Page 90 of A Bride for the Duke of Sin

Phoebe smiled at them as she tried to keep up with Ethan’s longer strides. Resisting him would only attract more unwanted attention to them. Heaven only knew that Lord Dexford might seize upon the smallest evidence of their disharmony, not to mention what the small crowd was probably deducing from the scene before them.

Nothing close to the truth, unfortunately.

The tonwas blessed with keen powers of observation. However, that did not mean they were particularly blessed with thedeductive powers needed to correctly interpret what they saw or heard, limited as they were by their own prejudices.

They were, unfortunately, greatly adept at spreading misinformation.

“Where are you taking me?” Phoebe demanded, shooting him a quick glare as he helped her into the carriage. “Ethan!”

“To the estate,” he barked at the footman.

Phoebe seethed. He did not even bother to answer her directly!

By the time she settled into her seat, her frustration had reached its breaking point. She wasvibratingwith rage.

How dare he herd her into the carriage as if she were nothing more than a docile sheep! The moment he closed that door, she would?—

Lips—warm, strong, undoubtedlyEthan’s—crashed against hers the moment the carriage door closed behind him.

She blinked. Once. Twice.

And then, her eyes fluttered shut, her arms flying around him as she clung to him, her lips moving against his.

Their breaths mingled heatedly as his tongue swept past the seam of her lips before delving deeper into the cavern of her mouth.

Probing. Exploring. Staking his claim.

Phoebe let out a slight cry of surprise when the carriage jolted forward a little, but Ethan held her close to him, his arms like steel bands around her.

“This farce has gone on long enough, Duchess,” he murmured gently.

He traced the backs of his fingers over the curve of her cheek as his eyes flashed with barely concealed desire.

“You are mine,” he growled. “And I need to make sure you remember that.”

She let out a little huff of laughter. “Now, you are just being silly.”

He grabbed her hand and pressed it to the hardness between his legs. Her eyes widened in shock at his bold move.

“Tell me what part of me is being silly,” he whispered huskily. “I have been kept in a painful state of perpetual arousal, while you tempt me at every turn.”

“Itemptyouat every turn?” she squawked.

But the knowledge that she had driven him to such a state filled her with a sense of feminine pride. Her fingers curled slightly around his erection as a smile began to spread across her face.

I did this, she realized, her eyes growing wide with wonderment.

“Keep doing that, Duchess, and we might not be able to make it to the estate before I cross every single one of your boundaries.”

Then cross them!Phoebe wanted to scream at him, this horribly obtuse man.

Her every nerve thrummed in anticipation. Every slight jolt of the carriage only seemed to heighten the familiar throbbing between her legs.

Dear heavens, was she actuallyarousedinside the carriage? How absolutely,thrillinglyscandalous!

“Do not look at me like that,” he told her hoarsely.

She blinked. “Like what?”

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