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They kept their eyes forward and their bodies apart as they walked from the balcony and down the steps toward the gardens.

“Whatever do you mean?” Ezra asked with mocked innocence, turning his attention to the rows of roses they now strolled through slowly.

“You pulled me into that dance to tell me that I had failed, then you tell Poppy I am to be your wife? And what about your little test the night before last?” she hissed in a low breath. “You truly must enjoy vexing my senses, Your Grace, as you toy with them like a cat torments a mouse.”

Ezra’s fingers slid around her wrist so quickly that she did not even realize she’d been caught in his grip until she stumbled backward. He’d stopped strolling, and even though they were walking slowly, the solid stillness of his stature had her falling. Ezra caught her easily, twirling her around so that her breastswere pressed tightly to his chest and her lips were mere inches from his.

“Is that not what you wanted, little mouse?” he asked, his blue eyes glowing in the night.

He grazed his nose lightly against hers, causing her breath to hitch and her heart to hammer as she felt the warmth of his breath against her lips.

“Did you not want to take your sister’s place?” he practically purred, his deep, coaxing voice calling her to answer.

“Yes,” she breathed.

Ezra drew in a slow breath through his nose, taking in the scent of her, and then met her eyes. Fear laced with desire filled her veins as she lost her irritation toward him and became entranced in his gaze. Even when his eyes moved to her lips, when he subtly shifted closer, she remained still and mystified.

“Games or not, you were right,” Ezra whispered against her lips, so close she could feel them, “You are the right choice for me.”

It was not a kiss Ezra gave her as his lips did not touch hers. But his teeth had found the lower left corner of her mouth, and when he bit down on the delicate, virgin flesh, pleasure laced with the softest of pain flooded her veins and made her entire body grow warm. His teeth were sharp and precise, and as she pulled away, she tasted copper.

Ezra’s eyes were luminescent as he pulled away from her, the tiniest drop of her blood on his lip. She watched, transfixed, as his tongue slowly drew out to lap it up, and her knees quaked with a sudden and strange need. It was not a kiss and yet it was somehow more intimate, more personal, than any kiss she had ever read about.

Her lip pulsed where he had placed his mark, and as if he could see it do so, Ezra pulled her close again and suckled her bottom lip, nursing the small hurt with every dreg until she felt nothing but dizzying pleasure.

“I shall be calling on you soon to make the arrangements,” Ezra said in a low voice, with a slight pant to his cadence as he backed away.

Lydia snapped herself out of her trancelike state as Ezra began to step away from her. When had he stopped? When had he released her?

“You…you truly accept my offer then?” she asked, taking a quaking step toward him.

Ezra paused just long enough to focus his eyes on her once more, making her body tremble.

“You succeeded, Lydia. Congratulations.”

Without another word, Ezra turned back and headed away from the balcony entrance, to the path that led to the carriages. Shehad done it. Her plan had worked.Shewas going to be the Duchess of Frampton.

“She is over here,” Helena’s voice sounded a moment later, quickly followed by Barbara proclaiming, “Oh, thank heaven. Where is the brute?”

Lydia laughed softly at her friends’ protectiveness and turned to see the four of them making their way toward her through various garden paths.

“We know you can fend for yourself, but we were starting to get worried,” Alice explained as she pulled Juliet along with her. “Ezra did not seem mad, but he did seem…different.”

“What did he have to discuss with you?” Juliet asked anxiously. “Was it me? Has he dropped his pursuit?”

Lydia looked around to see that everyone was waiting for her answer just as anxiously as Juliet was.

“He is dropping his pursuit of you,” Lydia announced and was quickly swallowed up by her friends’ hugs and sighs of relief for the next several minutes.

“Thank you for all of your help in there, I could not have done it without you,” Lydia told them all warmly, but they paid her appreciation no mind and began demanding details.

“Tell us why he needed to speak with you out here,” Barbara demanded.

“Does Duncan need to talk to him?” Alice asked, her fists on her hips.

“Ambrose has been quite testy anytime Ezra’s name is mentioned. I am sure he would be happy to speak with him too,” Helena offered next.

Love and warmth gushed through Lydia as she smiled at each of her friends and slowly but calmly brought their questions to a halt.