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And yet, he had never wanted to taste, to feel another body as much as he wanted to feel hers.

Just one taste.One taste and I shall sate my damned curiosity once and for all.

As his hand curled around the back of her neck, Daniel knew he was going to burn for this.

That Colin was going to kill him.

But as his lips descended on hers, he found that he did not care at all.

Kissing Daniel Stanton was not what she had in mind when she told him to meet her in the gardens.

It might be what most people did in the gardens, but Evie liked to think that she was more sensible than most people. The funny thing was that she was quite certain that most sensible people would agree that it was unwise to poke and prod a bear until it devoured you.

The problem was that she rather liked being devoured.

Evie let out a soft gasp as his lips moved over hers. Hot. Fierce. Demanding.

Daniel was one who would take and take and take and leave nothing behind.

His body was hard and unforgiving as it pressed her against the column at her back, but his lips—good Lord, there was nothing quite like his lips.

They slid over hers so sensuously, molding her against him as his hand trailed down her shoulder to her hip, sending sparks skittering over her fevered skin. When his fingers curled, she felt as if her insides had been turned to liquid heat.

She let out a soft mewl as she pressed back against him, eager for more of what he was showing her. Her hand traveled from his shoulder down to his chest, where she could feel his heart beating wildly against her palm.

She smiled inwardly, feeling a sort of power in the knowledge that he was just as affected by the kiss as she was. Thrilled, her hand wandered lower, when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist in a vice-like grip.

Suddenly, he pulled away from her so quickly that she was knocked off balance. If it had not been for the column behindher, Evie had no doubt she would have fallen to the grass in an ungraceful heap.

Her eyes flew open only to find that Daniel was not as pleased as she thought he would be.

In fact, he was glaring at her with an intensity that would make lesser men tremble in their boots.

CHAPTER 5

Damn it all to bloody hell!

Daniel stumbled back like a drunken sailor, swiping a hand over his face as if it would erase what he had just done.

To Evie, of all people. The woman he was supposed to protect.

And a rather fine job you have been doing,a small voice taunted him.

He had been so bent on protecting her from all those bloody bastards that he had neglected to keep her from the biggest bastard of them all—himself.

“Damn,” he swore softly. “Damn it all!”

“Daniel—”

He held his hand up to cut her off.

What the hell was he thinking, kissing her like that in the gardens? Anyone could have walked in on them, and if they had been discovered, Evie would have been ruined.

Either that or she would have been forced to marry him.

Daniel could not think of a fate worse than that.

Oh, she might want him for now, but when the lust-filled haze dissipated, would she still look at him the same way?