Page 15 of Dukes and Diamonds

The coach stopped in front of Fitz’s townhouse, and Tabitha gazed up at the beautiful home through the small window. She was cradled on Fitz’s lap and had no desire to move off him at that moment. In the coach ride over they’d had a chance to talk for the first time they’d parted the night they’d made love. She’d confessed everything to him then, even telling him about Hannah and Julia. She truly trusted him to keep her secrets and keep her friends safe and he”d assured he would. He in turn had told her more of how he’d gone all the way to New York and everything about that night in Mrs. Astor’s ballroom when he’d groveled for forgiveness from Anne and brought her back. He’d even shared his meeting with Louis and his fearful hope that his friend would forgive him now that he’d done all he could to make things right.

For the first time in her life, Tabitha felt…whole. She was with the person that her heart belonged to and she had no more doubts…except one.

“My grandmother is home this evening... I wanted you to meet her...as my future wife.”

“Your grandmother!” she gasped. “Oh heavens, Fitz. We can’t... she can’t possibly approve of me as a wife for you?—”

“Actually, she is the one who knocked some sense into my head,” he chuckled. “I assure you, she does approve.”

“But she can’t. She knows that I stole her diamond and what I am...” That was the only thing that Tabitha feared. She didn’t want Fitz and his grandmother arguing over her. She would not be the reason for a break between them.

He stroked a fingertip down her nose. “She doesn’t give a fig about your past. In fact, she is a great admirer of the Merry Robins. She’s already claimed you as family.”

Tabitha couldn’t make sense of his words. It simply wasn’t possible that a duchess would approve of her, let alone like her.

“I promise you she will be happy to see you.” He leaned in to nuzzle her cheek, and she closed her eyes, wishing they could stay here in this carriage a little longer, cocooned in the warm darkness, and not have to face the world outside.

“Come now, darling,” he said. “You’ve met her already, and she was quite impressed with you.”

“But not like this, not being carried in your arms like some Viking’s prize.”

Fitz laughed. “Viking, eh? Well, I am told we Helstons have Vikings in our blood. So you’ll have to forgive me when I carry you off in my arms to ravage you.”

Despite her fears, she laughed at that. This playful Fitz reminded her of the man from the hothouse, the man she’d gotten to know when he’d let his guard down.

“Very well, O Viking. Carry me off.” She waved an airy hand like a Saxon princess.

“With pleasure.” Fitz called for his footman to open the coach door. And the moment she was out of the carriage, Fitz had her scooped up in his arms again. Fitz’s butler was waiting for them inside when they arrived, a look of shock upon his face at the sight of them both or rather with his master carrying a woman in his arms.

“Tracy, is my grandmother still awake?”

“Yes, s-she’s in the library,” the man stuttered as he blinked at Tabitha.

“Oh yes, Tracy, you’ve met Miss Tabitha Sherborne. I’m happy to announce she will soon be my duchess.”

The butler quickly recovered from his shock and bowed to Tabitha.

“Welcome, Miss Sherborne.”

“Thank you.” Tabitha clung to Fitz’s neck while he carried her upstairs to the library. He thankfully set her down the moment they stopped just outside the open library doors.

The dowager duchess was seated by the fire, she read a book spread out in her lap. She glanced up at their entrance.

“Grandmother,” Fitz said solemnly as he led Tabitha to her.

The dowager set her book aside and stood, offering Tabitha a warm smile.

“So, you brought back the thief who stole your heart,” Lady Helston said, her eyes roving gently over Tabitha, inspecting her from head to toe.

Tabitha waited patiently for the older woman to pass judgment. Though they had met before, Tabitha sensed this moment was the one that mattered most.

“Yes... you will do quite well, my dear. Quite well indeed.” She reached up to cup Tabitha’s cheek the way a grandmother would. “Welcome to our family.”

Tabitha’s lips parted in shock. She hadn’t expected that, despite Fitz’s reassurances.

“You don’t mind that we are to be married?” She wanted no arguments or resentment to come between them later and had to be certain of where the dowager stood.

“Mind? I rather insist on it, my child. I knew there was something about you that first night we met at my musicale. You were genuine, and now I know why. You have lived, suffered and fought for every moment in your life. The Helstons are a strong family. We support each other and share our strength. You and Fitz will be an even match in all the ways that will guarantee a successful and happy life together.” She turned to her grandson. “Now, I shall start wedding preparations tomorrow morning with you both, but for now I shall retire.” She smiled at them. “Do not talk too late into the evening.” She emphasized the word talk as she drifted out of the library with a natural grace that Tabitha envied.

