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She bit her lip, but he could not afford to linger on it just then.

“It’s quite literally the only thing I’ve thought on since the Boxing Day fete.” He took a heavy breath. “I can think of no other woman but you, Pippy. Just you.” What was he to do?

She swatted away a tear that rolled down her cheek.

“I suppose you leave me little choice.” He lifted his chin and closed the gap between them. “I’ll just have to prove it to you.” He snaked his arms around her waist, tugging her to him.

She let out a surprised gasp, but she slid her hands up his chest and around his neck.

“Bite your lip, my lady. I dare you to do it.”

She looked at him as if he were near bedlam. And perhaps he was. But his commitment would have to wait.

She slowly pulled her bottom lip back between her teeth and waited.

He pulled her tighter against him—hoping she felt the racing of his heart. “Finally, I can do what I’ve been wanting to do for weeks.” He lowered his head and she released her bottom lip just as his lips met hers.

At first, he was soft and reserved. But then the frantic longing inside him took over. He tightened his hold, pushing her up against the bookcase, and deepened the kiss. Every doubt, every fear, every hesitation he’d felt for the last month came out. When his brain begged for air, he gasped, but only for a second. Then he continued, moving his kisses from her lips to her jaw and then trailing down her neck.

Pippy groaned and melted into him.

He grinned against her neck. “Why did you not tell me any of this sooner?”

Her skin blazed under his lips. “It’s hardly something a lady speaks of, Galahad.”

“Ah, Lady Pip,” he muttered. “I’ve thought for weeks you were to be my undoing. I’ve never been so happy to be right.” He kissed her neck again, tasting the salt from her warm skin, mingled with her vanilla perfume.

But then, so she knew it wasn’t just about his physical reaction to her, he slowed down. Lud, why had they allowed so many misunderstandings to keep them from truly being man and wife? But then something Fin said came back to him. There was no sense dwelling on one lost month when they had their whole lives ahead of them.

“Oh, I beg your pardon. I didn’t realize this room was occupied.” The library door smacked shut.

Pippy pulled back slightly. “Oh.”

Freddie recognized Stan’s voice and smiled. The intrusion should embarrass him, but it didn’t. He was kissing his wife—which was entirely proper. Perhaps not in the library, but they’d be vacating it soon.

And as for Stan discovering them? There was little doubt that if Fin was not with Stan, he was close behind. Freddie was simply doing his part to show his dearest friends what they were missing—as any good friend would do.

He dropped his brow to hers. “Now, my love. I’ll have no more talk of annulments or toes, or any other such nonsense.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I dare say, you’re stuck with me.”

She put her hand on his cheek, and he leaned into it. “And I’d have it no other way, my love.”

Epilogue

Somerset, December 25, 1828

“Papa.” Five-year-old Adelaide tugged on Freddie’s tailcoat. “When may we leave?”

Freddie dropped to his haunches and looked his daughter in the eyes. “Patience, my lady.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Your mother is nearly ready. You do not wish for your little brother to catch a cold, do you?”

Adi frowned. “No. But I wish to start the quest. We’ve been waiting for hours.”

“Hours?” Freddie raised his brows.

“She exaggerates, Father.” Eight-year-old Julian rolled his eyes. “It’s barely been thirty minutes.” His words and tone suggested he was uninterested in the whole ordeal, but the slight bounce in his stance told a different story.

“It feels as though it’s been hours.” Adi pouted.

Freddie grinned and glanced up to see his wife descending the staircase with their baby, Albert, on her hip and holding the hand of their toddler. Lud. His chest warmed. She was just as handsome as the day he married her. Likely more so, because of the history they shared. “Ah.” Freddie stood. “It seems your wish is granted, Lady A. There are Mama, Sophia, and Albert now.”