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so.”
    “But you don’t know yet?”
    His breathing quickened and his blood ran several degrees hotter. And not with lust. He couldn’t remember becoming so angry so fast in…well, maybe ever. His jaw clenched with the effort to contain his ire. “All right—I know I am not going to fuck you, not today.”
    Her eyes popped open. “But why?”
    “Because it’s not quite the thing when a lady is intoxicated.”
    “But I am not a lady. I am a…what is the term you gentlemen use for it?” She lifted one shoulder. “Oh yes, a soiled dove. A gentleman may take whatever liberties he chooses with an intoxicated dove.”
    “Don’t talk like that.” His jaw clenched tighter, making it hard to speak.
    Her other hand had snaked its way back to his fall. His cock twitched. A strange paralysis claimed him as he watched her free several more buttons. He wanted nothing more than to push her hands aside, undo those buttons himself, roll over her and sink into her soft, wet folds.
    Damn, had he ever wanted a woman as much as he wanted her?
    He doubted it.
    He took her wrists and held her at bay. “Don’t push things, Beth. I am prepared to overlook your behaviour today because you don’t know me well yet. But I don’t like drunkenness.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “Such high standards for your harlots, eh? I wouldn’t have guessed.”
    Harlot? The word flashed like kindling on the fire of his anger. Since when had he even so much as suggested he viewed her as a lowly harlot? He was infuriated with her putting words into his mouth. “Beth, stop it.”
    “Well, I mean I doubt you have many requirements for your friends. Those men in the dining hall—their eyes were so cold, soulless, they looked at me like they wanted to snatch the life’s blood from my veins. As if I count for less than they do. Because my gown was a bit worn.”
    “Are you quite done?”
    “No, I want to understand how you can associate with such men.”
    That she was spot-on in her assessment of Dorr and Metcalf didn’t matter. That he’d noticed their avid interest in her and been incensed by it didn’t matter. That it pricked him to know she’d been hurt by their disrespect didn’t matter. They were important business contacts and he answered to no one.
    “That’s requirement number two. My business life is none of your concern.”
    “Right.” She bolted upright. “Listen, Mr High-and-Mighty-Merchant.” She punched her finger into the crisp linen covering his chest. “I don’t allow my lovers to dictate to me.”
    She left the bed and wavered on her feet, a frown marring her angelic features.
    “Where the devil are you going?”
    “As far away from you as I can get.”

Chapter Four
     
     
     
    Beth turned, tripped and struggled for balance. Grey shot off the bed, reaching her as she lost the battle. She fell into his arms, her sky blue eyes sparking up at him.
    “Take your hands from my person,” she said with dignity worthy of a senator’s wife.
    He let her go and she wobbled away apace. Then she halted, closing her eyes as the colour drained from her face and a small, miserable-sounding moan escaped her.
    “You’d better get back to bed,” he said.
    She staggered over and sprawled across the bed face-down, her white, rounded ass raised like a banner of surrender. The stunning invitation sent the temperature of his blood soaring, his pulse pounding in his ears. His cock surged erect again.
    You can’t—you know you can’t.
    Suppressing a groan, he went to her, took her shoulders and turned her. She lay limp as a poppet in his arms, murmuring an approximation of his name. At least, he chose to believe it was his name.
    Unable to resist, he bent and found her lips. She returned his kiss languorously, all wine-scented and as ripe with promise as a sun-soaked, early spring afternoon.
    Her movements grew ever more indolent. He broke the kiss and his hand found its way between her legs, his fingers sliding between the plump lips