Fitz waited until they were alone to pull Tabitha back into his arms, and she melted against him. It was impossible not to burn with desire when this man held her as he did now.

He kissed the shell of her ear, and she shivered with anticipation.

“Shall we continue this in my chambers?” he asked, his voice deep and inviting.

She reached for the buttons of his waistcoat. “Your chambers are too far away.” She actually wanted him here, now, and didn’t care if there was a bed or not.

“Here?” His voice turned rough as he dug his hands into her skirts, starting to jerk them up.

“Here. Anywhere. Just now.” She needed to be joined with him, needed that intimacy they once shared restored, and she couldn’t wait another moment. A knock at the library door halted her fingers halfway down the buttons of his waistcoat.

Fitz cursed under his breath and released her skirts. She dropped her forehead against his chest and blew out a frustrated breath at the unexpected interruption.

The butler cleared his throat from the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Your Grace, but you have visitors that I believe you’ll wish to see this evening.”

“Oh?” Fitz turned his body slightly to shield Tabitha a little from Mr. Tracy’s view, though she was completely clothed. “I don’t suppose they could wait an hour?” he teased the butler, which shocked the poor man so thoroughly that he blushed. “I’m jesting. How many guests are there?”

“Er, yes. Several guests, in fact, are here. They are all quite insistent upon speaking to you and Miss Sherborne.”

Fitz glanced down, silently questioning her, but she had no idea who could be at the door.

“We should see who they are, then,” he said and clasped her hand in his. Even a simple hand-holding such as this made her feel warm all over and connected to him.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the place where they had first met, Fitz stole a slow, lingering kiss from her that made Tabitha’s head fuzzy in the best way.

“I think you quite scandalized Mr. Tracy, the poor dear, his face was so red. I don’t believe he’s used to you teasing him,” she admitted with a soft smile. “But I like this you. I like this side of you, Fitz.”

“The human side?” he asked.

“The true side.” She smoothed her hands up his waistcoat to his collar, curling her fingers in the cloth as she breathed in the wintry scent of him. “This is the man you’ve always been inside, and this is the man I love. Never let the world change you again. Stay this way with me.”

He tipped her chin up with his fingertips and nuzzled her face with his.

“Always, my heart,” he promised and wrapped her in his arms, the heat of his body pouring into hers and making her feel safe and cherished in a way that she’d never thought possible.

The sound of arguing downstairs disrupted the sweet moment.

“What the devil?” Fitz muttered as he stared down toward the entryway. Four people were clustered together there, speaking in raised voices.

Hannah and Julia were squared off against Lord Brightstone and Mr. Beckley. It didn’t escape Tabitha’s notice that this argument lay between her closest friends and Fitz’s.

“I want my cousin’s earbobs back,” Brightstone demanded.

“Well, you can’t have them. They’re gone,” Julia answered triumphantly.

“Gone where?”

“I’m afraid they’ve been sold, my lord,” Hannah said with a hint more politeness than Julia.

“Sold?” Brightstone hissed. “You bloody thieves. I can’t believe either of you would stoop to such low actions.” Despite Brightstone’s harsh words, Tabitha could swear she heard a hint of something…playful? No, that wasn’t quite the right word, intrigue perhaps? Whatever it was, she didn’t think Brightstone was as angry as he was feigning to be.

“I rather think yourcousin is the one who needs to have her conduct addressed,” Hannah replied. “You should be comforted by the fact that the sale of those earrings went to fund a lovely charity that supports the elderly who can no longer support themselves.”

Brightstone blustered at that. “That’s all fine and good, but damnation, did you have to steal them? I would have donated money to you. You need only have asked.”

Tabitha didn’t miss how Brightstone’s tone had softened considerably.

“That would be missing the point of why we stole them in the first place,” Hannah said.

Beck seemed to be the only one not participating in this argument and therefore was the first to notice Tabitha and Fitz upon the stairs.

“Fitz, Miss Sherborne,” Beck greeted them with a nod, his tone neutral, as if all that was happening around them was normal. The argument abruptly ceased as Hannah and Julia rushed toward Tabitha.

Julia shot a suspicious look at Fitz, then one of concern to Tabitha. “Tabby, are you all right? When he carried you off like some barbarian, we feared what he planned to do next.”

