by Win Hollows
“Are you alright?” he asked when she was free, stroking the hair from her face.
“I’m not sure,” she said quietly.
“You will be,” he promised, helping her to her feet. She wobbled, but he steadied her.
Laura winced. “I suppose my mother was right; using technology is dangerous.”
Rem chuckled and then sobered, stroking her back. “I won’t leave you ever again. Even if you send me away.”
“I don’t want you to go away. I want…” she trailed off, holding her uninjured hand to her stomach.
“We need to get you to a doctor,” he voiced, scooping her up into his arms. His injured calf burned with the added weight, but he pushed the sensation away like a bothersome fly.
“Wait,” she said, stopping his movement towards the door. “I need to tell you.”
“You can tell me later,” he said, feeling an urgency to get her somewhere safe besides this death trap of a house in the middle of nowhere.
“No, now,” she told him, putting a hand on his chest.
He nodded, sensing her resolve, and went to the bed. He sat down on it with her in his lap, holding her with care in case there were injuries he couldn’t see.
“I’ve come to realize that the future is never certain, and I want no regrets of not saying exactly what I should have long ago.” Laura studied his face, as if committing it to memory.
Rem’s breath froze taking in her tear-streaked face, her emerald eyes reflecting his own in the light from the weak fire. She felt so vulnerable in his grasp, but he would always make sure she was protected from anything that could harm her. He would probably never let her out of his sight again, now that he thought about it.
She cleared her throat. “I love you, Remington Rothstone,” she said softly. “I love your strength, and I love that I make you weak with just a touch. I love the way you tease me and make me question every thought I’ve ever had. I love that my weaknesses don’t seem like flaws to you. Most of all, I love that you knew what love was before I came to my senses, and you fought for it. You never gave up, and you forced me to face my own cowardice. But you never forced me to choose you.” She swallowed, wanting to choose words that would leave him with no compunctions about how she truly felt towards him. “So now I want to choose you. I want you forever. I want all your kisses, and all the moonlit nights, and every moment until we’re withered and gray,” she said, raising her good hand to his face.
Oddly enough, Rem’s heart did not race at her words. Instead, there was a deep calm that caused him to feel as if his heart had finally settled into the rhythm at which it was meant to beat his entire life. “Yes,” he said simply. “All my life is yours.” He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to his, sealing her to him. His lips played over hers, and he knew he had to be gentle right now, but he couldn’t help the sweep of his tongue as it sought hers, slipping past her teeth to tangle in the sweet recesses of her mouth. He felt himself begin to harden, and pulled back. She wasn’t ready for anything more at the moment.
“Are you ready to go home now?” he asked.
“I’m ready to become Lady Rothstone now, if you please,” she replied saucily.
Her smile warmed him as nothing else could. She was remarkable, his Laura, smiling despite all that had happened that day. “Now, now,” he admonished her, touching her nose with a fingertip. “We’ll see how it goes after the first year of your contract,” he told her, quirking his lips.
Laura’s eyes went wide, and she gasped, pushing at his chest. “Remington Rothstone, you had better marry me the second we get back to London!” she commanded.
Rem snuggled her closer, hiding his wide smile in the crook of her shoulder.
“Yes, Lady Rothstone,”
And so he did, stealing more kisses than was prudent along the way.
Epilogue
Several years Later…
“Rem, if you don’t hold him still, it won’t come out right!” Laura exclaimed, reaching over to tuck in the shirt hem of the future Duke of Rothstone.
“I’m trying,” Rem growled, readjusting the squirming bundle in his arms. The bundle wasn’t having it, however, and proceeded to produce a sound akin to caterwauling at the top of his lungs, even though Rem was never allowed to call it that.
“Oh, there’s no point now,” she said despairingly, getting up from the settee to reset her equipment.
“I like this one anyways,” Rem said over the…ahem…crooning of his son. He picked up a double framed picture plate that stood propped on the tea table in the drawing room of their manor in Brighton. Made of hammered silver with engraved cherry blossom trees and rose bushes creating the shapes around the images, Rem remembered having commissioned the thing before he had even convinced Laura to marry him. Now that he thought about it, it had been quite arrogant. He grinned. “Isn’t she beautiful?” he asked the infant, who began to quiet at his father’s soft words.
