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Edwin sniggered. “You think I wish to change your mind?” he asked.

“You do not?” She looked taken aback, and he caught a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

“Not at all. If I wanted to change your mind and have you beg me to take you, I know what to do.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Certainly. All I have to do is simply have you sit on my lap again while I stroke your breasts with one hand and trace a line from your belly to your sex with the other,” he purred.

His lips quirked in a smirk when her face flushed red with embarrassment.

“How could you say such a thing?” She swatted at him.

“Perhaps because you are my wife and it is no longer inappropriate for me to talk in such an indecent manner to you,” he quipped.

“You are simply incorrigible!” she huffed, shaking her head.

“You must be prepared to hold onto your resolve not to share my bed,” Edwin said.

“I believe I will find it rather easy,” she insisted.

“Is that so?” he asked, leaning in.

Her breath hitched as he placed his hand on the back of her head and the other on her waist.

Instead of terror or defiance, she looked rather nervous, as though she could not trust herself with him.

He leaned in further and stopped only an inch from her mouth. “I could kiss you now,” he whispered.

Ava drew in a ragged breath, and he watched as her eyes flicked to his lips, her plump lips parted just slightly.

“If you do not want me to kiss you, then pull away from me,” Edwin said.

He waited. However, instead of pulling away from him, she kept staring at his lips.

In one swift motion, he captured her lips with his own.

She sighed into his mouth, and he groaned. His heart rate quickened, and he could feel the blood rushing to his groin.

For a moment, nothing else mattered. There was no drawing room, just soft lips that tasted like cherries and large breasts that pressed against his chest.

At that moment, he was lost to her.

When he finally broke the kiss and pulled away, she was panting, her eyes dark with need—withpassion.

Edwin chuckled. “You may resist me all you want, but you will soon be begging for my touch.”

CHAPTER 9

The sun had scarcely risen when Ava climbed out of bed. It was not usual for a duchess to wake up so early. However, she had a lot of work to do. Moreover, that day she was expecting guests—the first since her wedding—and that excited her to no end.

It had been a week since her wedding, and the moment she had informed her new husband that she was not interested in sharing a bed with him or having a child.

Come to think of it, he had taken it rather well. On some days, she even felt a pang of regret for her decision not to share a bed with him.

However, this morning, as she passed by his chamber on her way to inspect other parts of the house with her lady’s maid, Abigail, she refused to dwell on that. She had a lot of things to do.

After spending a week on the estate, she had noticed some things that definitely needed some improvement.