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“I should go now,” she told him quietly. “I believe Mama has fainted from… from what I did. I should see to her now?—”

She turned to leave, but he caught her arm once more. She looked up at him in surprise. “Your Grace?”

“Did you do it truly out of the goodness of your heart only?” he asked her softly. “Did you not mean anything you said back there?”

He stepped closer to her, reaching out to brush his knuckles against her warm cheek. He heard her breath catch in her throat, saw her chest rise, swelling under his gaze.

“Because if you did mean all those things, I could return the favor,” he continued, his voice dropping to a low whisper as his breath fanned her ear. “I could bring you pleasure, sweetheart… so much pleasure that your knees would go weak?—”

He felt her hands bracing against his chest as she pushed him away.

“No, thank you, Your Grace,” she said with a firm shake of her head and a delicate shudder. “I will not become your prey. It is bad enough that I have saved a Wolf, I do not intend to be eaten for my efforts as well.”

Ethan smiled at that.Interesting choice of words.

Eating her would be an undertaking he could apply himself most wholeheartedly to.

He laughed softly, drawing her into his embrace, enjoying how her breath hitched when he did so.

Surely, he must havesomeeffect on her at least, but with her looking at him as if she was quite annoyed, he could not really tell.

“Too bad,” he murmured. “You would have greatly enjoyed it…”

Ethan decided that he liked the feeling of her like this, in his arms. If he leaned in just a little bit closer, he would be able to kiss her, taste those lips and see for himself if they were as sweet and luscious as they looked…

But then, the door suddenly burst open and a dry voice called out, “We are not interrupting something, are we?”

CHAPTER 5

No.

No. No. No.

This could not be happening to her.

But Alice’s arms around her shoulders were real. So was the glare Colin was giving Ethan.

And throughout all of this,hewas simply watching the whole scene as if it had been the most entertaining moment of his life.

Almost immediately, an unspeakable sense of injustice welled up within Phoebe. She had spent her whole life abiding by the rules. She had memorized etiquette better than all the other young ladies who made their bow with her. She had behaved as perfectly as any young lady could.

Still, it had not been enough to stay out of trouble.

If I had known it would all come to this, I might as well have done the most unspeakably outrageous things!

But she hadindeeddone something quite outrageous—she had upended the wedding of the Duke of Sinclair by boldly declaring her affections for him before the entire ton.

By tomorrow, everyone would be talking about her.

And Ethan.

And poor, poor Miss Marianne Delaney, who had been jilted at the altar when her groom rushed after the very same woman who called a screeching halt to their wedding.

It was a disaster that would have the whole of London talking for a good month at least.

“Did Daniel never tell you about the punch he received when he compromised Evelyn?”

Why oh why did men always have to resort to violence to sort things out?