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letting him touch her chest. She was going to let him kiss her. She was going to like it.
    That horrible thought sent her into action.
    "I do feel something between us," she whimpered, impressed that she sounded so legit. Reese Witherspoon had nothing on her.
    "What's that, love?"
    "My knee."With a swift movement up, she nailed him in the nuts,then rolled out from under him as he jerked back in shock.
    "Don't ever do that again," she said, scrambling to her feet and yanking her skirt back into place. "If you do, I won't hold back like this time."
    Because she was very much afraid if he tried to put that move on her a second time, she just might let him finish it.
    Which meant insanity was catching, and she didn't have a prayer of savingBrittany from him.
    "Hold back? That was holding back?" Ethan hunched over and fought a wave of nausea. While it was nearly impossible to injure his body, he still felt pain, and Alexis had delivered him a hell of a kick.Right where it counted. Good thing vampires didn't procreate—at least they weren't supposed to—because she had probably maimed him.
    Good God, a woman hadn't gotten the best of him in over seven hundred years. He must be losing his touch. He had actual fallen for her capitulation. He'd thought she'd felt the same urgent and suffocating lust he had experienced when he'd foundhimself over her, in the perfect position to invade her body with his own.
    It was humbling to realize how much he had come to rely on reading people's thoughts. That, with quick reflexes, always kept him in control. But Alexis had a mind like a bank vault, and the door was shut tight to him. Without sensing her thoughts and actions, he was as vulnerable as a mere mortal.
    He hadn't known that kick was coming until it landed right on his testicles, and if he didn't want that to happen again, he was going to have to be much more alert.
    The challenge of that had him strangely aroused.Excited.
    Which was pathetic.Had his life become so staid and boring that a woman abusing his bollocks had him horny? Given the erection in his pants, it seemed so.
    "That was just a little demonstration, Carrick. I could break your nose, knock out some teeth, pop you in the eye if you'd like."
    Let her try. Feeling a grin split his face, he decided he'd been working too hard on his reelection, and Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    had expended a lot of energy worrying aboutBrittany 's reaction to him.Ornonreaction . She treated him more like a friend than a potential lover, and she was just as perky and cheerful with Peter and Seamus as she was with him.That lie aboutBrittany enjoying his bed—while childish and boastful—had been to provoke Alexis.
    Clearly it had worked.
    And he was enjoying the challenge Alexis presented far too much for a man who was supposed to be responsible and focused on business.
    "I'll pass on having my eye poked out, thanks, but how lovely of you to offer." Besides, his body would just heal the damage and he didn't think Alexis was ready to see vampire restoration.
    "Lovely. That's me." Alexis gave a snort, undid her hair fromit;s twist, and scraped it back into a new makeshift ponytail.
    Ethan stood up. "You are rather lovely, Alexis, if one ignores the bad temper, foul mouth, and monstrous stubbornness."
    She glared at him as he brushed off his pants.
    There was a look in her eyes he didn't trust. "What? Are you going to hit me again?"
    "I'm thinking about it."
    He could hardly wait. "Let's just skip that, shall we? Look, I'm sorry that you are displeased with your sister, but I think that is for the two of you to discuss."
    It was a good thing he was an experienced politician, well versed in persuasion. He'd been delivering the same rhetoric to Alexis for thirty minutes. Now if only she'd actually listen to him.
    "So why vampires?" she asked."Why not werewolves or demons or druids?Shapeshiftersor wizards? Is it because vampires are supposed to be