your mind at rest, Miss Anstruther-Wetherby." He glanced down, the planes of his face granite-hard. "I'm not marrying you because of any social stricture. That, if you consider it, is a nonsensical idea. Cynsters, as you well know, do not give a damn about social strictures. Society, as far as we're concerned, can think what it pleases--it does not rule us." "But... if that's the case--and given your reputation I can readily bel..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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e17e077
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You, me---we're not the same, but we---our lives---somehow fit together.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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e8d5a81
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You also," he said, lowering his voice, "haven't yet thanked me for saving you from sitting in the flower bed." She didn't even look up. "It was entirely your fault that I nearly did. If you hadn't sneaked up on me, I wouldn't have been in any danger of landing in the weeds." She glanced briefly at him, a touch of color in her cheeks. "A gentleman would have coughed or something." Vane trapped her gaze, and smiled--a slow, Cynster smile. "A..
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love
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Stephanie Laurens |
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f07aeec
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You like my kisses - and I like kissing you. Why deny ourselves such innocent pleasure?
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love
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Stephanie Laurens |
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be8fdc8
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She drew a swift breath, and let it out on the words: "I love you--more than I've ever loved anyone. I love you so profoundly it goes beyond all reason. And I could never let you go--let you be taken from me--that would be the same as letting life itself go, because you are life to me."
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let-go
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Stephanie Laurens |
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35f52b4
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A man who declares his heart too early will leave you wondering whether he truly meant it." ~Catriona"
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Stephanie Laurens |
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7299ed1
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My brand of persuasion doesn't work well at a distance.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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492c35b
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the family motto, after all, is 'To Have and To Hold'. We were always a warrior breed, but we don't fight solely for lands and material wealth. There's an understanding, drummed into all of us from our earliest years, that success-true success-means capturing and holding , something more. That something more is the future-to excel is very well, but one needs to excel and survive. To seize lands is well and good, but we want to hold them for..
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wealth
future-generations
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Stephanie Laurens |
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3b01802
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Don't misunderstand, What the did you think, to leap over like that? You could have stayed safe on this side and " Even to her ears, her tone bordered on the hysterical. Beneath her fingers, the white lawn started to redden. She sucked in a shaky breath. "How could you risk your life-your , you idiot!" She leaned harder on the pad, dragged in another breath. He coughed weakly, shifted his head. " " His lips twisted, but his eyes remai..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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5fd84cb
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Just her luck to be abducted by kidnappers who could think.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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240ef57
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She stared at him, at his face. Simply stared as the scales fell from her eyes. "Oh, my God," she whispered, the exclamation so quiet not even he would hear. She suddenly saw-saw it all-all that she'd simply taken for granted. Men like him protected those they loved, selflessly, unswervingly, even unto death. The realization rocked her. Pieces of the jigsaw of her understanding of him fell into place. He was hanging to consciousness by a t..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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274921a
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And remembered--all he'd nearly forgotten, all her wild responses had driven from his mind. This was one seduction he had to, needed to, manage perfectly--this time, there was meaning beyond the act. Seducing Patience Debbington was too important to rush--conquering her senses, her body, was only the first step. He didn't want her just once--he wanted her for a lifetime.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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3341563
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You are riding for a fall, Your Grace," "I'll be riding you before Christmas."
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Stephanie Laurens |
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457e9ab
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You've given me everything I need of you-thanks to you I have all my heart desires, all I thought I might never have. All I need for a wonderful, fulfilling future. And I nearly lost it all." She held his gaze but was wise enough not to interrupt. If she had... He drew breath and forged on, "Nearly dying clarified things. When you stand on the border between life and death, the truly important things are easy to discern. One of the things I..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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ae22b07
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We invest the moment with meanings it may not necessarily have. We constrain and limit the potential outcomes by imposing external expectations, by imagining and anticipating how others will see things, what they might say...when in reality none of that might matter." ~Jeremy William Carling"
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Stephanie Laurens |
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1488077
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Love is not something you can impute to another." ~Leonora"
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Stephanie Laurens |
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b5da6a5
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Through the dimness she could just make him out, stretched on his back, his arms crossed behind his head. He might have been silent, but he hadn't been asleep. She could feel his frown as he looked at her. "What are you doing?" "Moving closer to you." Dropping her gowns, she shook out her cloak and laid it next to his. "Why?" "Mice." He let a heartbeat pass, then asked, carefully, "You're afraid of mice?" She nodded. "Rodents. I don't discr..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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48a7f1c
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I could say 'I love you'--and I do." Raising his lids, he met her gaze. "But it's not that simple... not for me. I never wanted a wife." He drew in a breath. "I never wanted to love--not you, not any woman. I never wanted to risk it--never wanted to be forced to find out if I could handle the strain. In my family, loving's not easy--it's not a simple sunny thing that makes one merely happy. Love for us--for me--was always going to be dramat..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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90ada29
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Sane women did not marry tyrants.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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ee0ce69
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One question I feel compelled to ask; Before they agreed to marry, did all the Cynster females behave as irrationally as Heather is?" He glanced briefly up, but Richard didn't look up from the lure he was tying off as he unperturably replied, "Prickly at the best of times, then 'have-at-you' the instant you set a foot, nay, a toe, wrong?" "Exactly." "Then yes." Richard straightened, tipping his head as he examined his lure. "It seems to be ..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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8cfb1ac
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So how are the wedding plans progressing?" Richard asked, once they were out of the village. "They aren't." Breckenridge heard his clipped tones, heard the irritation beneath. Didn't care if Richard did, too. "She's taken some nitwit notion into her head that I don't need to marry her, that she's going to go off and manage an orphanage in the country, or some such thing, so her social ruination doesn't matter." "Ah." Richard nodded sagely. ..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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417246c
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he'd slumped beside her. " You can't fear losing me half as much as I fear losing you." It had been a grudging admission; he'd thought her already asleep."
