“You’ve given this some serious thought?”
“I don’t really think about it. I’ve never seen my life any other way.”
“And a brand will make you feel loved? Most women want a rock on their ring finger.”
“I’m not most women,” she stated flatly. “Being a branded female is what I’ve always craved—even before the Baron, before I became Robert’s ward.”
“So young?”
“I have no explanation for it either.”
“But branding?” It made little sense to him. “How on earth did you ever think of that?”
“Oh, you know me, sneaking around where I’m not supposed to go,” she answered with a bit of bashful chagrin. “When I was ten, I found a book about human branding in Robert’s library. It was this strange little ten page pamphlet wedged between some of his other racy books—which I’m sure I was not supposed to