“It’s all right. I’m quite fine, and it was rather silly of you to worry,” Tabitha assured her. “You and everyone else saw him propose to me.”

“I assumed that was some kind of strange delusion,” Julia said. “Either mine or his. You have to admit he’s not exactly the romantic type.”

Sometimes her friends were far too overprotective of her. A man she adored carrying her off into the night in his arms—well, that was something to be celebrated not to be concerned about.

“Oh, but he is, Julia. If you’d only give him a chance, you’d see that,” Tabitha defended him, and Julia cast her eyes down as though a little embarrassed. Tabitha understood her friends were still suspicious of him after all the harm he’d done to Anne Girard and Louis, but he’d changed, and done the right thing.

“Your Grace, could we have a moment alone with Tabitha?” Hannah asked.

“Of course. My study is just up the stairs and on the left.” He pointed toward the staircase.

“Thank you.”

Before Tabitha could say another word, she was bustled upstairs and into Fitz’s study and the door firmly closed behind her. Her two friends faced her.

“Tabitha, have you considered what it would mean to be married to a duke? To have the scrutiny of all of high society upon you? We want you to be happy, but we also want you to be prepared,” Hannah said gently.

“I have. I am ready to face whatever comes, but Fitz and his grandmother seem quite determined to defend me against the world. That to me makes any struggles I face worth it. They see me as family. I never thought such a thing would be possible,” Tabitha confessed. Hannah’s eyes softened and welled with tears.

“This is what you truly want, Tabby?” Hannah asked. “I know you say you love him, but are you certain? Do you need more time to think about this? No one would judge you if you wished for a longer courtship.”

“How long did your husband court you before you married him?” Tabitha asked Hannah.

Her friend blushed and smiled. “Officially…only a month. It was quite scandalous to be married so soon, but to be fair, we’d known each other for years.” She cleared her throat. “Very well, your point is made. We just want you to be happy and safe. Everyone deserves that.”

I am,” Tabitha assured her. “I have always felt incredibly safe with him. He treats me like I matter more than anything in the world to him.” She let out a soft breath. “I wish you both could understand. He’s simply wonderful to me.”

Her friends exchanged a look, and she continued on, hoping to show them how wonderful the real Fitz was.

“He went to New York to bring back your friend. How many men do you know who would cross an ocean to apologize to someone they’ve wronged? And he brought her back with him so that she and Louis Atherton might be reunited. He did all of that because he wanted to change. He wanted to be better for me, because of me. I still can’t believe it.”

“Neither can I,” Julia muttered.

“I suppose I can,” Hannah said slowly. “True love can change anyone. I just never expected a man like Helston to find it. But you must understand that we want to make sure that you want this, that you want him.”

“I do. I want him more than anything,” Tabitha confessed. “He’s my every dream. I never thought I would have a life like this, a life filled with love.”

“Very well, then. We will let him have you, but you are still the sister of our hearts. Never forget that.”

Hannah and Julia hugged her for a long moment, and she felt that bond of sisterhood between the three of them.

“Now tell me, what are Lord Brightstone and Mr. Beckley doing here?” Tabitha asked.

Julia’s face reddened. “It seems they were just as concerned for Helston’s well-being when he carried you off. It is quite unlike him, you must know, to act so... gallantly romantic in a public place. We ran into Lord Brightstone and Mr. Beckley on the steps outside. It seems that Mr. Beckley figured out that we were the Merry Robins because Fitz was acting so strange about you and you were the only guest Fitz wouldn’t have reported to Scotland Yard because he was in love with you. Then Mr. Beckley deduced you had help and he guessed we were the other robins. Naturally, Lord Brightstone was furious since we stole from that dreadful cousin of his.”

“Heavens, what a night,” Julia sighed dramatically. “Our secrets have been exposed, and Tabitha’s been proposed to by a duke.”

“Not exposed,” said Hannah. “Discovered.”

That splitting of hairs concerned Tabitha as to what would happen next. “Oh dear. Do you think they will report us?”

“Mr. Beckley won’t, he seemed quite amused by the entire thing once he’d pieced it together and he stated he had no intention of going to Scotland Yard. He said the people we stole from quite deserved it. As for Brightstone, I shall make sure he keeps our secret,” Hannah said.

“How?”

