Page 10 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

Almost as soon as she said it, Alice wished she could take it back. The Duke of Thorns looked at her with his mouth agape, clearly shocked, before he managed to compose himself.

“I did not realize that libertine novels are now de rigueur for gently bred young ladies of the ton.”

“They are not. I just heard of it and thought I should see for myself what the furor is all about.”

He seemed to accept her answer as he drew back just the slightest fraction.

“Say that you wanted to borrow such a scandalous work from me,” he said in a cold voice. “That still does not explain how you managed to sneak into my estate.”

“Oh.” Alice smiled sheepishly. “I merely borrowed my maid’s old clothing and posed as a new maid.”

The Duke winced. “Clearly, I need to have a word with my staff if someone like you can just slip in unnoticed.”

“Oh, please do not!” she cried out in alarm. “I would not want anyone to get in trouble because of me!”

He raised an eyebrow and smiled roguishly at her. “Is that so?”

She nodded emphatically. “I knew it was wrong, and I should not have done it.”

“And now you are most contrite. I somehow like this side of you.”

He stepped closer, and Alice gulped. “Y-you do?”

“Oh, I do. Very much.” Another step and then he flattened his palms on either side of her, his arms and body effectively caging her in. “But for trespassing, you still need to be punished, my dear.”

His voice held both a silken threat and a heated promise that warmed her blood and flooded her cheeks with heat.

She gasped and turned her head to the side. “W-what are you going to do to me?” she stammered. “Are you going to eat me?”

“Eat you?”

She nodded. “My sister is adamant that you are a beast who preys on the flesh of people. Not that I think it is possible, of course, but?—”

“Oh,” he drawled silkily. “But your sister was right, little lamb.”

“She was right?”

“Oh, yes.” He grinned wickedly at her, his gaze dropping to her heaving bosom. “And right now, there is nothing I want more than to taste you…”

She looked up at him, caught in the searing heat of his gaze. Somehow, she had an idea that he did not mean to tear into her flesh in the way that a cannibal would.

But rather, there was the promise of something so fascinatingly lewd in his threat, and she was reminded once again that the man before her was nothing like the other gentlemen in her acquaintance.

This was the Duke of Thorns, a member of the Wolves. She would do well enough to stay away from him.

* * *

She was so close that the heat that emanated from her skin was scalding him. The scent that rose from her hair, from her very skin, had wrapped its tantalizing talons around him, ensnaring all of his senses until all he could think of was undressing her.

Devouring her.

He could feel her shudder, and he knew that this time, it was not fear. He could see the desire bright in her green eyes. He could see how her bosom rose and fell with her shallow breaths.

He reached out and wrapped a dark lock of hair around his finger. If he gave it the slightest tug, he could tilt her face up for a kiss. Perhaps a single taste would not hurt, merely sate his curiosity…

He immediately dashed that thought.

“What is your name?” he asked her softly instead. “I would have the name of the one who attempted to rob me in my own estate.”

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