Page 91 of To Ensnare a Duke

A roar of laughter barks from my lips, jostling my knot deep inside her. "That you are. Both of us, actually."

I ease over onto my back so she can lie against my chest without being smothered. We lie there connected as my knot continues to hold us together. A soft hum, an omega hum, drifts around us as she draws lazy circles onto my chest with her fingers.

"Will it always be like this?"

"Well, you will have to recover some time."

"No. That's not what I mean. Us. This. The closeness, the intimacy."

Closing my eyes, I pour what love I can into the bond, making it hum as beautifully as hers. "Yes. Always. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to communicate as well. But now that I've claimed you, this can do the talking for us."

"Does this mean I can have my cards back?"

I crack an eye open and frown down at her. "You'll have to guide me along your thought process for that one."

"Well, now that you know where I am and what I'm doing, you can monitor my activities. That means I should get my cards back."

"Nice try minx, but your days of fleecing men of their coin are now over."

"Even if it's your friends?"

I lie there for a moment, my brain doing its best to stay coherent in the wave of postcoital bliss. "They can certainly stand to lose some. How much did you win from the girls, by the way?"

"More than enough to pay for your part of the marriage bet."

"You know about that?"

Groaning, I run my hands over her hair. It's sticky and matted from her blood and our ferocious love making. Once my knot recedes, I'll need to bathe and tend to her. But for now, I feel at peace with my mate in my arms.

"The girls were very illuminating."

"Speaking of… Did you ever find out who the drawing is of?"

Augusta rises, wincing as my knot stretches her a bit more. "You know about that?"

With a smile, I tap her chest over her heart. "I'll always know."

"I guess it's too late to take it back?"

"Most certainly my incorrigible minx. There will never be any secrets between us anymore. And that's just how I prefer it."

"I do too… but this is one secret I cannot reveal because I do not know. It was never said to me whose phallus it is."

"Only that it's far larger than mine," I growl, teasing her.

Through the bond, she knows I'm not upset, and so she swats at my chest, nearly hitting her claiming mark. "I fear it was the perspective and my overthinking that led me to believe the size was far bigger. Trust me, you're certainly massive enough."

"And don't you forget it."

"As if you'll ever let me."

"Never, my love. I am yours now and forever just as you are mine. Until the stars fade from the sky. Until the Thames dries up, refusing to water the land of England. Until the sun darkens and refuses to cast its gaze upon the earth. Until death parts us."

"Until death parts us," she whispers, giving me the sweetest smile I have ever known.

EPILOGUE

ALESSANDRA