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losing-your
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Stephanie Laurens |
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bf9b609
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Get out of here, Antonia. Now." There was no real force behind the command, as if only a part of him meant it."
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Stephanie Laurens |
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e007d67
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Conquerors didn't make polite requests.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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e09ca98
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And that's my point," Richard stated. "Do you remember when you stood there, in a ballroom or whatever, and watched her stalk off - and wondered what the hell was going on?"
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Stephanie Laurens |
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aef8463
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Honoria ground her teeth. "What on earth am I to do with you?" Devil's features hardened, "Marry me." His voice was a frustrated growl. "The rest will follow naturally."
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Stephanie Laurens |
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477b2ed
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That's something for me to consider. So what else can you tempt me with?" Breckenridge hid a wry smile; he'd guessed that, in common with her female Cynster mentors, she'd be drawn to the prospect of managing a large household and the estate's people. Organizing ran in the blood. "I believe I mentioned that I'm under sisterly edict to marry. Unsurprisingly, a large and pertinent motive behind my sisters' prodding is the desirability of me b..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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df7ec33
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Love truly is the most transformative power in heaven and on earth.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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ee67b83
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At what age did men mature? If ever? And at what age did a woman cease having to deal with men acting as if they owned the right to lustfully indulge in a woman, be it with his eyes or hands? There was more to a woman than a womb and breasts.
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Stephanie Laurens |
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e27239d
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Innocence isn't something you should discard like an old shoe. It has a physical value--a passionate value--all its own." His frown deepening, he kept his gaze fixed on his leader's ears. "Innocence shouldn't be tarnished, it shouldn't be crushed. It should be made to bloom. I know." Those last two words were as much realization as assurance. "Getting innocence to bloom takes time, takes care and attention and expertise." His voice deepened..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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52a5e2a
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Come on-I'll see you back to your room and the estimable Martha." She put her hand in his and let him draw her to her feet. "Tomorrow...don't worry," he murmured, as he ushered her back through the darker side of the snug. "I'll be waiting in Carlisle to fall in behind the coach when you go past." Through the dimness he met her eyes. "I won't lose you." Her lips softly curved. "I didn't imagine you would."
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Stephanie Laurens |
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6fd7688
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I'm going to have a nice little nap in this sun. Don't think to wander off-I'll know if you move. A very light sleeper, I am." Heather stared, speechless, at the woman who slept so soundly every night that she'd never heard Heather slip out of their room, or back in. Heather managed not to shake her head in disbelief, just in case Martha was watching through her lashes."
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Stephanie Laurens |
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b20f2b1
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I have a request to make,my lord." He held her gaze; she could see him trying to decide what she might ask, but eventually he surrendered."And that is?" "Take me to your bed."
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feelings
romance
heart
love
strong-will
emotional
lord
surrender
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Stephanie Laurens |
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a7b916a
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She did. She understood now what fate asked of her-to have the strength to hold on regardless. To acknowledge that, even if he died, even if he left her, she would still love him until the day she died. Love didn't care. Love simply was. Love was unconditional. Love was for ever more. She had faith in love. She believed in love. She would love him in life and in death. And if the chance came again she would convince him of that. As the nigh..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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e75abad
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I'm pleased-very pleased-that you've finally made your choice. It's about time you came to your senses." He arched a brow. "Even if it took a kidnapping to do it?" She nodded sagely. "Even so." She paused, then more gently asked, "She's the right one for you, isn't she?" He held her gaze, then nodded. "Yes. Definitely." He hesitated, then added, "I couldn't live without her." Caro's smile widened until she was beaming. "Wonderful. That's h..
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Stephanie Laurens |
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b3c90cf
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I'm unaccustomed to being cooped up all day-I really must insist that you permit me to enjoy a short walk." "Not on your life," Fletcher growled. From the sound, Breckenridge realized the group had moved closer to the tap. "You don't need to think you're going to give us the slip so easily," Fletcher said again. "My dear good man"-Heather with her nose in the air; Breckenridge could tell by her tone-"just where in this landscape of empty fi..
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Stephanie Laurens |