“You keep saying that,” he said, frustrated by her continued self-deprecation. “But I’ve never thought that you didn’t match me. In fact, this new side of you that you described earlier, the one that is willing to confront me, to walk away from me if you think I’ve betrayed you…that Emma may be far above me. I like her. I like the original Emma too. The bluestocking wallflower with all that passion hiding beneath her surface is exactly who I became enthralled with. I wantyou, Emma. All the parts and sides of you.”
“You truly refused her?” she whispered.
He nodded slowly. “I did. And I will refuse any other offer I may get in the future. I’m not your father, Emma. I will never betray you as long as I have breath in my body.”
She let out a shuddering sigh. “And I am notyourfather, James. I will never use love as a bargaining chip.” She shook her head. “Aren’t we a pair, though?”
“Yes,” he said with a small laugh. “It seems we’ve both been so tangled up in the past, we were ready to let it ruin our future.”
She caught her breath, her hands trembling even though she continued to hold his firmly. “Do we have to let it?”
“No,” he whispered. “We could start over.”
She cocked her head. “Start over?”
He slid his hand away from hers and held it out again, as if to meet her for the first time. “Hello, I’m James Rylon, Fifteenth Duke of Abernathe. And I love you, Emma Liston. If this moment is to be a fresh start, that is all you need to know.”
Her face crumpled slightly and she stared at him in heartbreaking disbelief. “You—you love me?” she repeated.
“I do. And if you will lower yourself to marry me as we planned, I will endeavor for the rest of my life never to make you doubt that fact again. I will endeavor to show you that it is true every moment of every day for the rest of my life.”
She let out a sob, but she was smiling. Then she took his hand and shook it gently. “Hello, I’m Emma Liston. And I love you James. And you are more than worthy of my love, no matter what some crusty old bastard of a duke told you.”
He leaned in and cupped her cheeks, kissing her with all the passion and love and surrender he had found with her. And for the first time in a long time, years, decades, he felt at home. Because his home was with her. And that made it safe.
He drew back with a laugh. “I think we just made our wedding vows. Assuming you will still marry me.”
“If you wish to,” she said, tears streaming down her smiling face.
“I used to think not marrying, not carrying on his name, would be my best revenge against my father,” he said softly as he gently wiped those tears away from her cheeks. “But living happily, removing myself from his shadow…I think that is a far better revenge.”
“Then let us go be happy together,” she whispered, taking his arm.
He guided her toward the stable doors with a laugh. “Happily ever after.”
Epilogue
Three Months Later
There were those who had whispered that a wallflower like Emma Liston could never be a good Duchess of Abernathe. But even those cruel gossips were begging to be invited to the end of summer party at Falcon’s Landing just three months after her marriage to the duke.
Emma had only invited those she actually liked. Now she stood on the landing that looked over the lawn and smiled down over the crowd that was gathered for tea. These were her friends, her family. The only one missing was her mother.
She sighed a little at the thought. They hadn’t spoken since their row before the wedding, though she’d heard through friends of friends that her father had recently abandoned Mrs. Liston again. She shook her head at the thought. In a few days, she intended to reach out to her mother. Perhaps this time she could help her see that whatever was between her parents, it wasn’t love.
And if she couldn’t? Then she would not allow it to mar her happiness. And shewashappy. She had never thought she would enjoy being a duchess, but James made every day an adventure and every night a passionate exploration.
As if conjured by her thoughts, she felt him wrap his arms around her from behind and press a kiss to her cheek as he drew her back against his strong, broad chest. She felt the ridge of his erection pressing into her backside, and laughed. It seemed she would have to take care of that before they joined their guests, and she thrilled at the idea.
“They are waiting for us,” James said.
She ground back against him just a little and elicited a deep moan from him that made her smile. “Obviously they’ll have to wait.”
She expected him to draw her back into the parlor and take her, but instead he remained where he was, holding her close. She turned in his arms and looked up to find him smiling.
“What is that look for?” she asked as she leaned up to brush her lips against his.
“I’m happy, Emma,” he said softly. “I was incomplete and never knew it. But you came along and now…now I’m whole.”
