Page 38 of A Bride for the Duke of Sin (Ton’s Wolves #3)
EPILOGUE
A ll is well that ends well.
At least that was what Shakespeare said, and it suited Phoebe well enough, now that she was cocooned in Ethan’s arms once more.
“At least you managed to work through your differences.” Alice smiled affectionately at her younger sister. Then, her sharp gaze flicked to Ethan, and she added, “And if you ever misbehave again, we might just decide that it is not in Phoebe’s best interests to return to you.”
Phoebe felt Ethan’s arms tighten around her instinctively. She looked up to find her husband looking solemnly back at Alice.
“Rest assured that I would sooner kill myself than hurt her again,” he promised.
“And I can decide for myself whether I want to return, thank you very much,” Phoebe added with a roll of her eyes. “There is no need for any of you to make decisions for me.”
Her older sister smiled proudly at her and stepped forward to kiss her cheek. “I wish you well, dearest. You are brave enough and strong enough to handle this one.”
Evie laughed and winked at her. “You can always go to Ashton Estate if he misbehaves again. I can assure you that we can make it twice as difficult for him to see you if you do not wish to see him.”
Phoebe felt Ethan shuddering, and he cast her an imploring look. “It shall never come to that, I promise.”
She smiled jauntily back at him. “I shall hold you to that promise.”
He nodded and smiled. “For the rest of my life.”
His hand trailed down her arm, his fingers intertwining with hers.
“Let us hurry back home, my dawn,” he murmured in her ear. “I have missed you so terribly.”
Phoebe blushed, her heart swelling with so much joy that it almost hurt. “Yes, my darling husband. Let us go back home.”
The three ladies watched as Ethan helped Phoebe into the carriage and then closed the door behind himself. Soon, the coachman urged the horses to move slowly down the tree-lined drive.
Scarlett sighed as she watched the carriage go. “They were in such a hurry to be reunited that they even left poor Ella and Phoebe’s things behind.”
Evie laughed and winked at Scarlett. “I trust that they will have no need for a change of clothes so soon.”
The redhead muffled her laughter with her glove, her eyes twinkling with merriment. “Not for some time yet.”
“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. She burned for him, and she knew he wanted her just as much.
But to do it in the carriage ?
She took a deep breath and let it out.
“You,” she breathed. “I want you inside me.”
He flashed her a smile. “I am all yours, my dawn.”
He groaned as he fumbled with the placket of buttons. With a low groan, he released his cock from his breeches, the head slipping through her wet folds.
“Ride me, Phoebe,” he urged her huskily. “Take me inside you.”
Phoebe gasped as he slid easily into her channel, his arousal filling her, stretching her in the most pleasurable ways possible.
“Do you like that, my sweet dawn?”
She nodded. “Oh, yes. Yes!”
His fingers quickly undid the buttons at the back of her dress and unlaced her chemise. With a quick tug, her breasts spilled over her bodice, and Ethan wasted no time taking a taut peak into his mouth.
Phoebe let out a soft moan as his tongue swirled tauntingly over the rosy bud. Instinctively, she began to move her hips, and he groaned into her chest.
“God, you feel so good,” he growled, his fingers digging into her hips as his own snapped up to meet hers. “Ride me, Phoebe. Ride me as you wish.”
What an absolutely scandalous thought!
But Phoebe was lost in a sea of bliss, and his words only served to egg her on. Desire shot through her, burning through her inhibitions as she gave him pleasure and grabbed it for herself with both hands.
She was a maddened creature beyond control, and for the first time, she did not care if what she did was unconventional or scandalous.
All that mattered was her and Ethan and this connection they shared.
She took him into her body, moving over him as her soft moans spilled past her lips. She tilted her head back, and he took her breasts into his mouth, heightening her pleasure and devouring her as he promised.
Every movement intensified that delicious ache between her thighs. Every single jolt of the carriage seemed to shoot straight to her core.
“Ethan!” she gasped. “Oh, Ethan!”
“Seize it, Phoebe,” he groaned against her skin. “It is all yours for the taking.”
I am all yours.
The unspoken words hung in the air between them. Phoebe opened her eyes and looked into his own glazed ones. There was desire there, yes, but beyond that, she saw love .
He loved her—she could see it clearly now.
Could hear it in his voice as he urged her to seek her pleasure, knowing that he found his in it as well.
Could feel it throbbing in her, filling her.
The air sparked between them, charged with something else. Something far beyond anything she had ever known.
He reached out to cup the side of her face, his thumb caressing her cheek.
“I love you.”
The words tumbled out of her lips without shame. She did not care who heard her now. She would shout it from the rooftops of London if she could.
“And I love you, my dawn,” he whispered fiercely. “I love you so damn much…”
With a soft moan, she began to move over him once more, drawing back and surging forward. Withdrawing and then taking him to the hilt.
He groaned in her ears, and the sound filled her with much delight.
As she moved, she could feel all of him filling her, touching her in all the places she wanted to be touched.
Ethan was not far behind as he grabbed her hips and met her stroke for stroke. When her strength flagged, he continued to thrust into her, building the pleasurable ache in her center until she could not take it anymore.
When she felt him reach between their bodies, felt him press a finger against that hooded bud between her folds, Phoebe came apart with a soft scream that she muffled with his shoulder just as he let out a loud groan.
His seed filled her, warming her from the inside as wave after wave of intense pleasure washed over her.
She sagged against him, feeling utterly spent as his arms came around her, cradling her to him.
Outside, the horses’ hooves continued to clatter on the cobblestones as the carriage made its way down the streets of London.
“I told you it was still a long way back to the estate.” Ethan chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
Phoebe smiled and then moaned softly as he pulled himself out of her, the movement stimulating her sensitive nerve endings once more.
“I missed you,” she told him.
“Not as much as I missed you,” he countered.
She sighed and sank into his embrace. “You will have to send a carriage for Ella. My clothes are still with her at Scarlett’s.”
She looked up and saw his smile flash wickedly as his hand slipped between her thighs once more, her aching flesh quickening at his touch.
“Oh no, my sweet dawn,” he drawled mischievously. “When we get home, I will keep you in my bed, where you will have no need for clothes for a good few hours at the very least…”
A breathy moan escaped Phoebe’s lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“In that case, husband, I shall hold you to that promise…”
It was, indeed, quite some time before a carriage could be sent to retrieve Ella and Phoebe’s things.
The End?