“Lord Brightstone had an affection for me when I first debuted. He would have tried to court me had I not accepted Jeremy’s proposal first. I believe he will agree to be silent if I ask him to.”

Julia seemed unconvinced, but she let the matter go for now. “What do you suppose will happen next? Perhaps the queen will invite us to Balmoral for Christmas.”

Hannah chuckled. “Tabitha, do you wish to come home with me tonight?”

“Actually, I would like to stay here, if you don’t mind.” Tabitha was relieved when her friends said they would let her remain with Fitz tonight. She didn’t care about propriety. She only cared about being with him after missing him so deeply for so long.

“I suppose we should go now, Julia. There will be much to do tomorrow.”

“And we had better make sure that Brightstone and Mr. Beckley aren’t bothering Helston,” Julia added. “It won’t be good if Brightstone manages to convince Helston to be on their side.”

“Fitz won’t say anything,” Tabitha assured them.

“Don’t be too sure,” warned Julia.

Hannah came to Tabitha’s defense. “No, she’s quite right. A duchess cannot be the subject of an investigation, so he will protect her.”

Julia tapped her chin. “I suppose. But we still need to get Lord Brightstone off our backs, then.”

“Don’t worry. I will handle him,” Hannah said.

But right now, Tabitha couldn’t help but wonder how Fitz was handling his friends.

* * *

“You knew, didn’t you?”Evan demanded of Fitz the moment the ladies retreated to Fitz’s study.

“Knew what?” Fitz feigned ignorance.

“That the three of... of them were the thieves.”

“I knew about Tabitha. I only found out about the others’ involvement tonight.” He had been surprised to learn on the coach ride back from Lady Crawford’s ball that Hannah and Julia had in fact been her accomplices.

“When were you planning to tell us?” Beck asked.

“Once we were married and Tabitha was protected. The authorities would have a more difficult time investigating a duchess than a single young woman from the streets.”

“So you are to be married, then?” Beck asked. “I wasn’t quite sure I could believe what I saw at Lady Crawford’s ball. You must admit, it’s rather out of character for you.”

“A display like that is out of character for anyone,” Evan added.

“Yes, I suppose it was a bit daring,” said Fitz. “But the truth is... I like the kind of man I am with her. I’ve been pretending to be someone I’m not for a very long time, and when I’m with her, I am free to be the man I want to be. The man I should be.”

His friends stared at him, but the concern quietly vanished from their faces.

“I admit, I rather like this version of you,” Beck said.

Evan finally smiled. “Agreed, but damnation, man, you’ve got to warn us before you go and do something like propose to a woman in front of everyone.”

“Or like running away to New York without telling us,” Beck added. “We’re your friends, Fitz. We want to help you.”

Fitz found himself grinning sheepishly. “I’m glad, because I wish to wed Tabitha as soon as possible. I see no point in a lengthy courtship when I know exactly who I want to be with for the rest of my life.”

Beck smirked. “So let me understand this. She steals your diamond, then steals you as a husband? She must be quite the thief.”

“Indeed she is,” Fitz chuckled.

“Yes, well, that doesn’t get me back my cousin’s earbobs.”

“Evan, you have been quite insistent about those jewels. Did they have some value to you?” Beck inquired.

“What? No, but my damned cousin won’t shut up about them. I am weary of hearing her moan and whine about them.”

“Ah,” Beck chuckled. “Now we got to the heart of the matter. Why not buy her another pair to keep her quiet? You could always hire a paste jeweler to make her a replacement pair. I doubt she’d know the difference.”

“Absolutely not. She’s not even on the list of my favorite cousins, and I have dozens,” Evan snorted.

“Then we can all agree to let the matter rest?” Fitz asked his friends. “I should like to start off my marriage without any trouble from Scotland Yard.”

“You’ll have no trouble from me,” Beck promised.

“She’s still a thief and broke the law.” Evan let out a defeated sigh. “But for your sake, I’m happy to overlook it, assuming their thieving days are over.”

“Good. Now, will you both stand up with me at my wedding?”

Evan and Beck nodded. “And what of Louis?” Beck asked.

“I will ask, but I don’t know what he will say,” Fitz admitted. “I will hold him no ill will if he refuses.”

“Did you really bring back Miss Girard from New York for him? The ballroom was buzzing with the news.” Evan looked at him expectantly.

“I did.”

“Good. It was quite the romantic gesture to bring Miss Girard back for Louis and then propose to Miss Sherborne like that. You’re setting high expectations for the rest of us gents.”

