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I broke the kiss and tried to climb down from his arms, but he held me against him. “It hurts,” I said.

He drew his face away enough to look puzzled, and then he let me down. He tried to make me slide down his body, but I stopped the movement in midmove, because the thought of rubbing myself down the front of something as rough as jeans made me cringe. No matter how nice the package inside the jeans might be.

He let me down onto the floor but kept his arms around me. I was back to putting my hands against his chest to try for some distance. I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but it was wrong. It wasn’t my thoughts.

“Anita, look at me,” he said.

I tried not to, but it was almost as if I couldn’t stop myself. The moment I held his gaze, the thought returned. I wanted to touch him, and be touched. I wanted…

Arms around my waist from behind, and I was jerked backward out of Richard’s arms. I was also off the ground, held against someone else’s nude body. I knew it was Crispin before I saw that flash of white hair out of the corner of my eye.

Alex moved between us and Richard. “Easy, Ulfric, but using magic is an unfair advantage.”

Shang-Da and Jamil were on either side of Richard, but seemed unsure whether to help him against the tigers or grab him so it didn’t get out of hand.

“I don’t know what you mean by magic, but if he doesn’t put Anita down, I’m going to use something a lot more solid on him than hocus-pocus.”

For me, I felt better in Crispin’s arms, clearer-headed. I patted Crispin’s arm. “It’s okay, you can put me down.”

“He was trying to bespell you, the way you can do to others.”

“I know.”

Richard said, “I can’t bespell anyone. I’m not a vampire.”

I patted Crispin’s arm again, and he lowered me to the ground, though he kept his arms around me, loose, but with a tension to them that let me know if I moved toward Richard again, he’d stop me. On one hand, he had no right to do that; on the other, I’d needed the help. What the hell was going on with Richard and me?

“You bespelled me like a vampire, Richard. When you touched me, it was harder to think, and when I looked up into your eyes it was impossible. It was like the whole world was nothing except need for you.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be when you’re in love,” he said.

I shook my head. “Pretty to think so, Richard, but this wasn’t being in love. This was obsession. The pain helped clear my head, just like it does when a vampire tries to roll me. And all vampire powers are magnified by touch. You know that.”

“But I’m not a vampire,” he said.

“Me either, but I can roll people as if I am, sometimes.”

Richard frowned at me, his handsome face closing down into those petulant lines. Why was it that pretty people did petulant better than the rest of us?

“I felt it, too,” Jason said. “It was focused on Anita, but I’ve been rolled too many times not to know it when I smell it.”

“You are all crazy,” he said, but he looked less petulant, and more thoughtful. There was a good mind inside the pretty packaging. It was one of the things that had made me love him.

“You don’t carry my anger anymore, Richard, but you’re still part of the triumvirate with Jean-Claude and me. Maybe when you lost the anger, you gained something else.”

He opened his mouth, closed it, then said, “Is that possible?”

“Let’s call Jean-Claude and ask,” Jason said.

Richard frowned at him. “Why don’t you shower while we call?”

Jason fought to keep his face neutral. “Want me out of the way?”

“No, but if you don’t want me pissed again, I need you not to smell like you rolled in Anita’s body.” He looked past me to Crispin. “You, too, Whitey.”

“My name is Crispin.”

“Whatever, but if you and Red here could go someplace else and clean up, that would help.”

“I don’t know if the room we booked is even still ours,” Crispin said.

“I have a room that I booked for the week,” Alex said. He looked at me, then at Jason beyond. “It is one of the social events of the year,