Epilogue

EPILOGUE

“Icannot get used to this,” Daniel whispered to Rachel as they sat beside one another at the head of the table.

“You will, in time.” She giggled and lifted her champagne glass to her lips, taking a sip. “Goodness, Daniel, look at your expression. It’s a face full of thunder!”

He forced a smile, and she laughed deeply at him.

He smiled genuinely at her and then looked across the table, deep in thought. Their families had gathered together for something of a joint celebration.

They were toasting the good news, that Lord Repington and the Duke of Gainsborough had been denied bail by the magistrate and would face trial for what they had done. In the preliminary court hearing, there had been little doubt of what would happen to Lord Repington. Most likely, he would be transported to Australia to serve out his sentence.

The court hearing had been hard to sit through, but Daniel had been warmed by Rachel at his side, who had insisted on coming, though she had not been required to testify, for the magistrate didn’t wish to put the lady through speaking of what had happened in that fire. She’d held Daniel’s hand the whole time and often whispered into his ear. She had been a constant source of comfort.

“You must make a toast to them soon,” Rachel whispered to him now.

“Must I?” he said with a heavy sigh. “I am hardly dancing for joy.”

“Why not? He is your best friend, and that is your sister.”

Rachel pointed at Ashleigh and Anne, who were sitting at the other end of the table. The pair were being inundated by questions from Dorothea and Rachel’s sisters, who were eager to know everything about how Ashleigh had asked for permission to court Anne.

“Of all people, surely he is the man you’d want as a brother-in-law.”

“I know.” Daniel had mostly made his peace with the idea. He knew he could trust Ashleigh better than any other man. “I guess I still think Anne is too young to think of courtship. As long as they have a long courtship—”

“You mean as opposed to our hasty match,” Rachel reminded him with a teasing smile as she lifted her champagne glass to her lips.

“Don’t be smart,” he said with mischief and reached beneath the table to find her leg, patting it affectionately. Her hand found his, and they entwined their fingers together. “Let’s just say it’s one of those times where I wish that my sister does as I say, and not as I have done.”

“Well, look how happy she is. Surely that is your greatest reason for comfort.” Rachel gestured toward Anne with the glass.

Daniel looked at his sister and nodded in agreement. Anne was incredibly happy, practically hanging on Ashleigh’s arm, and Ashleigh kept gazing at her with a sort of doting admiration that Daniel had never seen before.

“I wonder why you did not see this coming sooner,” Rachel whispered.

“Ashleigh has explained that.” Daniel leaned toward her. “When you and I married, I thought perhaps the two of them had had a falling out. Ashleigh explained it was because of his endeavor to push Anne away. He feared what I would make of their growing closeness.”

“Well, he knows you well,” Rachel whispered. “Come, make a toast to them.”

“Very well.”

Daniel took his champagne glass and stood up. He tapped a spoon against the glass, and the other men stood too, with Ashleigh reaching for his glass and Rachel’s father snatching up his own, raising it into the air.

“A toast,” Daniel said, his voice clear as everyone turned to look at him, “a toast for two things. Firstly, to the woman sitting beside me.”

Rachel looked sharply up at him, nearly dropping her glass in surprise.

“To my wife, whom I’m happy to have home more than I can possibly say.” At his words, she smiled softly. “And to my sister and my friend.” He turned to look at the other end of the table. “May your courtship be a very long one…”

“Daniel, dear.” Dorothea laughed loudly, as did the others at the table. Anne was the only one to narrow her gaze at him in irritation.

“Yet, may I wish you both happiness as well? If it is love…” Daniel paused, just for a moment, glancing at his wife. “Then I do not doubt you will be very happy together, indeed. To my friend and my sister.”

Everyone clinked glasses, and there was much cheering as Daniel sat down again, sighing heavily.

“There, I have done my duty,” he said, taking his wife’s hand under the table.

“Nicely done,” Rachel praised him. “But you look as if you have something more on your mind.”

“I do.”

His eyes flitted over her. It had been a week since he had pulled her out of that fire, and she was now much recovered. Sometimes, she was fatigued, but she no longer coughed and grew stronger every day. He’d spent every night beside her, holding her in his arms, but he had never once pushed her further, wishing her to be fully recovered.

“I admit, I’m impatient for bed tonight,” he whispered in her ear.

Her eyes widened, and she put down her champagne glass.

“Then may this dinner end soon,” she said with vigor, pulling a deep chuckle from him when he realized just how eager she was too for them to be alone once again.

* * *

Rachel stood in the middle of her chamber, waving at the maid and dismissing her softly. The maid hurried out of the room, and the moment the door closed behind her, another door opened. It was the one that connected her room to Daniel’s chamber.

“I thought the dinner would never end,” he said and strode into the room, shrugging off his tailcoat.

Rachel met him and reached for his waistcoat, pulling him down toward her for a kiss. Their lips met in a clash of fierce passion, both caught up in the moment of wanting one another. Breathless, she deepened the kiss as she pulled at his waistcoat, tugging it off him as quickly as she could.

Now that she knew Daniel loved her, as she did him, she had been dreaming of sharing in this intimacy again. It wouldn’t be just about excitement now—though that would always be a part of it—but something more.

It will be making love.

When he backed her up toward the bed, she grew impatient and pulled on his shirt, trying to tug it over his head. He broke off from the kiss and went to help her, tossing his shirt away, then he reached for her gown and spun her around, unlacing her dress as quickly as he could.

