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CHAPTER 17

He was furious.

Or maybe not.

His arms tightened around her until she let out a soft gasp. It was then that she felt the hardness prodding at her belly, and a heated awareness flared within her.

He was not furious—hewantedher. Perhaps as much asshewanted him.

She felt his fingers on her chin, tilting her face up to his, and her breath started to come out in little gasps ofexcitement.

Dear God in heaven, she wasthrilled. Her whole being absolutely thrummed with it, vibrating with the need for him to possess her. To make her thoroughly his so that it would leave no one with any doubt as to who she belonged to.

It was scandalous. Absolute madness.

But Evie had never wanted him more than she wantedanythingin this whole world—even if he told her and showed her over and over again why she should not.

His lips came down on hers, hard and cold at first. She had learned not to expect gentleness from him. She did not want gentleness, anyway.

She wanted his raw, undiluted passion.

She let out a soft moan of approval as she threw her arms around him, standing on her tiptoes as she met his kiss with equal fervor.

His hands trailed from her back to span her ribcage, his fingers digging into the softness of her flesh as if he meant to imprint himself on her very skin. She felt him stroke the underside of her breast, growling in irritation at the fabric that stood between them.

It was quite as well, for she wanted to be rid of the entire thing, too.

“You have been a naughty girl, Evelyn.” His low, gravelly voice skated across her skin, seeping into her blood like a drug. “You should be punished.”

She should have been wary. She should have taken that for the threat that it was. Instead, she pressed her body to his harder, like a shameless wanton.

“If your brother and grandmama saw you right now, begging for me to kiss you, what would they say?”

Heat flooded her cheeks. They would be horrified, naturally.

But she could not stop.Would notstop.

She felt his hand grab her wrists and pin them hard against the trunk behind her. She could feel the rough bark scraping her skin, and instead of feeling fear, she was thrilled.

All the gentlemen she met had treated her with courtesy—whether it had been real or not. Only Daniel had ever shown her the real side of him. The Wolf that prowled the edges of Society.

And now, she was the fawn that had wandered into his territory.

“Look at you,” he murmured, his eyes dark with lust. “I should tie you up before you do anything more foolish.”

She tilted her chin up and gave him a slight smile. “Well, why don’t you?”

If it was possible, his eyes grew even darker. This close, she could see the black overwhelming those green orbs, and she knew shewas facing his true nature—not that thin veneer of civility he put on for the public.

Evie gasped as the hand that held hers over her head tightened and his lips swooped down on hers in a punishing kiss, obliterating any thought of resistance she might have had.

His teeth scraped against her lips, his tongue plunging boldly into her mouth. She tried to kiss him back, but he had dominated her completely until all she could do was open herself up to him.

Gladly. Willingly.

She felt his hand yank at her neckline, exposing her soft flesh to the world. Almost immediately, his hand covered her breast, kneading it until she moaned into his mouth. When she did, she felt him pinch the turgid peak, eliciting a gasp from her.

It was a wholly new sensation, one that shot straight between her legs. She had never felt anything like it before. It was pure pleasure tinged with pain.