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Chapter 1

London, 1815

The stuffy air entered his lungs as he circulated the crowded ballroo for his uncle, John, the Duke of Croo; directly from the inn he’d stayed just out of town Napoleon had finally been dragged to his island and wouldn’t be a problem anymore

He still bore his Major’s unifor muscles, sleek dark hair, and aristocratic face normally attracted the female eye In unifor the heir of his uncle dukedom enhanced his natural assets He’d lost both his parents at an early age and his uncle adopted hie, John treated him as a son and an heir

Philip scanned the roo to see his uncle, whom he hadn’t seen in two years He’d received a letter at the front inforht it positive The older ood that his beloved uncle had found some old lady to share his late years

Rockfield’s dark clove-coloured eyes singled out a woman on the other side of the room And zeroed on her She looked possibly like the most beautiful womn he’d seen here No, in his entire life He stared at her as if she was the only woman in the preh-waist gauzy dress showed off her generous bosolossy shade of rich brown, fra his scrutiny, she turned her eyes to hireen, openly vivid, illuminated by the hundreds of candles in the room, her eyes enticed a man, mesmerized, made his will falter Enslaved His body reacted to her as it had never reacted to any woe: he wanted her Now Whatever it took, he’d have her!

Selene felt thein her The tallestbroad shoulders and powerful thighs, darkly handsonoring the fiery reaction he caused her He could not be for her She’d had no freedo to the other side, she forced herself to forget The man and her reaction to him

Thankfully, old Lord Stetson came to claim a dance and she accompanied hih, she felt the daled Other places tingled too Hard to ignore, but she kept her plastic sh the endless quadrille

As soon as the dance finished, she’d run to the lady’s for a reprieve, she decided, auto steps

So Miss Enticer wanted to ignore hiht sarcastically But before she’d turned her back on him, he could sense her pretended indifference and smiled triumphant inwardly This woman hadn’t seen the last of him Oh, no Absolutely Her dismissal awakened his predator’s instincts and they were not to be tamed Ever

Before she could flee to the lady’s, she got intercepted Damn! No! Not now! John Another smile plastered on her full lips at the saers on the arealed The troubleso purposeful strides Her heart jumped once and raced like crazy Of course, she would not be able to avoid him! They seemed to circulate in the same social sphere

“Philip!” John called, surprised “I didn’t know you were in town!”

“I wasn’t” He placed one hand on John’s shoulder “I barely arrived” The rich velvet, autocratic sound of his voice coated her ears with blasphemous pleasure

Selene felt this…Philip’s eyes on her She daren’t look at hi Up close, he caused an even stronger i in to it So she fixed her eyes at a point on his red coat, directly in front of her Even worse, his chest Broad,and… Stop, stop Stop!

“Selene,” John’s gentle voice reached her through her haze-addled mind “Please let me introduce you to my nephew, Philip Rockfield, just come from war”

The evident pride in John did not help her utter dismay His constantly-mentioned nepheas this man? She wanted to run, run and run far, miles and miles far, until she reached another country Another planet!

“Philip, my dear boy, you can meet my wife, at last Selene, Duchess of Crompton”

The new Duchess of Cro so uncontrollably biter invaded hi was none

other than his uncle’s neife Clove eyes welled in contereen eyes never raised to his

As an autoistered the pure war pleasure Iroins stirred as if she stood there naked just for him He tamped it all down and released her hand as if she was a leper She breathed in and gave a step back His conten repulse when he knew it to be just the opposite? A woe for his title andthe lowest kind of woman he could think of!

The fortune of the Dukes of Cro the most notorious in Europe Land, investments, ships and trade mounted it up and up every year In addition, it attracted all kinds of fortune hunters as he hiht now in the presence of his new step-aunt!