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It was a scene straight out of a fairytale.

“This is beautiful!” she breathed.

Ethan stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “I am glad you like it.”

He walked up to the bridge and sat down on the railing, patting the space beside him. “Come, sit with me.”

“Is it safe?” she asked him hesitantly.

“Duchess, I would never do anything that would compromise your safety.”

He was looking at her so seriously as if he took such words to heart.

Phoebe smiled as she happily sat beside him, their thighs touching as they basked in the afternoon sun.

“Have you been working on your next book?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “I do not quite know what to write about anymore.”

The past few days, she truly had been stumped for ideas that she had begun to wonder if she truly could make a sustainable income from writing alone. Although she did earn a significant amount from her first published work, she knew that she needed to write several more if she was to become successful in her own right.

“Then write about us,” he told her softly. “About this.”

Her mouth started to open in question when his hand snaked to the back of her neck, holding her still as his lips slid over hers in a sensual caress.

Over the past few days, Phoebe was no stranger to his kisses. There was even that one time whenshekissed him.

But she should have known better. Should have known that a renowned rake like Ethan Audley would never kiss the same way twice.

As his lips slid over hers, coaxing a soft, breathy moan from her throat so effortlessly, she could only surrender to the gentle assault on her senses.

In fact, she only seemed to want more of the same.

More kisses. More touching.

Justmore.

She sighed as she threw her arms around him and began to move her lips against his in earnest, following his lead as she sought to learn him as much as he did her.

And maybe, just maybe, these kisses might be just the thing to show Ethan how terribly wrong he was about love. How his father was merely a poor example of that and that he could be a better man than the monster his sire had been.

So, she kissed him back and prayed that this handsome, stubborn man would open his heart and change his mind for both their sakes…

He had not meant to kiss her—just like he had not meant to kiss her all those past few times.

Ethan had prided himself on being a master of the love affair. He was not a man led by his cock—he was the one who did the leading. He had ladies falling at his feet, wanting more.Beggingfor it.

And yet, Phoebe had him tied up in all sorts of knots and tangles until he had no idea where things began and ended.

This kiss was adisaster. A right and proper dismantling of all the defenses and deflections he had put up all these years.

He wrenched himself away from her. “I think that is enough for this afternoon, sweetheart.” He smiled at her. “That is unless you want me to show you a great deal more.”

A frown creased her brow. “I do not think so, no. Certainly not out here in the garden.”

The last part was said with a delicate shudder, and Ethan barked out a laugh.

“When I take you, sweetheart,” he promised her in a low, dark voice, “it would be in a proper bed.”