Page 5 of 1797 Club 2nd Epilogue Collection (The 1797 Club #11)

W hen their luncheon had been eaten and the green set up, the next match in Emma’s day of games began.

This time it was bowls. James and Emma didn’t have a proper green with ditches, but it didn’t matter.

Teams were matched, with Simon and Meg requesting not to be together so that they might match each other at some point for their private stakes.

Simon was matched with Charlotte, who had just the Christmas before become Duchess of Donburrow, marrying her longtime love, Ewan.

Ewan was not participating in the games, but he sat off to the side, beaming at her and engaging her in the hand language they had developed years ago since the duke could not speak.

Meg had been placed with Charlotte’s brother, Baldwin. The last year or two, Simon had noted Baldwin becoming more and more serious, though he hoped that if he found his own bride soon he might return to the laughing man Simon cared so deeply for.

Both teams had done well, advancing past their first matches and now they were paired against each other in the second round. Simon watched as Meg spoke to Baldwin, her intensity clear as she pointed on the field where the ball they were to bowl toward sat. Baldwin glanced at Simon and he grinned .

“It seems he’s getting an earful,” Charlotte said with a shake of her head. “She truly wants to best you.”

Simon chuckled and handed over their bowl for her to take the next roll. “I assume you’d like to best him. Sibling rivalry at all.”

“Oh yes!” Charlotte said. She moved to take her place and rolled. She ended up within six inches of the jack, which normally would be considered a good shot, but Simon could see the triumph in Meg’s gaze. She believed she could beat it for the point.

When she did, Charlotte inclined her head. She smiled as Baldwin moved to make the next shot for the next point and then glanced at Simon. “I hear you are doing some renovations on your estate this summer.”

Simon nodded. “Yes. I want to modernize a bit before any children join us.”

“Meg will make a wonderful mother,” Charlotte said and then laughed as Meg pumped her first in the air with a whoop as Baldwin’s bowl nearly touched the jack. She arched a brow at Simon as if to say they’d already won, despite the fact that the round had barely started.

“She will teach our children to be daring,” Simon said. “And likely as competitive as she is. And I will adore that about them."

He tipped his hat and bowled. His ball pushed Baldwin’s out of the way and he took the point with a low bow to his suddenly pink-faced wife.

The round continued with them alternating shot for shot between the two ladies, the two gentlemen and then mixed rounds where often Meg and Simon bowled against each other for the advantage. And that was how the round ended, with a tie of ten to ten and Simon and Meg bowling for the final point.

Meg took her shot first, measuring and tilting her head and crouching down to best place her bowl. Simon watched her and pure adoration swelled in his chest. She did nothing by halves, his wife. He would have it no other way.

She rolled at last and her bowl came to rest close to the jack.

She stepped back, covering her cheeks with her hands as she waited nervously for Simon to take his shot.

Some of the men here would have then bowled to allow their wives the win.

Perhaps it would even be considered gentlemanly to do so by some.

And yet Simon knew that Meg would sense it if he tried to lose on purpose. She would hate it. And since he judged her an equal partner in their lives, he would never do so out of respect for her abilities.

He drew a long breath and rolled. It felt like everything shifted to slow motion as the bowl made its way down the green and then settled, just beyond hers, closer to the jack by less than an inch.

The gentlemen of the group let out a collective shout while the ladies groaned. But when Meg lowered her hands from her face, she was beaming at him. “Good show, Simon!” she called out. “A wonderful shot!”

They came back together as the next round began. Simon and Charlotte would move forward even though Meg and Baldwin were now out. Meg slid a hand through the crook of his elbow as they watched the next round of play.

“Well done,” she whispered, her voice a little husky so that it ran down his spine in tingling waves. “And now it all comes down to the last game after supper.”

He shot her a glance. “You forget my boon, Meg.”

“Oh, I most definitely do not,” she whispered. “What is your boon, Your Grace?”

He smiled. “A kiss, just like yours.”

There was something utterly wicked that lit up in her eyes and his cock was suddenly uncomfortable in his trousers. “I can give you that right now while the others play,” she suggested. She took his hand. “Come with me?”

He couldn’t have resisted her if it meant the world to do so.

He never had been able to really. He followed her up the trail toward the house and into a small, empty parlor.

She shut the door and motioned for him to take a place on the settee where they could still see the play out the window.

He sat and shivered as she turned the lock and then came to him.

“Just a kiss?” she whispered.

He nodded wordlessly and opened his arms for her to come to him. But instead of sinking into his lap, she dropped to her knees, pushing his legs apart slightly. She rubbed his thighs with both hands, kneading the muscles there without breaking eye contact.

“You never suggested where I should bestow my kiss,” she said gliding her fingers to the fastenings of his breeches and loosening the fall front one by one. “So I’ve chosen here.”

His cock came free as she said it and she caught it in hand, stroking him once before she dropped her mouth down over him. He groaned and rested his head back against the settee, shutting his eyes as she took him all the way into her throat.

He could still hear the others on the field outside and knowing his wicked wife was shamelessly pleasuring him with their friends and family just outside made this all the more powerful.

He lifted against her, gripping the edge of the settee when what he really wanted to do was dig his fingers into her hair and feel her ripple with desire when he did so.

But they had to return to the party and he wanted her to look none the worse for this so it would be their naughty secret. Something to make them both thrill with desire when their eyes met until they could take their time with each other tonight, in service of whomever had won the final boon.

She looked up at him as she worked her mouth and hand over his hard cock, her dark eyes dancing with desire as she swirled her tongue around and around his length.

She knew exactly what he liked, exactly what would give him pleasure and release.

And while he might have normally simply enjoyed the wild ride she was taking him on, he could see the next round of play outside was coming to a close.

They would be missed if they didn’t return soon.

He gripped the settee edge even harder and moaned as the pleasure spiked, ricocheting through his balls, streaking up the length of him.

With a gasp, he came and she took every drop with a shuddering moan of her own that reverberated up his sensitive cock.

She withdrew from him at last, licking her lips with a satisfied smile.

“There, Your Grace. Your kiss.”

He chuckled and caught her beneath the armpits, hauling her into his lap where he kissed her lips deeply, tasting the mix of his pleasure and her desire on her tongue. “Minx,” he murmured when she rested her forehead against his.

“You love it,” she whispered back.

“I do, indeed. But now we must return to the others, I think. You’ll need to watch with pride as I take the bowling tournament with Charlotte. And then you must prepare yourself for all I’ll demand of you after I win the last game tonight.”

She swatted his arm playfully as she got up and let him tuck himself back into place. “You mean what I’ll demand of you , Your Grace. Winner takes all, you know. I’m going to win.”

With that she flounced with great flourish out of the room, leaving him laughing and aching for her in equal measure. And excited about what would come next in this game he was playing with his amazing wife.