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And bless her traitorous little heart as it thudded in her chest, but shecould not wait for it.

“Your Grace, allow me to share in the joy of your family at this delightful news,” a familiar, if unwelcome, voice interrupted her lust-clouded haze. “And also, I wish to convey how much I enjoyed your… little project.”

Phoebe felt her desire dissipate a little as she looked up and found the Viscount Dexford smiling at her, his eyes gleaming with something akin to malice.

“Ah… thank you,” she murmured. “The Duke and Duchess of Blackthorn will be happy to hear of it.”

Seeing her so dismissive of his praise, the Viscount’s smile seemed to stiffen, before he bowed slightly to her and wandered off to the balcony, pausing only for a while to snatch a glass of wine off the tray of a passing footman.

She felt Ethan’s displeasure coursing through him before she even saw it. When he tried to gently pull her hand from his elbow, Phoebe only held on tighter.

“Sweetheart, you should know that since you have already let me claim you, I am a very possessive husband,” he growled at her. “And if you are so worried about my taking other lovers to my bed, I must admit that the same goes for me as well.”

Phoebe smiled, leaning into the thrill of being possessed by him. Thoroughly.

“I am well aware of that, dear husband,” she murmured. “And I am not worried. It is all in the past…”

Oh, all right. She was not exactly truthful about that one.

“I cannot change the past,” he murmured huskily as his finger traced the curve of her cheek, wrapping delicately around that stubborn curl that always seemed to escape her coiffure. “I was who I was, but you should know that none of it matters now. All that matters is you and who I am now.”

Phoebe raised her eyes to meet his. “And who are you now, Ethan?” she asked him softly.

She was more than justworried. She lived suspended in mortal fear that one day, he would tire of the novelty of possessing her alone and would seek his pleasure with others.

That she alone would not be enough to satisfy his appetite.

And yet, he gathered her into his arms, pulling her into an empty hallway as he caged her body between his and the wall. Hiseyes darkened with the tell-tale signs of desire, the heat in them seeping into her skin.

“I am your husband, Phoebe,” he growled. “Do not forget that.”

He claimed her lips in a searing kiss, burning through her apprehensions as his tongue tangled with hers. With a soft groan of surrender, she flung her arms around him and kissed him back, entrusting her body, her soul, herheartto him.

His hand wandered from her neck down to the curve of her breast, while the other impatiently grabbed her thigh and lifted it to rest on his hip. Vaguely, she was aware of him dragging her skirt up, up, up… right before his fingers slid into her aching center.

Phoebe arched into him with a soft cry, burying her face into his shoulder as he stroked her wet folds.

“Oh God, you are so wet,” he groaned into her shoulder. “How can you walk around and be this wet, sweetheart? Let me take care of you…”

“But Ethan, the other guests…” she murmured, even as her body shuddered. “Yes, please! Do just that!”

“They are much too busy congratulating the happy couple,” he growled. “They will not be coming this way for another hour or so.”

If someone had told Phoebe a few weeks ago that she would soon find herself in an empty hallway, with Ethan’s hands under her skirts, between her legs, while a literalballwas in full swing, she would have declared them fit for Bedlam.

Now, as she clung to him, trying to stifle her pleasured cries with his jacket, her pleasure nearing its exquisite crescendo…

Well, she could hardly think of little else beyond his fingers stroking her wet slit.

And when his thumb pressed on that little pearl as his other finger slipped into her channel, she came apart with stunning force, like a great wave crashing against the shore.

“Oh God, Ethan,” she moaned into his shoulder, her body wracked with intense, little shudders as she sagged against him.

He chuckled softly as he gathered her in his arms and pressed a soft kiss to her brow.

“One of these days,” he promised her in a low whisper, “I will show you just how thrilling it can be when there is a risk of someone catching us while I am buried inside your tight, wet heat, sweetheart.”

Phoebe moaned into his shoulder again, her body tensing up deliciously at the oath in his words.