Sarah Mac’s Reviews > The Duke's Forbidden Ward > Status Update

‘This was no sweet coupling in their bed, no leisurely afternoon playtime. He was driven by the intense need to claim her. To mark her as his. To luxuriate in the fact that he pleasured her, & she allowed him to take her in hand in a way that left her so vulnerable.’ ….Well. I never thought I’d see that in a modern Harley. 😶😬😇 Millie Adams, I salute you.

“Let me be everything. Your wife. Your ward. Your mistress.”

‘He sat at the desk & looked outside at the garden behind the town house. And he saw movement. Just a bit. And then she came into his full view, her golden hair soaking wet, & the pale pink gown she wore sticking to her skin. She was looking up at the rain, the water droplets rolling down her face. She was too great a temptation to bear.’

‘While she might not be able to see inside his mind, he could see his own desires too well. The kind of authority he wished to exert over her had nothing to do with a paternal or brotherly sort of guidance. He would see her stripped bare. Her hands & feet bound, her body offered up to him in supplication as he instructed her on exactly where her desires could lead her.’

‘She was baiting him. Looking for a fight, because a fight was the closest thing she could have to what she truly wanted with him. It was the closest thing to losing control. The closest thing to a lack of civility that she ever saw in him. She wanted it. She craved it. The way that she could push him over the edge. The way his face would turn to stone, & he would issue threats about bringing her to heel.’

‘She looked so dreadfully young just then. And he wanted to catch her up in his arms & wrap her in his jacket. Hold her close to his chest. And then he wanted to peel that gown off her, & every layer beneath it until he could see every inch of her glorious body. And then he would taste her. All that cream.’

‘She had turned away from him as if it might offer dual protection, but she had looked over her shoulder once, only once, as she had allowed her innermost undergarments to fall from her body. He had been facing away still, resolute. She hadn’t known what she felt about that. She should feel pleased. He was honorable, & he had proved himself to be. Instead she felt almost wounded.’

‘He had the strongest urge to cross the table & silence her. With his mouth on hers. To teach her a lesson about what manner of man he was beneath everything. To teach her a lesson of all she was spared from. But he did not. And she would never know he was more wolf than shepherd, for it was the part a man played that mattered. Not what he desired in his heart.’

‘Many women enjoyed the other side of his particular sexual coin. And so it was not an imposition to these women, but a gift. In the correct venue, with a partner who shared his desires, he felt no guilt. Fire was only dangerous outside the hearth. Within, it simply kept you warm.’ ….I already love Hugh. Self-control is sexy. 😗

‘She never lost her awareness of it. Or indeed the awareness that many men in the room knew that she was aiming above her station, & that one whiff of scandal would see her falling down to her place. And they would be there to pick her up, & take her to their beds, where they could possess her for nothing more than the promise of their protection & a few trinkets.’