Rem gazed at the pictures, his chest filling with pride as it did every time he viewed the images. In one frame was the familiar picture of the night they had met. But on the other side of the double frame, he and Laura stood in a moonlit garden, Rem’s arms around her. Cherry blossoms floated from branches overhead, small white points in the silvery darkness. Laura’s head was tilted up towards him, arms cradling her rounded belly. Rem’s eyes were fixed on hers while a small girl with dark hair sat on the bench in front of them, sternly contemplating the flower in her chubby hands. The moon shone on their faces, illuminating their expressions of adoration.
“May I go now?” Valerie asked, piping up from where she still sat calmly on the settee.
Rem looked up from the picture and grinned at his daughter. “Yes, little monkey, but only if you show me your newest invention.”
“Yes, Papa,” she replied hopping down from the couch.
Rem wasn’t sure where the eight-year-old got her composure, because Laura would have been squealing with excitement over such a thing, but Valerie walked serenely from the room, knowing her papa would follow her.
“Have you seen Valerie’s invention, Love?” Rem asked Laura, who was fiddling with her Dag several feet away.
“No,” she answered distractedly. “But I’ve heard it’s something to do with eggs, so be careful.”
“Eggs, you say?” Rem repeated. “Interesting. To the kitchens we go, then,” he told Connor, who was now playing with a button on his father’s shirt.
Rem thought of their poor cook, who not only had to contend with the numerous social engagements they hosted at their various estates, but with Valerie’s experimentations as well. And they did keep Cook busy as they were considered one of the most popular couples of the Ton. Neither of them particularly liked that status, but Rem was just grateful that they were acceptable in society at all.
After they had returned to London from the Fennimore Estate, the authorities had been sent to investigate Fennimore’s death and his connection to the Craigerton and Honeymoore murders. His staff, when that they weren’t under the thumb of their employer, had been more than happy to provide accounts of his whereabouts and goings-on. With Rem’s, Laura’s, and Arberley’s testimonies added to the bunch, Scotland Yard hadn’t taken long to come to the conclusion that the matter had been satisfactorily resolved.
The papers, on the other hand, had told the harrowing story of Rem’s rescue of Laura from an insane murderer for months, turning the “sordid” details of their relationship into a grand romance that had the entire ton lauding them both as heroes. Their hasty wedding had been standing-room only and heralded as the biggest event of the season. Were people alarmed by the number of Romany folk in attendance and by the wizened old woman winking at everyone from her corner? Yes. But he wouldn’t have had it any other way.
He snorted as he thought of Laura’s wild popularity once people had learned the truth. It was fortunate for the both of them that she eschewed as many social invitations as possible, preferring to muck about w
ith her family and gadgets at his numerous estates far from London much of the time.
“Not so fast,” Laura interrupted, stepping into his path. “I’m going to claim a kiss before you are potentially covered in eggs,” she informed him, taking Connor and setting him in the crook of the settee. The baby gurgled happily.
“Oh, you are, are you?” Rem rumbled, pulling her to his chest.
“Yes,” she whispered. “You did say all your kisses were mine to have,” she reminded him, letting him claim her mouth.
After some time in which one or both of them should have had to come up for air, a small voice from the doorway called out. “Are you finished yet? I haven’t got all day,” Valerie’s voice chimed. She stood in the entry to the parlor, tapping her foot.
Rem cleared his throat, smiling at Laura. “Almost, sweeting.”
“Why don’t you take a picture? It will last longer,” she told them with authority.
Rem and Laura laughed.
“That’s how this whole thing started, dear,” Laura told her in ominous tones.
“Kissing?” Valerie asked in equal parts revulsion and fascination.
Laura looked at Rem, taking in his familiar features, the devotion in her eyes obvious. “Yes. It all started with a well-timed kiss and a camera.”
“A dangerous combination,” Rem agreed, swooping down to kiss his wife again. Desire swelled as he thought of how she still responded to his touch. She melted in his arms, the way she always had since that first night.
Valerie could wait a few moments longer…..
About the Author
Win Hollows is a romance and young adult fiction writer based in the United States of America. She has been featured in multiple publications over the years, but has focused her writing recently on the Romance genre because it’s just so fun! Plus, what else was she going to do with a degree in English Literature and an obsession with mysteries? Her passion is writing stories about love and intrigue and will continue to do so as long as all those characters continue to have conversations in her head. Hollows’ other interests include traveling (for research purposes, of course), squealing at cute animal videos online, and- you guessed it- reading! She lives in Colorado with her own gentleman rogue of a husband and their three fur babies. Win loves connecting with readers and fans on Facebook, through her website at www.winhollows.com or email at [email protected]
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And don’t forget to watch for the next book in the Rakes and Roses Series- Tristan’s story is coming soon to Kindle!