“As me or as the Lace Bandit?” she asked with an impish smile.
“Both.”
“You wicked man!”
“Yes, but you love me anyway.” His grin widened as he lifted the hem of her dress and slipped his fingers between her legs. She closed her eyes and moaned as his clever fingers once more began to give her that sweet pleasure.
“Promise me you will never don that mask again,” he whispered, nipping her earlobe.
“I will never, I swear it. Oh…m’lord, what you do to me.”
“I assure you, it is nothing to compare with what Iwilldo to you after we marry.”
“And I readily acquiesce to your demands, whatever they might be. Ahh…” His warm breath filled the cavity of her ear, and he plunged a finger deep inside her folds, rubbing and stroking, eliciting unimaginable sensations.
“Do not dispose of the mask,” he growled.
“But why?” The delightful sensation had begun to take hold, and she whimpered as his fingers moved faster with tantalizing intensity.
“Oh, I have a few ideas that I’ll share with you after we’re married.” Without pause, he continued to drive her to the brink whilst he spoke. Now, with her breath coming in gasps, his own excitement joined hers. “Now, my love, I want to hear you shatter for me.”
She cried out as she tipped, and he growled with satisfaction.
“I love you, Lex,” she said in a breathless whisper of complete elation.
“I love you too, Edwina,” he said, his forehead touching hers. “I must formally ask the dowager baroness for your hand in marriage. We will post the banns immediately and be married as soon as possible.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes. And then you’ll tell me what you intend to do with the mask?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Lex found her lips, and he kissed her.
And the world was, indeed, a remarkable place.
Epilogue
Du Priest Manor
Essex
To say itwas the perfect day for a wedding would be an understatement.
Autumn had painted the estate in vibrant hues of russet, gold, and crimson. The week’s rain had taken mercy on the festivities, retreating just in time to let shafts of sunlight dance through scattered clouds, casting a golden glow over the gardens and the magnificent tent erected on the lawn. The air was filled with the earthy scent of fallen leaves, the sound of birds chirping in the distance, and the gentle rustling of the wind through the trees.
Inside, music and laughter filled the air as Basil and Tess, glowing with happiness, twirled across the polished wooden dance floor—their first as husband and wife. Guests cheered and clapped, and some dabbed their eyes with embroidered handkerchiefs. It was the kind of joy that lingered in memory.
Lex leaned against a tent post, watching his best friend and his sister with a quiet smile. They deserved this happiness. They had fought for it.
But his gaze drifted, as it always did, to his own wife.
Winnie was seated with her grandmother, whispering something that made Felicia laugh and wag a teasing finger. She pressed a kiss to her grandmother’s cheek, then rose and turned—and Lex felt that familiar jolt of desire thunder through his veins at the look in her eyes.
Six months had passed since their wedding, and yet every time he looked at her, it was as though time stopped. If they were blessed with sixty years together, he’d wager his entire rebuilt fortune that he’d still feel the same electric pull every time she looked at him like that.
She strolled toward him, her hips swaying, curls catching the light like spun copper. “Why, my lord, are you brooding in corners again?”
“I’m contemplating my outrageous good fortune,” he said, taking her hand. “And plotting how to whisk you away from this very respectable gathering.”
“Is it scandal you’re after?” she asked archly.
