Page 64 of A Virgin for the Duke of Ash

She should be fearful of him. She should want to run away.

And for as much as that should relieve him, he felt a keen sense of loss that Evie might never be able to accept him fully for his proclivities.

This is for the best.

“This is why you should leave,” he told her with finality. “A man like me with such dark passions should never corrupt someone like you.”

He thought he heard her whimper.

He thought he felt her shudder with fear. Disgust.Revulsion.

But then, she turned around to face him, and the look in her eyes nearly caused him to stagger back.

Mirrored in her blue-gray eyes was the same dark longing that he knew was lurking in his own gaze.

She knew she should be scared. She knew that her first instinct—had she been anormal, rationalbeing—should have been to turn around and run as fast as she could.

But the heat that pooled low in her belly would not let her. The deep, dark desire that swirled in his vivid green eyes pinned her to the spot.

How could she leave when all she ever wanted at that moment was for him to show her the very things he had kept from her?

“Show me.”

The look of surprise on his handsome features would have been comical if she had not felt so insanely attracted to him. Her burgeoning curiosity, the fire that simmered in her veins, turning her blood molten…

Evie did not want to leave. Not at all.

“You do not know what you are asking for,” he muttered hoarsely, even as he reached for her, his hand delving into her hair.

“On the contrary,” she replied with a smile that looked bolder than she felt. “I do not think I have wanted anything more.”

Daniel let out a sound that was halfway between a groan and a cry of exhilaration. His fingers dug into her scalp, tilting her head back as his lips slanted over hers in a kiss that threatened to steal her soul.

He has already stolen my mind. I might as well give him the rest of me.

Evie kissed him back, her lips moving over his as she followed his lead.

She might have very little knowledge of the affairs of the marriage bed, but what she lacked in experience, she would make up for in enthusiasm.

His teeth scraped against her lips, his tongue plunging into her mouth to boldly explore the depths within. He kissed her as if he was a starving man in the desert and she was the oasis he had stumbled upon.

Evie opened up to him, pressing herself to him. Offering herself as if she was a feast, inviting him to devour her.

“You are going to be the death of me,” he groaned against her mouth.

She smiled slightly, still breathless from the force of his kiss. “I should hope not,” she quipped in an attempt at lightheartedness. “You have many more things to teach me, husband, and I shall not countenance becoming a widow until I have learned them all.”

“Colin was right to not leave you unattended,” he muttered harshly. “Your mischief certainly knew no bounds.”

Evie made a noise at the back of her throat to let him know that she didnotwant to talk about her brother. Not when she was in his arms, being kissed to an inch of her sanity. Not when they were standing so close to his bed and she was practically offering herself to him.

He laughed hoarsely at her impatience, and then, in a rough voice, he ordered, “To the bed.”

Evie nodded, trembling with excitement as she stumbled to the bed. How embarrassing that she should lose all grace and poise before him.

However, those fleeting thoughts vanished when she felt his fingers running down her spine, caressing her as he unerringly nudged her towards his massive bed. He leaned close to her, his warm breath fanning the sensitive shell of her ear.

“Do you trust me?” he asked her.

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