“Perhaps that’s a good thing.” Fitz chuckled and turned at the sound of the ladies exiting his study, Hannah in the forefront.

“Well, my lord,” she said, “we’re leaving Tabby in your tender care tonight, but we will be back tomorrow for her. There is much to plan for the wedding, and we wish to help your grandmother if she will let us.”

“You are most welcome in my home anytime, ladies,” he informed them. “And I assure you, my grandmother will welcome your assistance.”

“I suppose we’d best be off as well then, eh, Beck?” Evan nudged Beck in the ribs. But Beck’s attention was focused on Julia as though he was examining a very intricate puzzle and was clearly fascinated. Fitz noticed it, but Julia seemed to be oblivious.

Beck finally shook himself out of it. “Yes. The lovebirds want to be alone. We can’t fault them for that.”

Fitz chuckled as the two women escorted his friends out to their waiting coaches. Once they were gone, he pulled Tabitha into his arms.

“Thank God, I thought they’d never leave.”

“Nor I.” Tabitha giggled and buried her face against his chest.

He clutched her tighter, delighted to hear her laugh. The girlish sound made his heart swell. He wanted her to be filled with joy, to have some of her girlhood happiness restored. She had been forced to grow up far too fast.

“Now... where were we?” he asked her as he leaned in for a kiss that lingered. Long moments later, he kissed the tip of her nose and brushed a loose lock of her hair back behind one ear. “Shall we go upstairs?”

“Yes,” she replied with a soft smile that turned his heart over.

Fitz led her to his bedchamber upstairs and marveled at how calm he felt. It was as though everything in the world was right, and it wasn’t until this moment that he realized how wrong things had been before he had found this gift from the universe.

“It all feels rather like a dream,” she confessed.

“It does, doesn’t it?” He had never believed that he could come to love another person so quickly. To him, love was something that grew slowly over years, like the trees in the ancient forests in the north. But now he realized that love could be born in an instant.

“When I was a boy, my father took me to Brighton. Have you been there?”

She shook her head. Fitz pulled her close. “I shall take you there for our honeymoon.”

“All right,” she replied as she waited for him to continue.

“When I was visiting there, there was a terrible storm one night and lightning struck the sand on the beach. The next morning, Father took me on a quest for something he called a fulgurite.”

“What is a fulgurite?”

“Well, when lightning strikes wet sand, it turns the sand into glass and forms a pattern of tubes that matches the path the lightning took.”

He brushed the backs of his knuckles over her cheek. “It happens in less than a blink of one’s eyes. Fulgurites are like veins of glass within the living earth. That was how I felt the night we met. I was the sand, you were the lightning. The veins of our love were created in that first instant.”

He paused a moment to reflect. “The rational man in me wants to think this through, to take my time in proposing marriage, but the part of me that isn’t rational is humming like a tuning fork, and the notes I hear are pure in their message. Marry her now, love her forever, never look back, never question it. Does that make sense, or do I sound mad?”

Tabitha sniffled and shook her head. “Mad? Far from it. You sound quite wonderful.”

“And yet you’re crying.” He brushed away a tear with his thumb.

“I suppose you should be warned that women often cry from being happy. I am no exception.”

He grinned. “I consider myself duly warned, then.”

“We have so much to discuss, so much still to plan that my head is spinning a little,” she said.

“Then allow me to distract you.” He tilted her chin up and lowered his head. Their mouths fused in a kiss. No longer a bittersweet goodbye, but rather a welcoming to one’s home. How simple life had become, Fitz realized. All he had to do was choose to be open to love. There was every chance he could lose this woman or she could lose him, but the thought of living without her now, that was a fate he could no longer bear to think of.

Tabitha’s lips parted beneath his and he devoured her, flicking his tongue against hers while his hands unbuttoned her gown at the back. The strains of a half-forgotten waltz echoed in his head as he surrendered himself to his love for this woman. He gave her everything he had of himself and reveled in her gift of herself to him in return.

When he ran out of buttons on her dress, he broke the kiss and gently had her turn away so he could help her out of her gown and all those silly layers of undergarments. He tugged the laces of her blue-and-gold corset until she was free and tossed her chemise away.

“My God, you’re breathtaking,” he said as he watched her seat herself at the end of his bed. He nearly tripped attempting to shed his own clothing, such was his eagerness to join her. She covered her mouth to hide a laugh as he finally lunged for the bed and they toppled back together. He fit her to his body, cradling her against him as he once more captured her mouth.

