It was madness. It was folly. It was also unaccountably delicious. So long as I keep my heart in my possession… She found herself leaning forward, her lips brushing his with the faintest of touches.

The simple touch was lost in an avalanche of emotion. They were not just kissing, they were tasting, devouring, their hands pulling each other closer, harder. Anna moaned as Greyley’s hands cupped her bottom intimately, pulling her against his erection. She tilted her head back and his lips traced an impassioned line down her throat.

“Miss Thraxton?” came a childish voice.

It broke over Anna like a wave of icy water and she took a stumbling step away from Greyley.

There, not ten feet behind her, stood Selena. The little girl eyed her warily. “Are you sick?

Heart thudding, Anna managed an uncertain laugh. “Sick? No, no! I’m fine.”

“You were moaning like your tummy hurt.”

“It wasn’t her tummy,” Greyley murmured, his voice low and indecently husky. “It was her—”

“Eye,” Anna said sharply, glaring at him.

“That’s what I was going to say,” he replied, a dangerous quirk to his mouth.

Anna conjugated the Latin word for “kick” before she managed a smile at Selena. “We were just looking for something that was stuck in my eye.”

“A large piece of bark,” the earl offered.

“Exactly,” Anna said, a little mollified the blackguard was finally assisting her.

“A large, hard piece of bark,” he added.

Anna snapped him a look. “I’m sure Selena does not need to be told every little detail.”

His smile disappeared. “Little?”

“Little she repeated firmly.

“There you are,” Desford said, coming down the path, his gaze on Selena. “Where have you been?”

“Talking to Lord Greyley and Miss Thraxton. She had a piece of bark in her eye and he was kissing it out.”

Anna made a distressed noise while Desford’s gaze narrowed thoughtfully. “No, no,” she said. “It was nothing like that.”

The boy’s mouth pursed, but to her surprise, he made no further comment. Instead, he took his sister’s hand and led her back down the path. “We found a waterfall,” he said as he went, disappearing behind the curve of the trees.

“Oh no,” Anna said fretfully.

Greyley’s warm hands encircled her waist again, but Anna moved away. “That’s enough of that.”

“You didn’t enjoy it?”

“On the contrary,” she said bluntly. “I enjoyed it far more than was suitable.”

His gaze flared and he took a step toward her, then stopped, his hands fisted at his sides, a smug expression on his face. “What are we going to do about this, Thraxton?”

“About what?” she asked, desperately bidding for time.

“This attraction we have for one another.”

“Nothing, of course,” she said, smoothing her hair and trying to appear sane and sensible. “We have responsibilities. And treading down this path would be very dangerous for both of us.”

“I like danger.”

Good Lord, so did she. But not here. And not now. She knew the ending of this story, and it was nothing but heart-break and the loss of her self-respect. “Not possible. We, Lord Greyley, are going to forget this ever happened.” Anna turned on her heel and walked down the trail where Desford and Selena had just disappeared. “I’m going to see to the children.”