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She'd been kidnapped, manhandled, and made to feel totally inadequate, despite all her years of education and business experience, because she didn't know how to light a fire. |
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And her hands, her lovely hands, had been mined. |
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She flexed them now, allowing the pain to stoke her fury. On top of everything else, this man had dared to call her pampered. By her family. |
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"Do you consider being abandoned time after time by a father addicted to get-rich-quick schemes pampered? Or how about being the parent to a hopeless dreamer of a mother? A mother who was always surprised, after the family was uprooted and moved to yet another godforsaken outpost, that this wasn't the end of the rainbow. A mother who always fell apart when her husband astonished her and left yet again." |
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She noticed then that Thorn still held her arms. She wrenched away from him, ready to return to her room. Her breathing was ragged, and she had an urge to cry. |
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But she wouldn't. She absolutely wouldn't. |
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She found her way blocked by his body. With a sound of irritation, she sidestepped, trying to get around him. But as large as he was, he had the grace of a cat and moved to block her once more. |
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His voice erupted with emotion she did not understand. "Perhaps it is better to walk away from a family in which you are disappointed than to disappoint and shame a worthy family." |
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"What do you mean?" Mariah stood still, her anger fizzling out. She waited for him to go on. Was he about to tell her about his childhood, too? No longer did she want to cry; instead, she was ready to listen. |
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René had mentioned an incident in England, the reason Thorn had left. René knew no details. Was Thorn about to tell her? |
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Though he said nothing for a long while, when he finally spoke again his tone was composed yet gentle. "You said you were thirsty. We will find you a drink." |
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She realized suddenly how parched her throat felt, as though all the moisture inside her had risen to her eyes. "Just |
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