Epilogue

EPILOGUE

April 1825

Kate sipped on champagne, sinking a little lower into the warm, sudsy water in the most gorgeous washroom she had ever set eyes upon. It sparkled with a beautiful chandelier and a large, gilded mirror. The small mosaic tilework must have taken months to install alone.

It was beautiful.

But so was the rest of Paris. Kate had never traveled much except for Cumbria or to her aunt’s estate near Bath.

Every detail was perfect in his home, every surface lush and expensive. There were rich silks and smooth velvets, tapestries, and old vases from the Ming dynasty. And as much as she loved the comfortable sofas and throws in his library, the kitchen stole her heart.

She giggled to herself, sinking down to the waterline. She loved the way the crisp champagne bubbles played upon her tongue.

Gabriel had mentioned his shipping business before, but this? This was beyond dreams. Her mother would surely faint if ever she stepped foot into the magnificent home. Perhaps she would forgive Kate for not marrying the marquess .

Her husband casually leaned against the doorway, resting his head against the doorframe with nothing but love in his eyes.

“What’s so funny, mo leannan ?”

She clamped her hands over her eyes and grinned. “I must be dreaming.”

“I love hearing ye say that so I can remind ye this is ours.”

Ours.

They both had feared needing one another for so long, but facing that fear had been worth it. She enjoyed working with Gabriel, managing the estate as well as the inn and the distillery. She often found herself wondering what would have happened if she hadn’t accepted the governess position.

“But do you like it as much as I enjoy hearing you call me your wife?”

“Hmm. I love that as well.” Gabriel strolled in and shut the door behind him, then rolled up his shirtsleeves slowly, revealing his toned forearms.

“Mr. MacInnes, are you flirting with me?”

Her body thrummed with want almost instantly. Two weeks into their month-long honeymoon, and she was certain they had done things that would make most everyone in a London ballroom in desperate need of smelling salts.

“Aye, lass.” He bent down and kissed her, his voice low and rough and full of promises. “Most definitely.”

And if she had learned anything in the past few months of their marriage, Gabriel was a man of his word. A quality she greatly admired, especially when it came to bed sport.

“And you left this for Scotland?”

“Scotland is home. Paris was a stop along the way to find you.”

She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling up at him. “Verra romantical, Mr. MacInnes.”

He cleared his throat, then dragged a cane chair over to the side of the tub. “I’ve been busy all day, and I need to ken, what did ye learn to bake today?”

Gabriel somehow arranged for private baking lessons for her with a close friend of his who happened to own a restaurant. Three times a week, she learned techniques and practiced making the most delicious pastries she hoped to make at the inn once they returned.

“No croissants today.”

She dreaded croissant day. Rolling the dough with pads of butter, only to fold and repeat. But to eat? Oh, they were divine. She made a point to eat at least one a day, savoring that first bite of the buttery pastry melting onto her tongue.

“Terrible. Ye ken how much I love ‘em.”

She shrugged, thinking it a waste that he wasn’t in the tub with her. “Today we made pain aux raisins.”

“Never cared for them.”

“You haven’t had mine.”

“True,” he said with a laugh. Then he produced a letter. “This arrived for ye today.”

Kate grabbed the missive from his hand, then grabbed his hand, and dropped a kiss on it.

“We’ve dinner tonight, lass. Canna be late.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she teased, intently opening the letter from Charlotte.

She scanned over the brief message and laughed, reclining back into the tub. “Come here and kiss me, Gabe.”

“Kiss ye? That’s nae laughing matter.”

“No, but it seems the duke has returned, and Charlotte is in trouble.”

“How so?”

“She hates the blackguard, or so she thinks. But I believe she still loves him. And rumor has it in London that they need an heir.”

Kate tossed the letter to the small table beside the bath, then pulled on Gabriel’s arm. “I would tell you more, but I’m distracted. Come here and take a bath with me.”

He bent down and kissed a line up her neck, then nibbled on her earlobe. “I thought ye might never ask.”

She reached for his shirt, slipping a few buttons free before his timepiece slipped out and fell onto the floor .

“Can you give that to me for a moment, please?”

He grumbled, and she waved her hand for him to do as asked. “Trust me.”

“Verra well, lass.” He handed over his timepiece, and she peered around him to the grandfather clock in the hall she had fixed last evening.

“Hmm, as I thought.”

“What’s that?”

“You have plenty of time for a bath. Your watch is incorrect.”

“It’s what I wish to do to ye after that might take time.”

“Then we must be efficient. I believe you said that was a strength of mine, was it not?”

“Aye.” Gabriel stood before her in that beautiful bathroom and finished unbuttoning his shirt, tossing it to the floor.

Kate grinned, reaching up to the waist of his trousers and pulled him close. “Many hands make light work.”

“When did ye get so wise?”

“That’s why you love me.”

“I love ye for many reasons, mo leannan .”

“I never tire of hearing them.”

He braced his arms on the edge of the tub and pressed his lips against her, stilling her thoughts somehow as the rest of her warmed with anticipation.

“Dinna ye worry, we’ll leave plenty of time. It’s a long list but let me start at the beginning. One, I love yer smile, two…”

THE END

I hope you enjoyed Kate and Gabriel’s story! Craving one more romantical scene from this pair? Join my newsletter here to access their bonus scene!

Find out what happens next when Charlotte is ready to break free from her icy marriage—only for her estranged duke to return with a demand that reignites a dangerous passion in book 3 of The Society of Scandalous Brides series, In Need of a Duke .