The fact that Anna wanted him so badly filled Vronsky with a lust he couldn’t hold back. Normally he’d have been mortified at being what his friends would call a one-pump-chump, but Anna found his inability to control himself intoxicating. And because of his age it didn’t even matter. She would just stay on top of him and in a few minutes, he’d grow hard again inside her, the second round lasting much longer than the first. Loving the exquisite torture of riding him slowly, she would try to hold out for as long as she could, but she often found herself crying out his name sooner rather than later. They went three rounds and Anna ended up late for Latin. Coitus, coituum, coitibus …

“Anna, stop checking your phone,” Beatrice said, with a sly smile. “If I had known that being all ooey-gooey-lovey-dovey would make me look as dreamy as you, I’d have tried it long ago.”

They were sitting together in the bleachers set up for spectators of the timber race, which was due to start any minute now. Anna flushed with embarrassment at Bea’s words. “Sorry,” she said softly. “I just don’t know why he hasn’t texted me back. Don’t you think he’s crazy for entering the timber race?”

“Don’t fret, my pet,” Beatrice said. “My cousin was quite the jumper back in the day. His mother always says that his instructor told her Alexia had the confidence and talents of a future Olympian. Now if this were a motorcycle race, I’d be nervous. Sure, he’s crazy for entering, but he’s always been an adrenaline junkie. If we should worry about anything it should be for my mother’s quarter horse. Vronsky’s in it to win it, and he’s gonna ride Frou Frou harder than she’s used to. But I’m sure you know all about that … when it comes to V.”

Anna tried not to react to Bea’s comment, which was a little too sharply pointed for her taste. Perhaps Bea didn’t even realize she was being prickly with her. She was probably feeling a bit jealous of Anna’s happy glow. Vronsky had told her on the DL that Bea’s secret love affair with Dahlia, the circus girl from her costume party, had ended abruptly, when after a night of clubbing in the city she found Dahlia showing off her acrobatic skill set to Bea’s stepbrother, Royce, whose apartment they had crashed at the night before. Bea didn’t take it well, and Dahlia was kicked out onto the streets of SoHo, Porky Pigging it with only one shoe.