He took a breath and then thrust forward.
Heavens, that stung! If she hadn’t expected the sharp pain, she’d have cursed him for it. But it would never sting like that again. She knew that too. And Oliver, her Oliver, was fully inside her and Grace couldn’t help but smile. “I love you.”
He lowered his head and kissed her then, possessing her completely. He pulled back slightly and thrust again, and slowly found a rhythm that he must have known would drive her wild.
Grace slid her arms around his back and held him close as he moved inside her, stroking her, as a pressure within her grew and grew. She was just on the precipice when his pace increased, and she fell right over the edge, clutching him even closer as wave after wave crashed over her.
A moment later, Oliver followed her over the edge, crying out her name and filling her with warmth.
He collapsed beside her and drew her against him, cradling her in his arm.. “You are amazing,” he whispered and kissed the side of her neck.
“Can we just stay like this forever, Oliver? Or at least until it seems real?”
“It’s real, my love. You’re mine now forever.”
Epilogue
May 1827 ~ Highfield Park, Buckinghamshire
Squealsfrom the children and laughter echoed through the air. Grace smiled as she leaned against the balustrade watching Charlotte and her cousins hide behind trees and shrubs while Jonathan counted to twenty. It felt like a million years ago that she was that same age.
“Can you believe how much they’ve grown?” Patience asked, coming to stand beside Grace and resting her head on her shoulder.
“And wild,” Hope complained without heat, gently touching a hand to her pregnant belly. “We were never that wild.”
This comment elicited a round of chuckles from Braden and Quent, not too far away. Even Patience laughed as she slid closer to their sister.
“Honestly, Hope,” Quent began. “I do think more of your memory goes each time you give Kilworth another bundle to bounce.”
“You’d best stop after this one,” Braden agreed.
“You’re one to talk.” And though they were respectable adults these days, Hope stuck her tongue out at their brothers.
Braden did have a brood, four strong boys who loved nothing more than to torment Patience’s twins, whenever they visited Buckinghamshire. Quent doted on his angel Lila and their lone little princess Poppy quite shamelessly. And Hope was mother to three very rambunctious children, who each shared a bit of their mother’s temperament.
“You’d better hope Charles, Anne and Benjamin don’t see you do that,” Grace said evenly. “You’ll never get them to stop sticking out their tongues if they do.”
It wasn’t often that the five of them were together these days. She and Oliver saw Braden and Callie on a fairly regular basis, as they were neighbors, after all. But Quent and Lila were in Cumberland most of the year. Patience and Matthew were still in Yorkshire except on rare occasions. And Hope and Thaddeus were in Leicestershire when he wasn’t in Town rising through the parliamentary ranks.
This was as close to heaven as it got, however. The five of them with their families, all laughing with and loving one another. And Grace would enjoy every second of it while it lasted.
She spotted Oliver step from the drawing room out onto the balustrade. He must have successfully escaped from Mother who wanted every bit ofon ditabout Ginny and Veronica. The sun caught his dark hair and his shining eyes. Ten years, well…almostten years together and she loved him just as deeply as she always had.
He came up behind her, and settled his hand at her waist. “Where’s Charlotte?” he whispered near her ear and then pressed his lips to her cheek.
Grace tilted her head to the side to better see her husband and said, “She is hiding behind that willow tree over there. Don’t look,” she added quickly. “You’ll give her spot away, and she’ll never forgive you.”
“I see her feet poking out,” he said, as he looked the other direction to keep from giving their daughter away. “How long before you think Jonathan finds her?”
Not long at all, Grace was sure. When they named their son after the Duke of Danby, she had not expected the boy would also inherit His Grace’s cleverness to go along with his moniker. “Whenever he decides he’s ready to find her,” she replied. “Sometimes he lets her think she’s won just to make the game more interesting.”
“That’s my boy.” Oliver laughed. “Keeping Prestwood ladies on their toes.”
She spun in his arms and gazed up at him. “Is that a fact?”
The grin he quirked her made it quite clear he’d been teasing. “Well, it’s only fair as Prestwood ladies keep me on my toes.”
Grace pressed up on her toes, the irony of which did not elude her, and softly kissed him. “You can keep me on my toes all day long, my lord.”
“I’d much rather have you in my arms.”
“Deal.”