Four Irresistible Rogues (Four Complete Historical Romance Novels) by Crosby Tanya Anne & Harmon Danelle & Royal Lauren & Wright Cynthia

Author:Crosby, Tanya Anne & Harmon, Danelle & Royal, Lauren & Wright, Cynthia [Crosby, Tanya Anne & Harmon, Danelle & Royal, Lauren & Wright, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9781938907975
Publisher: Novelty Books
Published: 2013-07-08T07:00:00+00:00

EPILOGUE

Six years later

Kendra ran down Amberley's marble front steps, then, waiting for Trick, paused and looked back at the house. She smiled at the incongruous stone lintel over the elegant double front doors—a long, decidedly inelegant rock with symbols chiseled into it: the letters KC and PC, a ship, a heart, and a date. 1668.

"What's that?" she'd asked Trick the day she first came home from the orphanage to see it.

He'd blinked. "Do you not remember Falkland? And the marriage lintels?"

"Well, yes. But this isn't a weaver's cottage in Scotland—it's a mansion in Sussex. And this house wasn't built in 1668."

"Maybe it wasn't," he'd told her, pulling her toward him for a kiss. "But that was the year it became a home."

Remembering now, the same warmth filled her heart that had filled it then. She fingered the stones on her amber bracelet, knowing with a certainty that she'd never take it off again.

Trick finally sauntered out, displaying none of her own impatience.

"Hurry, Trick, or Cait's babe will be born before we get there."

"Slow down, or our babe will be born too early." Walking her over to the caleche, he smiled and ran a possessive hand over the slight bulge of her middle. "Besides, we were there already. It was you who insisted we leave everyone and return home to get the gift you forgot."

"It was you who insisted on the hour we just spent in the bedchamber." Grinning as he climbed up beside her, she leaned to give him a quick kiss.

With a hand on the back of her neck, he held her close, his lips meeting hers in a much longer, warmer caress. His mouth opened, his tongue circling hers, sending a wild swirl of excitement spiraling through her. Her senses reeled, and the soft, paper-wrapped package in her hands slipped to the caleche's boards.

He broke off and, with a low laugh, reached to snag it and set it back on her lap. "Do you want to go back upstairs, leannan?"

"Oh, yes," she breathed on a sigh. "But no."

"Women." He shook his own head, bright gold in the sun, and lifted the caleche's reins.

"Drive fast," she urged, and then, "Faster," until they were racing toward Cainewood at an alarming speed, considering her delicate state. "I want to be there with Cait when the babe greets the world."

But as she was hurrying up Cainewood's carved stone staircase, the thready cry of a newborn split the air. She paused with her hand on the gray marble rail.

Trick squeezed her around the shoulders. "Sorry we're late, lass, but do you not think our little interlude was worth it? We so rarely have time to ourselves these days."

"I suppose." She gave him a mock pout. "Let's go meet the child."

The door to Jason and Caithren's chamber was wide open, the room crammed with cooing Chases. Cait reclined like a queen in the cobalt-curtained bed, a squalling infant in her arms.

"For me?" she asked with a smile, indicating the gift in Kendra's hands. "Or the babe?"

"Both.