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discipline..."

 
    "Disciplined by a thieftaker? They have no discipline--no moral code, no--"

 
    "Stop it." Suddenly he wanted to shake some sense into her, tell her the truth, burned to have her understand that he was not a thieftaker. Wanted to kiss her senseless. He reminded himself this was a young lady, too young for him.

 
    "If you knew my name you..."

 
    "Would let you go? I would not let you go even if you were DeMontville's daughter. Ah, but no! I promised punishment, I think." The young lady looked horrified as Cameron leaned close, a smile curving his lips. He lowered his head to her, his mouth very nearly against her ear as he spoke. "You should be stripped as naked as the day you were born and made to go through purification. Or would you prefer something more humbling?"

 
    The girl's eyes widened and flashed sparks that shot out to pierce his thick hide.

 
    She moistened her lips. "Naked?" The light of battle shone in her eyes.

 
    "As the day you were born." Cameron's thumb gently traced the girl's cheek. The little lady appeared even more horrified. Cameron swore softly at the rush of blood that heated her face. Lord, he couldn't, he shouldn't go through with this. But then he might, because she had sorely tempted him. And this was no child. This was a young lady in desperate need of guidance.

 
    She was reckless and wild and something in her nature stirred him. She had put her very life in danger, and his by coming out here this day, had defied the laws of the City. Punishment was inherent. But purification? Or even sterilization? That was horrible; he could not let that happen, but he could make her think about it, and perhaps in the future, she would not be so quick to leave the City.

 
    Ah, but he could tease her only so long no matter how enticing she was, despite the lure of her form beneath him, regardless of the desire that raged instantly with his touch upon her skin. And, he reminded himself again, she couldn't be more than nineteen.

 
    Anger seized him, raw fury against himself and the ease with which she defied him and flaunted the rules. Courage was one thing, stupidity another. Then a determination, fierce and unrelenting, overrode every other thought.

 
    Cameron's eyes closed. Memories once buried resurfaced and the years vanished. So many years. Yet the one he remembered now was a different forest, still green and dense. And a thief lay on the ground dead from a thieftaker's knife, one of his own kind. A thieftaker that he'd never trusted. Quentin Morray. His eyes widened, meeting the girl's.

 
    "I shall never forgive you for this--thieftaker. Let me up!" she commanded him.

 
    "I do not seek forgiveness." It appeared she would not give in, would not surrender. He could not let her see the concern and the fear that swept through him when he thought of what she risked here. His rock-hard thighs squeezed around her hips snugly. Intimately. He forced himself to smile, grinning knowingly as he spoke in a challenging fashion, his voice husky. "You should realize your interference here is not appreciated. You should learn to stay in the safety of the City. There is nothing here for you."

 
    "I hate you. Let me--"

 
    "No, you'll only stumble on something more dangerous. They banish City Dwellers who defy the laws, you know. But only after purification."

 
    She turned instantly white. He felt the trembling of her body. "I know," she said, her voice strangled and barely perceptible.

 
    "Oh?" Cameron didn't enjoy her sudden contrition or his dominant position with his legs encasing her thighs, but he had gone too far to turn back. "Once upon a time a councilman of highest rank banished his daughters for just such an offense as what you've committed here. Why..." he hesitated, a grin stretched across his face and he breathed close to her ear. "Once upon a time, a thief might have been sent to the outskirts of civilization for standing on the towers that rim the City. Lie