Page 35

“No.”

She wriggled out of his arms and faced him. With her flushed face and her breasts straining against her bodice, it was admittedly very,veryhard for Ethan to focus on his lovely bride’s face.

Or the most vexing words that were coming out of those tantalizing lips of hers.

“I told you that I will not simply become prey for a Wolf like you,” she huffed, crossing her arms over those lovely breasts. “I am not as naive as you like to think I am, so you better save your tricks for your mistresses.”

His mistresses?

Ethan growled in frustration. He pulled her close, bringing them chest to chest, their lips a mere breath apart. He watched as her eyes widened in shock before they narrowed.

Oh, what a maddening creature she was!

And so hellbent on thwarting him at every turn!

“What do I need to make you mine?” he muttered.

Her eyes flickered. The belligerence in them softened, turning somewhat disappointed. Almost sad.

“What I want… what I need,” she said softly. “It is something you cannot give me, Your Grace.”

What could a woman possibly want that he could not give?

He had great wealth at his disposal, a title that was more noble than what most of the ton could dream of. On matters of the bed, he was more than confident that Phoebe would never want for anything—or anyone.

“Name it,” he challenged her, his voice low and dangerous.

She smiled sadly and placed her hand on his chest, right where his heart thundered the loudest. “You cannot make me fall in love.”

Ethan nearly staggered backward at her words, yet what followed them had him reeling.

“I want to fall in love—true love, that is—and you cannot achieve that with your usual schemes,” she sighed.

The woman was fanciful, for lack of a better word. Maybe even the slightest bitmad.

She believed in dreams and fantasy. Maybe of knights and chivalry and honor and all the things that Ethan had forsworn a long, long time ago.

“For this to happen, you would have to get to know me. Therealme,” she continued. “And I would have to get to know you—and that, I fear, is something that you will never allow me, or anyone else for that matter, to do.”

He looked deep into her eyes, and the longing in them pierced through his soul. She did, indeed, want something that was not in his capacity to give her.

“You do not know what you are asking for, Duchess,” he rasped.

She shook her head with a soft smile. “I have never wanted anything more for so long,” she admitted softly. “You might think me naive and all other things, but I know what I want, and I will not live with a lesser imitation of it. I would rather have all of it or none at all.”

Sheknew.

Even if he and all the world told her that it was nothing more than fairytales and spun sugar, she wanted it and would not settle for anything less.

Certainly not the kind ofcarehe was offering her—the only thing that he was capable of.

His grip on her loosened, and his arms fell to his sides.

Then, he straightened up and chuckled, tapping her chin in an almost lighthearted manner. Praying to whatever god would hear him that she would not notice how his fingers trembled slightly.

“I apologize, Duchess. I have put too much pressure on you, and it is only our first day together.” He smiled in an attempt at brevity. “You are right—you need to get some rest.”

She blinked up at him, as if confused, and then, she smiled hesitantly.