his bed.”
She swatted his shoulder. “Enough flattery, take me to your bed already.”
He picked her up and cradled her. “If you insist.”
EMMA COLLAPSED ON TOP of Simon with a sigh. Her heart pounded, not just from the lovely exertion they had shared but from knowing the man under her loved her as much as she loved him. Slowly, she rolled off him and then rested her head on his shoulder.
Remember this was the same side he’d been shot, she asked, “Is this all right? Am I hurting your wound?”
His arm wrapped around her, cocooning her in warmth. “I am very much healed, thanks to the nursing of a beautiful woman.”
Her fingers traced his chest. “Yes, but you have lost quite a bit of weight.”
“I am well now.”
“You must become accustomed to someone worrying over you,” she said, lifting her head to stare down into his sapphire eyes. She would never tire of looking at him.
“I suppose you will have to do the same. After all, someone will have to watch over you as you attempt to complete your list.”
“My list? I completed that.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “There is still number ten.”
She laughed softly. “There is no number ten. I could not think of any.”
“There is definitely a number ten.” He moved away from her to reach into the drawer of the table next to the bed. He pulled out a piece of paper before laying back on the bed.
“How did you get that?”
He chuckled. “Your sister found it for me. I’ve been waiting to get settled into the house—“
“And planning my abduction,” she interjected.
“And planning our wedding,” he continued as if she hadn’t said a word. “I thought today would be the day to show you that you have forgotten number ten.”
“There is no number ten,” she said with a sigh. “Give me that. I will show you.”
She grabbed the paper and unfolded. Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t believe number ten is my handwriting.”
“No?”
She could hear the laughter in his voice, but her heart was caught in her throat as she read through the list.
Introduce yourself to a man at a ball
Visit a gaming hell dressed as a man
Get foxed
Kiss a man
Get banned from Almacks’s
Learn to paint in oils
Race a carriage
Break a law
Seduce a rake
Marry a despicable scoundrel
“I’m not certain I can do number ten in good conscience since it isn’t quite correct.”
“How so?”
She shrugged. “I still haven’t received a proposal...and you’re certainly not despicable.”
“Harry told me to write that.” He tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. “Now then, the only question left is, will you marry this despicable scoundrel, Miss Drake?”
“Yes,” she whispered, turning in his arms. She kissed his chin and whispered, “Yes.” Moving up his jaw, she whispered again, “Yes.”
“Even if I don’t have a title?” he asked with humor lining his voice.
“Oh, but you do,” she replied with a laugh. “I am marrying a king. The King of Hell if I’m not mistaken.”
He stilled. “I am no longer the King of Hell, Emma. I sold Hell.”
“Why?” she whispered. “It was your business. You made it successful. I would have married even if you owned Hell.”
“I couldn’t do it.” He pulled a ringlet of her hair around his finger. “I didn’t want to corrupt you. Hell was pure vice, and you deserve better.”
Her eyes welled with tears.
“I do love you, Emma Drake.”
“Even if I can be a bit daring at times?”
“Especially because of that.” He rolled her onto her back and stared down at her.
“I love you, Simon. I don’t know how the one man who scared me half to death could be the man I came to love so deeply.”
He smiled. “Who doesn’t love a scoundrel?”
Emma laughed, knowing that the man she’d thought nothing more than a dreadful scoundrel and defiler of women had her heart so completely.
Epilogue
Christmas 1821
“TO EMMA AND SIMON, on their first Christmas together,” Harry started, holding a glass of champagne in the dining room of Emma’s Kent estate. “May they always be in love as deeply as they are at this moment. May their children bring them nothing but happiness, and as they grow old together, may they find peace in the love of their family.”
“To Emma and Simon,” Tessa said, holding up her glass.
Tessa wiped away a tear as her heart filled with happiness. Seeing her two younger sisters so happy and in love with men who cherished them made everything she endured worth it. This was what she’d wanted when she married her first three husbands.
But she’d never expected she could find love herself. She reached over and squeezed her husband’s hand.
The only person still not completely happy with the union was her mother. Not that Tessa was surprised by her bitter reaction. Mamma said she only wanted the best for her daughters, which should mean a man who loves them. But only one of her daughters ended up with a title, and it happened to be the one who never cared about finding a man with a title.
“Happy Christmas,” Her father said, from the far end of the table.
“Thank you, Papa,” Emma said, beaming a smile over at him.
While their father wasn’t involved in much, he did make an effort to see his daughters on holidays and special occasions. All three of them had differing opinions on him. As the oldest, she might have more sympathy for him only because she saw how her mother manipulated him. Louisa still felt anger toward him, but each time they saw each other noticed, they spoke a little more. Emma seemed to have the least hard feelings for him. She held more antagonism toward their mother, who had tried to manipulate them all in so many ways.
Tessa pushed the negative thoughts away as her unborn son or daughter kicked her in the ribs. Looking over at both her sisters, she noticed they rubbed their bellies. She did not doubt that soon, there would be even more children filling the room. Never had she thought her life could be so fulfilling. Between the rumors, deaths, and scandals, she assumed she would remain a widow and feared her sisters might become spinsters. Now, with everyone happily married, she felt incredibly blessed.
Simon rose from his seat with his champagne glass in his hand. Holding the glass up, he said, “To the Daring Drake Sisters, your days of scandals and rumors are finished now that you are all married. Yet Jack, Harry, and I are quite certain we hope our daughters will turn out like their mothers.”
The End
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