Her hands moved boldly over his skin, claiming ownership over him. She hesitated when her hands fluttered at his hip.

“Yes, touch me, darling, anywhere you wish,” he encouraged in a low growl as her fingertips teased his shaft and then closed around it. She stroked him lightly, and it felt like heaven.

Her thumb brushed over the crown of his shaft. He nipped her bottom lip as he was possessed of an almost feral need to make love to her. Her exploring touch was going to be the death of him, but what a glorious death it would be.

“Not yet,” he breathed against her lips as she stroked him again, urging him to enter her.

“Oh, Fitz, please... I want you...”

He sensed she had reached the same desperate need he felt and wished to wait no longer.

“How do you want it, darling?” He’d done his best not to think of all the ways he’d wanted to make love to her while they’d been separated, but he had, and now he felt like a child given access to a table full of desserts with no one to tell him he couldn’t try each one.

“You mean there’s more than one way to...?” She waved shyly between their bodies.

“We are limited only by our imaginations,” Fitz said with a grin.

“I’ve only ever been familiar with the way we did it before... and I’ve seen a few times men on the street...in the alleyways with women, but I didn’t seem to quite understand how they could do the act...” She blushed wildly and buried her face against his shoulder.

“Never hide from me,” he said. “We will have the rest of our lives to explore these intimate adventures together.” He lifted her face to his and kissed her softly for a long moment, simply enjoying the art of kissing her. And it was art to touch her lips to his, and far lovelier than any painting.

When their lips broke apart, Tabitha smiled up at him, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “About those other... ways?”

“Oh yes, let me show you.” He chuckled and gently rolled her onto her stomach and covered her body with his, careful not to hurt her with his weight.

“Like this...” He used one knee to spread her legs from behind and then nudged her wet heat with his cock. She groaned low as he slowly entered her. There was nothing to describe it, this loving of his wife-to-be, except that it felt like coming home. This was why love was everything. All life held the risk of pain, of losing such a wondrous thing as love, but to never know it, to never possess it for even a few brief moments... that was no life at all.

Fitz placed soft kisses upon her neck and shoulder as he moved above her and within her, drawing out the pleasure for them both by changing the pace of his thrusts.

He gave her a light love bite in the sensitive spot in the crook of her neck and she moaned, closing her eyes as her inner walls clenched around his shaft. She’d come so quickly, but he wanted her to come again. He withdrew from her and rearranged their bodies so that he leaned back against the headboard in a seated position. Then he eased her down on his lap, once more sliding into her welcoming heat.

“Wrap your arms around my neck,” he murmured.

Their faces were close enough to kiss, but he resisted the temptation instead and watched her eyes. She lifted herself up and down on him experimentally, riding slowly as she learned this new position. Her full breasts rubbed against his chest, and he gritted his teeth to fight off his own release. But the moment her eyes darkened and she cried out his name in a second climax, he gripped her bottom and moved faster until he could hold his control no longer. He surged into her over and over, never wanting to leave her tight, wet heat. He tensed as he found his pleasure.

It seemed a long time later when Tabitha lay down on his chest, their bodies still connected, as she spoke the words that would change his life a second time.

“I have something else to tell you, something that I hope will be welcome to you.”

He stroked her hair with his fingertips and tucked a lock behind her ear. He was so full of a fierce tenderness for this woman, his woman.

“You can tell me anything. We are partners. We shall share everything in our lives. I trust you and I hope you know you can trust me with anything now.”

She drew in a deep breath and spoke.

“I believe I am with child, Fitz. Our child. I visited a physician last week, and he believes it as well. It must have happened that night at the house party.”

Fitz couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. That perfect yet heartbreaking night, when he’d thought he’d lost her forever, they’d created a little life between them. He had no words to describe the gift their child would be to him. She lifted her face to look at him, her expression turning fearful as she saw the tears dripping down his cheeks.

“Fitz?”

He smiled and wiped his eyes. “Women aren’t the only ones who can cry from happiness, it seems.” He pulled her head to his, kissing her deeply.

The joy that shot through him at that kiss only strengthened the veins of love within him, like sand struck by lightning a second time. Life was, quite simply, beautiful. His love for Tabitha and their child was like a diamond discovered deep within the earth— their love was forever.