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“The park. I need to touch the trees.” He shook his head. “Throwing away good food. I can’t believe it. I dreamt of eating delicacies, cream, custard, butter, and strawberries. I forgot how they tasted. And people throw them away?”

“You’re right to be outraged.” She shifted closer to him. Her dark-green velvet dress matched her lovely eyes and exalted her figure. The more time he spent with her, the more her presence calmed him. “Did you spend many days in hunger?”

“Before I became an efficient berry gatherer, hunter, and fisherman, yes. Thanks to my knowledge of plants, I survived by eating fruit, but at first, I didn’t trust my judgement, worried I might stumble upon a poisonous plant.

There were species I didn’t recognise. Only later did I start to eat more.

The choice was between dying of starvation or of poison. ”

She closed her hands around his arm, her delicate eyebrows drawing closer. “I’m so sorry for all the suffering you had to endure.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have yelled, should I?”

“Alas. The duke will use today’s incident to spread the rumour you are a savage, and Lady Naylor is one of the queen’s court. She won’t be generous towards you. She seemed frightened you might kill us all. Did you see how she clutched her son? And even Frances looked terrified.”

He inched closer. “I didn’t tell you something that happened a while ago. One night, a helped a young woman getting away from a rather drunk Quentin. She was terrified by him, her dress torn. Frances is the young lady I found in Quentin’s bedroom.”

“Goodness me.” She placed a hand on her chest, coming to a stop.

“I thought about using the incident to convince Quentin to renounce the title, but exposing him means exposing her.”

“She’d be ruined forever.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “Yes.”

His chest rose more easily once they entered Hyde Park.

Finally, a piece of nature. The park was too well kept, the bushes too neatly trimmed, and the path too clean to be similar to the wild nature he needed, but it was better than being surrounded by bricks and metal.

Even the snow had been set aside and piled up at the border.

It was a shame he couldn’t crunch it with his feet.

The weight of what he’d done weighed down his shoulders. He hated having disappointed Maddie, and the more beastly he behaved, the less those workers would be paid. Honestly, he should control himself.

“Hector, don’t be sad.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “You didn’t ruin anything.”

“I have responsibilities, and responsibilities are the meaning of life.”

“What do you mean?”

He paused under a majestic, sweet chestnut tree.

The branches were bare but formed an intricate pattern overhead he found soothing.

“A father would tell you his children give meaning to his life. A doctor would tell you his patients are the reason he wakes up every morning. When we care about someone else, that responsibility becomes the meaning of our lives.”

“That’s very noble, but those workers...

they aren’t the only meaning of your life.

” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.

They do matter, but you have a life. Your responsibility as a duke is a part of it.

There are other things in your life you’ll enjoy and that aren’t responsibilities.

You love nature. You enjoy walking in a forest. One day, you might find a wife, too,” she said the last words in a whisper.

A wife? He’d already found one. He caressed her cheek. Every time he touched her, even with a small caress, a fire started in his abdomen. He wanted to remove the layers of clothes between them and hold her, just hold her, to feel their naked bodies touch.

She leant against his hand. Should he propose again? The last time he’d done it, it hadn’t ended well at all, and he didn’t want to hound her. He wanted her to be happy with him first, to know him for the man he was now. A man she might not like. Not as her husband, anyway.

He dipped his head, inhaling her lavender scent. She drew in a breath and parted her plush lips.

He wanted to be gentle, to taste her lips slowly and not scare her with his passion.

But as soon as he brushed his lips against hers, the fire that always lurked inside him flared up.

He thrust his tongue into her welcoming mouth and explored every corner, licking and sucking at her plush bottom lip.

She tasted of tea and cream and something else sweet belonging to her.

He pressed her against him, holding her with one hand on her nape and the other on her waist. She moaned, and the soft sound was like a stroke of her hand over his aching shaft.

He moved his hand up from her waist to the underside of her breast. How he wished to feel its fullness in his palm, tweak the rosy peak, and hear her moan louder.

“You should thank me for interrupting you.” Quentin’s voice intruded on Hector’s heated thoughts with the same sweetness as a cold blade slipping between his ribs.

He stopped kissing Maddie but didn’t let her go.

“Your grace.” Maddie brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Crimson blossomed in her cheeks, turning her lips, swollen by his hard kiss, even redder. With effort, he controlled himself and didn’t dip his head to take those tempting lips again and beg her to marry him.

Quentin stood stiffly. His tall hat cast a shadow over his serious face.

“You behaved in a beastly fashion to Mrs. Landon, Hector.” He shook his head as if in disapproval, but the smirk quirking up a corner of his mouth belied his inner triumph.

“And now you’re causing scandal by kissing a lady in broad daylight in the middle of Hyde Park.

It’s a miracle no one spotted you. The Savage Duke spoiling a maiden. You’d make the front page.”

“You’re one to talk,” Hector said.

Quentin quirked up his eyebrow. “By all means, go ahead. Tell everyone who Frances is. Her parents, friends, and the entire ton would be thrilled to know her little secret.”

It was amazing how quickly anger could spread through Hector. A moment ago, he’d felt only bliss with Maddie in his arms. Now he wanted to punch his cousin.

“You’re a disgrace for our family.”

“Tosh.” Quentin shrugged. “Instead, you should care about Mrs. Landon and Lady Naylor.”

“We’ll present our apologies to Mrs. Landon.” Maddie tilted her chin up. “As for what you saw, there was no spoiling.”

Quentin whipped his head in her direction as if realising just then she was there.

“I fail to understand why you include yourself in my cousin’s predicament.

He’s the one under scrutiny and has just proved to be the savage everyone fears he is.

” He raked a slow glance over her. A glance Hector didn’t like.

“You must have fallen for the charm of having a tryst with a savage, a forbidden fruit, because this dalliance with him will only be your downfall.”

She stepped away from Hector’s embrace, which he liked even less. “I believe Hector would be an excellent duke, and I beg you to stop talking about him as if he weren’t here.”

“He never speaks much,” Quentin said, “aside from insulting people. Thus, he deserves society’s scorn.” He touched the rim of his hat. “I’m afraid I’ll have to take some unpleasant actions, Hector.” He turned to leave but paused. “Unpleasant for you, obviously.”