“This damn thing,” he muttered, getting it into knots.

“Ha! Impatient?” she teased.

“Very much.”

He pulled the gown off her, and she stepped out of it, then he reached for the laces at the back of her corset and growled in impatience. When she laughed at him again, he seemed to change his mind, for he playfully pushed the small of her back so that her hands landed on the bed in front of her.

He drew up the skirt of her chemise, gathering it around her waist so her rear was exposed to him.

“I thought you wanted the clothes off,” she said with mischief, looking back at him over her shoulder.

“I will do that, but first, there’s something else I want to do.”

His hands caressed her hips and rear. He started slow and delicate at first, his fingers teasing what was to come, then one hand took her hip firmly as his other found her core. His fingers slipped inside her at once, initiating such pleasure that her back arched and she moved back against him.

That playful growl escaped him again as he moved his fingers harder, rocking her body into his. The pleasure erupted deep within her core and spread throughout her whole body. She thought only of Daniel, of being with him in this way, and of knowing this feeling completely.

“Dan, please,” she begged him as he worked her body into a frenzy.

He released her core, then took her waist and drew her up, to unlace the corset. This one he unlaced quickly, then flung it across the room and reached for her chemise, pulling it over her head. The chemise was also thrown across the room, landing somewhere, though she didn’t care to look.

He bent her forward again, his hands soft on her waist. She was certain he was going to resume pleasuring her with his hands, as his knee found the inside of her own and pushed her legs further apart, so he had better access to her. Yet, it wasn’t his fingers that found her center, it was his tongue.

Such an intimate kiss had her stilling, shocked as the pleasure rippled through her in this new position. Mesmerized at what he was doing to her, she let him work, driving her closer and closer to the edge until his name fell from her lips repeatedly.

“Dan,” she moaned.

That sound changed things again.

He stood straight and took her hips, playfully flipping her over so she fell back on the bed, then he reached for his trousers and dropped them down his hips. She sat up, moving to help him. When he was completely naked, he moved over her on the bed.

“Ready, love?” he asked.

Love…

She held onto that word and nodded, falling back on the pillows as he hovered over her. He took her knees and dragged them up around his hips, then sank down and kissed her, molding their bodies together.

His tongue demanded control in their kiss, and she willingly gave it to him, wanting to get reacquainted with every part of him again. When he entered her, her legs quivered around his hips. The pleasure was so sudden, she arched her neck and moan loudly.

He gripped the bedhead above her. At first, his rocking was tortuously slow. Each movement he made elicited more and more excitement, leaving her on the edge of something greater. The way his free hand brushed her hip and teased her upper thigh had her trembling. When he reached for her breasts, it was merely a caress, teasing her.

“Dan, please,” she pleaded, bucking her hips against him, wanting something more from him, something harder.

“I think it’s your turn to take what you want,” he whispered in her ear.

He slid an arm under her waist and then rolled the two of them together, so she straddled him. He moved his hands to her hips and then showed her how to move. She rocked back and forth, experimenting with the feeling, then she grew bold, wanting to take what she had longed for.

As she rocked her hips faster now, his moans filled the air. One of his hands reached for the bedhead behind him, anchoring himself to it, as his other hand moved to her hip, his eyes lingering on that touch. It was as though he marveled at the way she moved above him, entranced by it.

Her peak hit her suddenly. Tipping back her head, she moaned out his name, overcome with the pleasure that made her spine shudder and her body still over the top of him. She was so lost in bliss, it took a moment for her to realize he shifted the two of them.

Reaching up, he grabbed her waist, lifted her, then moved her onto her back, with him moving above her again. He thrust faster now, harder, his hands gripping the bed sheets, never once stopping as he took what he needed. He drew Rachel close to the edge again.

Then, his moans grew louder, his thrusts deeper, and he abruptly stilled, a pleasure-filled groan escaping his lips as he tipped his head back, blinking hard.

Breathing heavily, he rested his forehead on hers as she realized what he had done.

“Wait,” she managed between her panting breaths. There was a warmth that she could feel in her core. “Dan, you just…”

“I know.” He smiled, lifting his head enough so she could see his expression. “We have risked a child, Rachel. What do you say?”

“Daniel…”

She reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down toward her, kissing him with every ounce of energy she had left. He laughed into their kiss, moving his lips against hers. When they pulled back, both panting, he was flushed red with the heat of what they had shared.

“I’ll say this,” he said with a mischievous smile. “It’s even better if I finish like this.”

“Then you’ll have to keep finishing in this way.” She shot him a challenging look.

“Too tempting to refuse.” He shifted the two of them together, their bodies slotting perfectly alongside one another, though he was still inside her.

Overwhelmed with what he had done, she clung to his shoulders, thinking of how much had changed since she had first met him in that garden. Like one of those marble statues that she’d walked past, he had seemed untouchable, unreachable for a long time, but now, she knew Daniel more than anyone else. He loved her, as she loved him, and it offered her a future she wished she had known was possible back in that garden.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, leaning back enough to see her smile.

“I was just thinking of the night we met, and what we said to each other.

“Hmm. Do you know what I was thinking?” he asked, moving his lips back down toward her and hovering over her. “I was thinking how thankful I am for that yew tree. Otherwise, we might never have known this feeling.”

He kissed her again, and she wrapped her arms around him.

Rachel was equally thankful, but for another reason. Had it not been for tree, she may never have had the chance to fall in love with Daniel.

The End?