Page 112 of The Devil's Accidental Duchess

“I am taking a walk with my wife,” Philip replied, amusement lacing his voice.

Her father frowned, squinting between the happy couple. “Oh… Your wife. Yes… yes, well, see to it that she doesn’t trip or… um… get lost in those excessive gardens.”

“I will,” Philip promised, chuckling.

With that, her father began to amble back toward the main group, muttering to himself.

At first, Selina worried that he was insulting her husband, but as she caught his words on the wind, a laugh bubbled up the back of her throat.

“Nice fellow, actually,” he murmured to himself. “Too tall, though. No one needs to be that tall.”

It might not have been an open declaration of peace and forgiveness, but it was the next best thing.

“Am I too tall?” Philip asked wryly as they continued toward the gardens, passing through the gate into the privacy that the high walls offered.

Selina shook her head. “You are exactly tall enough.”

“How so?”

“Well,” she said, “I can rest my head right here and feel safe in your arms without feeling you are too far away.” She pressed her cheek to his chest and smiled as he held her to him, his hand stroking her hair. “And if I want to kiss you, all I have to do is rise on my tiptoes.”

She peered up at him and slowly did just that. His hand cradled the side of her throat, his other arm locked around her waist to keep her balanced, his smile a beautiful beacon of love and hope as she drew closer to his lips.

“Or I can just bend my head,” he offered, a laugh rumbling in his chest, as he closed the gap between them, his mouth catching hers in a slow, sensual graze.

She melted into him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she kissed him back. A passionate kiss to seal their love and the vows they had made to one another today.

It felt right that they should silently pledge themselves to one another here, in the gardens where she had discovered bliss for the very first time, where he had opened up a whole new world toher. It felt right that, through everything, they had realized their love for one another.

Perhaps the members of the mysterious Matchmakers’ Book Club were geniuses… or witches with a knack for seeing into the future. Whatever their gift, Selina was beyond grateful that they had chosen her and chosen him, pairing them together, though it had seemed impossible that they could be a good match.

But they were not just a good match; they were alovematch. Another success.

Selina smiled against his mouth as she sank deeper into the kiss, her breath becoming ragged, already looking forward to their wedding night.

“I love you,” Philip panted, equally breathless.

Her heart soared.

“As I love you,” she whispered, and kissed him harder, with all the force and fire of the love that burned within her.

All for him. Her husband, her Duke, the hero of her very own love story. A story with the kind of happy ending that would satisfy her for a lifetime.

The End?