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“Oh dear, that is enough. This is my baby sister we are talking about!” Alice exclaimed.

Scarlett laughed as she patted her best friend’s shoulder affectionately. “Come now, you are married to a Wolf as well. If anyone should be scandalized, that would be me.”

Evie smiled teasingly. “Then perhaps you should get married soon too, so you can join these conversations freely, my poor innocent girl.”

They all giggled as the redhead shuddered. “To marry, one must find a gentleman worthy of becoming a husband first, and there has been a scarcity of such men of late.”

“Oh, you never know.” Evie smiled mischievously at her. “He may be right around the corner.”

“Well, I hope he makes his presence known soon,” Scarlett huffed. “I am not getting any younger, and Phoebe’s talk of spinsterhood is starting to look rather appealing now.”

“Your mama will never allow you to become a spinster,” Alice pointed out.

“There are ways that I might be able to convince her,” the redhead replied, haughtily tossing her hair back. “So, whoever this worthy gentleman is, he better step into the light before I decide that I am done with husband-hunting!”

Alice and Evie shared a look before they just shook their heads and smiled knowingly as they followed Scarlett back into the manor.

Phoebe leaned into Ethan’s embrace as he held her close, his finger tracing lazy patterns on her shoulder while she did the same to his thigh.

“Stop doing that,” he murmured hoarsely. “Or I will not be responsible for what happens in this carriage.”

She smiled a little at that. “So, am I to take responsibility for you, then, hmm?”

She heard his low growl, felt his chest vibrate with it, and the next thing she knew, he had flipped her over to sit on his lap, facing him. Her hands immediately sought purchase on his shoulders as his warm breath fanned her cheeks.

“Have you ever ridden astride, my dawn?” he murmured huskily.

She shook her head. “It is not exactly considered appropriate for women…”

He stopped her by running his thumb gently over her lips. “Do you want to ride me?”

Ride… him?

Phoebe sputtered even as liquid heat pooled low in her belly.

His hand trailed up her thigh, bringing her skirt up with it. When his fingers unerringly found her wet center, she threw her head back and moaned softly.

“Ethan, I do not think we should…”

“But you are so wet already,” he purred, swirling his finger around the taut pearl between her legs. “I can feel you aching for it.”

Dear heaven, he was right. He knew her body so well, knew what it wanted without her having to say it.

“What do you want, my dawn?” he asked her softly. “It is a long way back to Sinclair Estate.”

Phoebe mewled as she ground her hips against his hand.

He was right—it was a long way back to Sinclair Estate. She had chosen to run to Scarlett’s residence for precisely that reason, after all. For she had meant to put as much distance between them as possible.

Can I wait that long?Phoebe silently wondered, her face burning as she squirmed on her husband’s lap.

She knew she could not. Sheburnedfor him, and she knew he wanted her just as much.

But to do it in thecarriage?

She took a deep breath and let it out.

“You,” she breathed. “I want you inside me.”