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Page 117

| even watch me undress before I entered the river?" |

| Ashton's jaw tightened. He took a step closer to Sasha, flinching when she took a step back. "I swear to you that I was not aware of which part of the river you were swimming in," he said. "Nor was I aware that you were swimming nude." |

| Forgetting her need to cover her breasts, Sasha placed her hands on her hips. "And, kind sir, are you going to tell me that you did not know it was my ankle that you were holding, nornor my breast that you were touching?" she hissed. "How could you not know it was me? No other woman is traveling with us." |

| "The water is not clear enough to see an inch ahead of you and you know it," Ashton said, tiring of this bantering. "I was swimming beneath the water minding my own business when my hands just happened upon you swimming ahead of me." |

| He flung a hand in the air. "And, damn it, at that moment I did know who it was," he said in a near shout. "No man I know has such delicately tapered ankles." |

| His eyes lowered and he cleared his throat. "Now I must admit that when I touched your breast, that was done deliberately," he said softly. |

| He looked slowly up at her. "How could I not?" he said, his voice drawn. "Sasha, damn it, I need you. I love you." |

| A dull ache knotted within Sasha's chest. Something compelled her not to pull away when his hands were suddenly on her throat, framing her face. Her pulse raced and her knees weakened with rapture when he bent and pressed a warm, tender kiss to her parted lips. Just as quickly, all of her |

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