Page 27 of A Bride for the Duke of Sin

Dreadfully.

Oh, yes. It was supposed to be just awful.

And yet, every fiber of her being seemed to be thrumming with excitement.

What is wrong with me?

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God…”

As the vicar’s voice boomed across the grand ballroom, her hands gripped her bouquet tighter, her insides churning until she thought she would be violently ill.

Just then, she felt a hand covering her own, fingers intertwining with hers.

She looked up to find Ethan looking straight ahead with nary a change in his expression. The vicar, too, had noticed it and even stopped for a while, looking pointedly at their joined hands.

“Forgive me, I simply cannot wait to wed this woman,” Ethan explained simply. “Do carry on with the ceremony, Father, so that my anxiety may be relieved posthaste.”

A ripple of laughter rose from the small gathering of guests, most of them just close friends and family.

Phoebe just shook her head inwardly.

How could anyone despise him when he was so charming?

But that was simply what made Ethan Audley so dangerous. From the curve of his smile, down to his broad shoulders, that narrow, tapered waist, those muscular legs encased in breeches—he was seduction on two legs.

He was the very image of a fallen angel. A celestial being no woman could ever resist.

Phoebe managed to maintain her composure long enough for the good reverend to conclude the ceremony, and when he finally pronounced those fateful words, that strange thrumming throughout her body came back with renewed force.

“You may kiss your bride, Your Grace!”

Her breath hitched in her throat as they faced each other. Slowly, almost reverently, Ethan lifted her veil, her last remaining shield against the devastating onslaught of his allure.

Her gaze quickly snapped up to his, just as his lips started to descend upon hers.

No!

A wild panic seized Phoebe, and she shyly turned her head away. If his lips landed on her cheek, then perhaps she could still manage to come out of the wedding ceremony on two legs.

And that was a very bigperhaps.

But then, there was that low chuckle again, and she felt his fingers on her chin.

“My Duchess shall have no insipid kisses on her wedding day,” he murmured. “You, Phoebe BarkleyAudley,need to be kissedproperly.”

Properly!?

Her mind whirled at that.

Just what did he mean by—oh.

At the feel of his lips on hers, her entire mind went embarrassingly blank. When his lips started moving against hers, her whole body felt as if it had been set on fire. That strange, strange thrumming had become an even more frenzied hum as her knees buckled beneath her. She threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him as his lips teased hers over and over and over…

Oh my…

It was simply the most divine thing that Phoebe had ever felt, and she did not want it to end.

That was until the vicar cleared his throat most audibly and gave Ethan another one of his pointed looks, as if he thought that being stern with the rake would even work.

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