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Due to the obligations of his business, Adam hadn't been able to take Nell on a honeymoon but she said she didn't care and it appeared to Adam that she didn't. But then each night with her was like a honeymoon; Adam learned new ways to thrill her and Nell discovered ways to please him. But in time for their wedding night Adam had taken a suite at the hotel and intended to bed Nell in a leisurely manner, taking great care to soothe her and relax her but Nell was eager, much to Adam's delight and her passion for him surprised him—and amused him in a manner. She readily wrapped herself about him and he enjoyed her—more than he had any other woman. Her pure pleasure in him, her willingness and fervency to experience all physical delights made him double his efforts to give her fulfillment. And for the first time, Adam felt that he was fully the center of someone's love and attention.
Their first night the lay together, Nell's head on his chest his arm around her as sleep began to overtake them, Nell raised her head. She couldn't get enough of looking at him.
"Adam?" Nell asked.
"Hmm?" He felt heavy and sated; all he wanted was to sleep with his new wife in his arms.
"You remember when I came to your hotel room that morning?"
"Yes, I certainly do. That's when I found out you were a brazen hussy." He smiled as she lightly slapped his chest but then she hugged him again and kissed his chest.
"I would have lain with you then—that very morning."
Adam shifted his position slightly. "Well, you should have told me—I would have tipped you over."
"Tipped me or tupped me?" she asked, giggling. Adam laughed. Nell had a bit of naughtiness about her that he found endearing. "Would you really have taken me?" Nell sat up and Adam opened his eyes. Each time he looked at her, her beauty amazed him. He couldn't decide if it was because he loved her that she was so achingly lovely or if others saw her with the same eyes—but he decided it didn't matter. For him, she was magical as if his love threw a glamour over her.
"No." He saw the look of disappointment in her face despite the darkness of the room.
"Why not? You said that I was he only woman you truly wanted."
Adam closed his eyes again. "Lie down, Nell and go to sleep."
"But why wouldn't you have taken me?"
Adam sat up. "I wouldn't have taken you because you weren't ready. And it would have been wrong. Every day since then, I have fallen more and more in love with you; I didn't love you that morning, at least not even a fraction of what I do now. I want you to remember this—I've been in love before, a few times seriously…" Nell started to speak but Adam shushed her. "Don't ask about the other women because they're all in the past. This is now and we have each other. Don't raise up ghosts of dead romances. Now c'mon, let's go to sleep." He pulled her closer to him as they lay down and soon he could hear the light sip of her breathing but it was awhile before his mind quieted enough to sleep.
The first year of Adam and Nell's marriage was blissful; Nell adored him more every day and he, her. They lived in the hotel until, after eight months, the house that Adam designed was completed. Adam laughed as Nell danced through the rooms, not yet crowded with furniture.
"Oh, Adam it's beautiful," she said as she ran to him and he swung her in his arms. She kissed him and then with a naughty grin asked. "Shall we christen our new house?"
"And what is your suggestion?" Adam kissed her nose. "You couldn't be suggesting that I take you here on the wooden floor?"
"Couldn't I be? Wouldn't you like to?"
"I always want to but my knees on that hard floor…how about against the wall?"
Nell laughed with delight. "Oh, yes! We've never done that." So Adam picked her up, carried her over to the wall while she kissed his neck giggling.
"Oh, so you think you're being daring, do you?" He pushed up her skirts as he pressed her against the wall, her ankles locked about his waist.
"I'll be whatever you want," Nell said, turning serious. "I'll be your adventurous whore, I'll be your eternal love, I'll be your compliant servant and do your bidding no matter what it is." She stroked his cheek and ran her fingers through his dark hair. "I'll be anything as long as I'm yours." And Nell kissed him with a desire that had grown rampant over the past months. Adam felt himself want her, want her more than he had even just a few moments ago. Nell was his and she had willingly become so.
"I'll always love you, Nell," he murmured as their mouths parted and then she gasped and threw her head back to better enjoy the pleasure that was coming and the feel of his hot mouth on her neck.
A few months later, Clancy O'Connor suddenly and quietly died. The butler, Murray, had gone into the den to ask him if he needed anything more before he himself turned in and found his employer slumped in his overstuffed chair—dead.
Nell was distraught and Adam helped her navigate all the legalities. Nell became a wealthy woman on her own; she gave more money to Murray than what had original been bequeathed and he thanked her profusely as it was enough to guarantee a comfortable life for him. Nell also gave a goodly portion to the cook, Mrs. Chevy, a plump, red-faced woman, who couldn't stop crying about how much she would miss Mr. O'Connor, what a wonderful man he had been and Adam had a slight suspicion that perhaps she satisfied all of Clancy O'Connor's hungers. Nell asked Adam if Mrs. Chevy could work for them as she herself was turning out to be quite the bad cook. And Adam had laughed, pulling Nell down onto his lap, and said, of course; he looked forward to finally getting a decent meal. Nell said that she would be angry with him for the insult except that it was true.
Nell, much to Adam's surprise, was strong and brave through it all, remaining composed during the funeral. Her father's death had changed her in a subtle way, seemed to drain some of the joy from her and in its place was a steeliness he had never seen; it had made her hard in a manner. It was only in Adam's arms that Nell cried, even remaining dry-eyed with her friend Abby who held Nell's arm through the service, both wearing the black clothes of mourning. But eventually, Nell's spirits returned and she insisted that some of the furniture from her family home be moved into their new house; some of the rooms still needed furnishing. Adam had no objections so while Margery followed Nell through her childhood home with a pencil and pad, Nell pronounced which pieces would be taken. Margery wrote the pieces down for the movers. Soon Adam's and Nell's lives were on an even keel and Adam could devote his daylight hours to his business and his nights to Nell.