Page 3 of 1797 Club 2nd Epilogue Collection (The 1797 Club #11)

J ames lay on his side, his arms and legs tangled in Emma’s. They were both awake, watching each other. He had no idea how much time had passed since they’d made love. It didn’t really matter. Whatever was going on outside their chamber door could wait.

Her fingers slid up and down his side, both comforting and arousing and leaned in to kiss her once more. When they parted, he frowned.

“Oh, that isn’t a good expression,” she said softly and moved to trace his lips with her index finger.

He shook his head, feeling his emotions swell in his chest. With her, it was always safe to have them. To share them, and so he did.

“Have I gone off track?” he asked.

Her brow wrinkled and her tone was nothing but gentle when she asked, “What do you mean, love?”

He drew in a long breath. “You said something today, after we discovered we must remain here at Falcon’s Landing a few extra days. And it made me feel like perhaps we’d lost each other a little.”

“What did I say? ”

“You said that you would stay out of my way,” he said and his stomach turned.

“Oh,” she whispered and touched his cheek, lightly tracing the line of his jaw with her fingers. “I didn’t mean anything at all by it. I know you’re busy, I know you have a great many important things to do and-”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” he interrupted, flopping on his back and staring at the ceiling with a frown. “I spent years trying to make sure I was never like my father. That I never treated my family like he treated me and Meg and my mother, God rest her.”

“And you never have!” Emma said, this time less gently as she sat up and pivoted fully toward him.

"James, look at me." He did so, letting his gaze flit over and hold hers. She cupped his cheeks. “You are a thousand times the man your father was. Your children adore you and know you love them. And I…I cannot picture a moment of my life that was happy that you were not central to. You are my everything. And I know I’m yours.”

There was relief at that but he still felt uneasy. It was as if now that he’d stopped his often ceaseless movement that he realized where he actually stood. And he wasn’t entirely pleased with the results.

“If I’ve been so busy that you think you’re a burden, or come secondary to anything else in my life, then I feel I have failed, at least a fraction.”

She sighed. “There are seasons of a life together, James,” she said.

“When we were first married, yes, it was all focused attention and passion and the unfolding of all the petals of who we were. Once the children came, as you became more active in your role as Duke both at home and in your public duties, the focus had to become split. I have loved watching you embrace a role you once shunned and hated and feared. I’ve loved seeing you become the man you were always meant to be.

And I’ve loved all of my own work, which has perhaps taken me just as far away from when we only centered each other. ”

He sighed and faced her again, drawing her back down to the pillows, tugging her closer so he could feel all her curves against his angles. “Then perhaps this is a signal that we are about to begin a new season of our lives yet again.”

She smiled gently and leaned in to kiss him. He reveled in the feel of her, the taste. Reveled in all she was and all she had become.

“And what season is that, Your Grace?” she asked when they parted.

“The children are older, they don’t need as much intense attention,” he said.

“And my work is important, but once this bill is read and decided on, there will be others who take on the cause. I must allow others take it on or it will fail. I want to work to make sure we don’t lose this , Emma.

I want you to know every day, every moment, that I choose you above all else in this world or any other. ”

Her eyes brimmed with tears and James reached up to wipe one away from her cheek. He knew her happy tears very well. These were them.

“If you are saying that we should insure that this next part of our lives means more connection, more passion, more renewal of all we’ve built, then you know I’d never say no to that, “ she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing her forehead to rest on his.

“I choose you, as well, James. Every day, in every way.”

He smiled before he leaned in to kiss her, and it felt like they had renewed something between them.

And he couldn’t wait for the next few days of quiet to explore that.

And for the rest of the years of his very lucky life to celebrate all the light and joy this woman had created for the last fifteen years and that he hoped he would enjoy for at least the next fifty.