Exclusive excerpt: 'His Wicked Reputation' by Madeline Hunter

HEA is thrilled to share an exclusive excerpt from His Wicked Reputation, the first in Madeline Hunter's new series about three irresistible brothers. Madeline is also an HEA contributor. Check out her latest Romance Unlaced column for HEA.

First, here's the blurb about the book (courtesy of Jove):

Gareth Fitzallen is celebrated for four things: his handsome face, his notable charm, his aristocratic connections, and an ability to give the kind of pleasure that has women begging for more. Normally he bestows his talents on experienced, worldly women. But when he heads to Langdon's End to restore a property he inherited—and to investigate a massive art theft—he lays plans to seduce a most unlikely lady.

Eva Russell lives a spinster's life of precarious finances and limited dreams while clinging to her family's old gentry status. She supports herself by copying paintings while she plots to marry her lovely sister to a well-established man. Everyone warns her of Gareth's reputation, and advises her to lock her sister away. Only it is not her sister Gareth desires. One look, and she knows he is trouble. One kiss, however, proves she is no match for this master of seduction.

EXCERPT

She could not bear sitting here like this, with him so close.

He stepped away from her. "There is still time for a turn in the park, I think." He went to her chamber door. "Would you like to join me?"

"Don't." The words emerged without thought. "Please, don't leave."

He gazed down on his hand, gripping the door's latch. "You have me at a disadvantage, Eva."

"I know. But I do not want you to leave. Then I will be here alone, thinking, remembering …" She stood and put down her book and crayon on her chair.

"What do you want from me?" He sounded exasperated.

"I am not sure. But I do not want to walk with you with all those people about. I am always sharing you now. We have had little time together, the way we did in Langdon's End."

"We were lovers then. This is how it is when you are friends. You often see each other in the company of other friends."

She went over to him. "Must it be that way? Can't we have time such as we did in the garden last week? My time is poorer when you are gone, and only half-​joyous when there are others with us."

"Poorer? Poorer?" He strode into the chamber. "Eva, you demanded a promise from me, and I have kept it. However, I am a madman when I am with you. Can you even imagine what hell this has been? I do not just miss your company, damn it. I hunger for you. I walk around insane with lust while I play the visitor's guide and the good neighbor. So do not ask me to attend on you in private and provide amusement so your time is not poorer."

"I do not need amusement. I don't. I need—" She reached out and placed her palm on his chest. Warmth. She needed warmth. She closed her eyes and savored the connection under her hand.

"Eva, you are in grave danger of being ravished, and honor be damned. Remove your hand and step back."

She opened her eyes and looked at her hand. "I cannot remove it. It is stuck." She moved it across his chest, under his coat. "Oh, look. It can move. Not totally stuck. Just too heavy to lift, I suppose." She caressed up, over his shoulder, feeling all the bones and muscles that gave it such an appealing form.

He suffered it, showing more stoicism than she wanted. What happened to honor be damned?

She stepped closer, so his scent filled her head. Her lips hovered an inch from his chin, tantalizing him.

Find out more about Madeline and her books at www.MadelineHunter.com.