His hand was on her leg. No one — except a maid — had touched Hanna's leg since she was a child. Hanna's hand moved from Mr. Hudson's lapel to his back, skating over the back of his jacket. She leaned her neck forward to press a wet kiss to the top of his ear — inspired by this, she gave a careful lick to his earlobe. "I'm yours," she whispered. They may be on the beach, but this felt deeply intimate to her — like they were the only people in the world, the only people who had ever thought of this — mouth on neck on ear, hands on back on leg under skirts, all of it.

  

Dean didn't have any delusions of deflowering a desperate debutante tonight. He didn't quite think Johanna knew what she was opening herself up for and so far their previous interactions did not lead him to believe she was that sort of girl. Pretty ladies who liked to do puzzles in their spare time were not sexual deviants.

Still, he could appreciate her bravado and sense of adventure. He leaned back slightly, body stilling for a moment, though he didn't move his hands. "What exactly does that mean to you?" He questioned, eyebrow quirked curiously.

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Hanna knew men, or at least the idea of them, well enough to know that she could not tell Mr. Hudson the truth about the amulet. It would make her seem manipulative, or maybe unhinged — (and never mind that the amulet had kept her from doing something truly desperate.) She also could not tell him she loved him, because that would be a lie. A beat passed where she worked her lip between her teeth. He was going to be her husband — what could she say that would help them get to the altar, and hopefully with haste?

"It feels like destiny," she said, meeting his eyes even though she was not entirely sold on the words she had chosen.

  

Dean hit the proverbial brakes right there. He kept their close, comfortable position in the sand, but eased his hand from her leg and tugged her skirts back down. "I mean this in the nicest way possible, because I am enjoying myself, but that's not exactly an answer." Caution and keeping his head on straight had served him well in the past. Discretion was his best friend, given some of the antics he got up to and Dean was worried this was not just a friendly rendezvous to her.

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He was pulling back. Destiny was too much, then — she wished she'd had more time to think, more time to seduce. Hanna released his lapels, placed one hand on her skirts. She bit her lip again. "I did something wrong?" she said; she knew she had done something wrong, because she always did. But she hadn't thought that was possible with Lochrin's amulet — wasn't that supposed to be helping her be lucky, and overcome all the problems she usually had with gentlemen?

  

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set by Bee

Ahh, there was the more normal reaction. Dean dithered about how to reply to that. It wasn't that she had done something wrong, it was more like Dean didn't think she knew what she was offering up in its entirety. And it wasn't that he was afraid to do what she wanted, he just didn't think she had any idea as to what that was.

"Johanna, what is it you want out of this?" He was honestly curious to know what her goal was here. He was obviously in it for the fun, but he wasn't so sure that was her agenda.

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Hanna knew she could not tell him he was going to be her husband. (Was he going to be her husband, or had Mr. Lochrin lied to her? Hanna was, the longer she was under here, starting to have doubts.)

She also knew she couldn't tell him more about destiny; that had been where she took a step wrong in the first place. So what did she do? The answer came to her from before she had found the amulet — because it had been one of her original schemes. And Mr. Hudson was a rake, so maybe it wouldn't work on him.

So something that was manipulative, but also the truth. Once they married — if they married — he would forgive her. Or he would leave her here, and she'd have her own answer.

"I — know how I look, and act, and what people say," she admitted, voice quiet. "And I don't want to be alone."

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   Dean Hudson

The pieces of the puzzle that were Johanna Applegate were starting to come together. Just like she enjoyed figuring out her puzzles, Dean enjoyed figuring out people. Unfortunately he didn't think he was really what she was looking for here. He usually knew what to say, but he couldn't quite understand where she was coming from, but he could try to sympathize to the best of his ability.

"I think you should have some more confidence, you are quite striking." He'd noticed that in their first meeting. Beautiful had more than one definition. "But I can't fill the role you want me to. I have zero intentions to settle down any time soon." He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he also was in no position to ensure she didn't wind up alone and she needed to know that.

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The amulet hadn't fixed him, hadn't fixed her — Protego Lochrin was a liar. Hanna was going to have to find him — if she ever recovered her pride, which was hard to do when she was partially underneath Mr. Hudson and his hand had recently been on her leg and he wouldn't marry her.

At least he thought she was striking.

"Oh," Hanna said. She swallowed. "Can we — still be friends?" (She was not sure if they were friends — but she would certainly like for him to be her friend.) "And — if I do become a spinster — I would like to do this again."

(She had not entirely ruled out manipulating someone to the altar, although he seemed to careful for that. But if she did not succeed, especially after this disappointment of a night, then she would like to be touched again before she died.)

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   Dean Hudson

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set by Bee

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Dean started to inch back a little so he could sit up beside her and help her up. "I would like that." She was interesting and had a touch of an adventurous rebellious streak that he liked. Whatever her motivation for tonight was, Dean certainly wasn't going to hold it against her. The pressures on women (and fortunately for him, first sons) to marry was frankly ridiculous and he wanted no part in it.

"And if the time comes, we'll se what happens next." If she reached true spinsterhood and wanted to give no-strings-sex a spin, he would make it worth her while. "I have faith in you yet though." He couldn't be the only one to see her good qualities, somebody in a better position  would come along and sweep her off her feet.

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   Johanna Applegate

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