She cupped his cheek. “You didn’t ruin it, Lion. This is the best Christmas I’ve ever known.”
Dandy pawed at his leg, but he ignored her, all his attention upon her mama instead.
He kissed Addy again, smiling against her lips. “Yet.”
EPILOGUE
OCEAN CITY, MD
July 1886
“It’s insufferably hot,” Lion grumbled, “and I’m reasonably certain I spied a mosquito earlier that was the size of my head.”
Addy gave him a playful swat on the arm. “Oh, do stop fussing. It’s the midst of July. Surely you didn’t expect it to be cold here in the summer.”
Beyond them, the ocean rhythmically crashed on the shore and seagulls called overhead. They sat on the covered porch of the cottage her father had gifted them—one of many wedding gifts, all of which had been woefully extravagant, in true Cornelius Fox fashion. Ocean City was a relatively newly incorporated town situated on the beautiful beaches of the Maryland coast. Her father had invested in it a decade earlier, purchasing property as he so often did, along with building a towering hotel that had been recently constructed.
She and Lion had decided to honeymoon here for a month, taking the rail from New York City through Pennsylvania and Delaware. A ferry had brought them across a placid bay, the sun glinting off the waters, and Addy had breathed deeply of the salt air, taking in the rugged beauty of the surrounding land with its pine trees and white sand.
Dandy had stayed behind in the city with Aunt Pearl to watch over her, and although Addy missed her beloved companion, she was grateful for the time to devote solely to her new husband. Even if he was grumbling about the weather and the mosquitoes.
“Does the sun ever cease shining?” he asked wryly.
She waved her fan at him. “I hope not. I adore it.”
“What I wouldn’t give for a snowball fight.” He sighed wistfully.
Addy chuckled. “I can best you at a snowball fight any day.”
“I shall demand a rematch when we are back at Marchingham Hall this Christmas.”
“With pleasure.”
They had married in New York City before their families and friends and the cream of high Society. The latter had been Mama’s doing, of course. She had been overjoyed to see her daughter marrying a duke, and no expense had been spared. Addy had allowed her mother to run wild with her plotting and planning. She hadn’t cared about the dress or the flowers or who was invited. All she had cared about was that she was marrying the man she loved and that her best friends in all the world, Lila and Letty, were now her sisters in truth.
The plan was to honeymoon at the Ocean City cottage for a month, followed by a trip back to New York City before Addy, Lion, and Dandy returned to England and spent some time settling into Marchingham Hall. True to his word, Lion had made certain that the vast funds settled upon Addy at their wedding remained hers. But she had already determinedthat they would restore his estates together. She was more than happy to see her dowry put to good use.
“This is a beautiful place,” Lion admitted at her side. “I will own that whilst I didn’t expect it to be quite so hot, I can well see the allure. The seaside is magnificent.”
“Itismagnificent,” Addy agreed softly, but it wasn’t the Atlantic Ocean that was captivating her at the moment.
Rather, it was him.
The breeze was ruffling his burnished-gold waves, and he hadn’t shaved that morning, leaving the glint of whiskers on his angular jaw. He turned to her, his icy-blue gaze darkening as their stares clashed and held.
“Do you know, I think I’ve heard of a cure for the Maryland heat,” she told him, a wicked idea flaring to life.
He raised a brow, looking ducal and irresistible all at once. “Oh?”
“Yes.” She rose from her chair, moving toward the cottage’s front door. “It involves the removal of all one’s clothing.”
Lion was out of his seat as well, following in her wake. “I think we should give it a try, my love.”
They made it through the door giggling like children, and then they were in each other’s arms, kissing and tearing at their garments. His mouth was hot and possessive on hers, and he tasted like the lemonade they had been sipping on the porch, sweet and tart. They kicked off their shoes. She moaned and undid the buttons on his waistcoat before moving to his shirt. Lion unhooked her bodice and untied her skirt.
A path of discarded clothes trailed behind them as they burst into their bedroom. Her corset and drawers and his shirt fell away. Stockings came next. Finally, his trousers. But when she reached for his cock, rigid and ready, Lion scooped her into his arms instead.
Addy made a startled sound, wrapping her arms around his neck as he gently deposited her on the mattress. She had a moment to admire his lean, muscled form before he settled on the bed at her feet.
