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“Livie suits you,” he murmured, his voice husky. Against all his better—gentlemanly—instincts, Joshua leaned over the wardrobe’s threshold and dusted his lips across hers, drawing back before the kiss deepened.

Her gaze went to his mouth; then she bit her plump bottom lip. The air between them ached with unspoken words.

Unspoken desire.

“Frederick says that the lock on the sitting room door is broken, so you must join me,” she said, color rising in her cheeks. “Someone might enter at any moment.”

Joshua registered that his brother seemed to know far too many details about the duchess’s establishment; no wonder the duke had scowled. He pushed the thought away. His lady wanted him to climb into a wardrobe, so that was what he would do.

He straightened and stripped off his dress coat, throwing it on top of the pile of clothing on the sofa before he entered the wardrobe and sat against the wall opposite Livie.

“I’d be happy to offer you a softer seat,” he said, holding out his arms.

Without hesitation, Livie moved forward.

“May I kiss you?” Joshua asked, his arms curving around her instinctively as her delicious weight settled into his lap.

“We ought to talk first.” Her voice had just a trace of shyness.

He went directly to the only topic that interested him. “Are you going to marry me?”

When she blinked at him, her mouth forming a perfect O, he decided to kiss her again rather than wait for an answer. His lips lingered until hers opened.

Instantly the kiss turned hot, deep, and hungry. Joshua forgot that he was seated, somewhat uncomfortably, inside a wardrobe. His world narrowed to a honeyed parade of moments, interrupted only by his and Livie’s occasional gasps for air before coming back together.

To his delight, she began experimenting, sucking in his bottom lip and giving it a little nip. Chuckling when he nipped her back. Blushing when a guttural sound came from his throat. Running her hands over his shoulders and then down his chest. Watching him from under her eyelashes.

Their kisses grew still deeper, almost frantic, until Livie pulled away again and sucked in a breath. Joshua waited, loving the dazed look in her eyes and her swollen, cherry-red lips. His fingers curled tightly around her hips, because he wouldn’t allow himself to caress the soft breasts pressed against his chest.

Her hands ran through his hair before she came back to his mouth with new urgency, her tongue lapping his. They kissed until blood pounded through Joshua’s body, and he could feel his control slipping. One of his hands slid down and wrapped around a plush thigh. With the other hand, he pulled the closest wardrobe door shut, casting her face into twilight.

“You’re marrying me,” he said hoarsely.

“I can’t … Was that a proposal?” Livie’s voice cracked as her eyes searched his face.

“Yes.” He crushed his lips to hers, emerging from a scorching kiss to say, “My second proposal, because my first was within an hour of meeting you.”

“You and I have different definitions of a request. Both of yours were commands.”

“I can do better,” he promised. “I could never have imagined going to my knees in a wardrobe, but I will if you wish.”

She pulled him closer, licking his bottom lip before her tongue delved deep. A while later, she broke away and said with a gasp, “We haven’t spoken yet. You may not wish to marry me after you learn more about me.”

He growled, low and deep, into her mouth. “I don’t kiss ladies in wardrobes. Or anywhere else. Of course I will want to marry you.”

Her smile wobbled. “I still have to tell you the truth.”

Joshua frowned, and then relaxed. “I already know.”

Livie’s brows knit. “You do?”

“My brother guessed.”

“Your brother? He didn’t say anything to me.”

“He interpreted your first letter.” Joshua let his lips drift along the line of her jaw. He felt ravenous. He wanted to push her backward in the pile of velvet, pull up her skirts, and kiss his way up her leg. The idea was dizzying. He could pleasure her until she didn’t have a word in her head except his name.

His name and “Yes.” Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes, I’ll lie down in a velvet bed. Yes, I’ll let you devour me. Yes, I’ll let you keep me forever, and yes, I’ll do the same for you.