HIS FORBIDDEN OBSESSION

her name-sent a shive

t in its tone, but in the weight it carried. Like it wasn't just a name but

owed. "Wh

he didn't step away either. The shadows still clung to him, even in the soft glow of the garden ligh

. Her instincts told her to leave. To turn back toward the party, back to Ethan, back to the life she had

voice steadier than she f

sion didn't change, but Celia felt the weight of it. And then he did something that sent her pulse skittering. He smiled. Not a warm smil

curled into fi

re," she said. "This

Her stomac

o hold his gaze. "Th

er, quieter. "I came to see what kind of woman E

of something-confusion, anger-rushed through her, but before she

against stone. "Celia?" Her b

ent she turned, she felt his presence behind her, warm and solid, the

didn't resist. His lips brushed her temple. "I was l

he man was gone. Vanished into the night, as if he ha

something behind? Something she couldn't quite

oo uneven. She turned in every direction, but the strang

imagined

he had seen. Wh

oth, gentle, but there was something beneath it-something sharp. "Who were you

she suppo

name like it meant something, and then disappeared without a trace? It sounded

woman Ethan Blackwell is wi

an uneasy shive

asn't just beneath the surface. It was there, in the open. "Did someone bother you?" His voice was softer now, but there was an edg

nter didn't sit right with her. The man hadn't threatened her. He hadn't even

his patience thinning. "Celia," he mur

lowed. "

n't leave he

pagne is getting to my head." Ethan studied her for a long moment. Then, finally, his lips curved int

he said it made warmth bloom in her chest, momentarily replacing the unease. This was Ethan. The man she loved. T

shoulder. The garden was empty. Silent. But deep in her bones, she knew this wasn't the last time she