The Last Duke (The 1797 Club Book 10)

by Jess Michaels

  He chuckled, a low, possessive sound that settled in all her nerve endings. “I do not think so. I don’t think I shall ever have you leave my bed again.”

  He drew her back and they fell together, into his bed, into each other’s arms, and she had never felt so happy than she did in that moment.

  Epilogue

  Summer 1814

  Kit smiled as he looked out over the ballroom in his home in London and saw all of his friends looking back. They were together again, all of them for the first time since their gathering over a year ago when his father had died.

  Tonight, of course, it was for a far happier moment. Sarah stepped forward, Phoebe at her side. She was holding their son, Adam, named after his late grandfather. The baby was still in his christening outfit from earlier in the day. Their friends all cooed as the baby made a tiny fist and let out a squawk so that no one could doubt his debut into the wide world.

  As Phoebe slipped into the crowd to greet the other children in attendance, Sarah put her head on Kit’s shoulder and let out a little sigh.

  “Happy?” he asked as he reached out a finger and the baby gripped it in his tiny fist with a surprising strength.

  She nodded. “Happier than I could have ever dreamed not that long ago.” She glanced up at him. “I love you, Kit. With all my heart, for all my life.”

  He brushed his nose against hers gently and then kissed her. “And I love you.”

  “You’d best go take your boy and show him off to all your friends,” she said, shifting the baby into his arms. “And I’m fairly certain that Phoebe is convincing Bibi to run away to the circus, so I should check on that situation.”

  She squeezed his arm and slipped off in one direction, leaving him to head in the other. He found James, Simon and Graham standing together. Graham had baby Maddie on his shoulders and she was tugging at his hair, though it didn’t seem to bother him much.

  “A fine son, my friend,” James said, chucking the baby beneath the chin with one fingertip. “You look happy.”

  “I am,” Kit said, and looked down into the eyes of his son. The eyes of his father. “I will never not miss my father, but this past year has been happy in so many ways. He helped steer us this way from the beyond.”

  Simon nodded. “I like the idea that the few decent fathers amongst our friendship circle would be proud of all of us now.”

  “How could they not be?” Graham asked. “God, I used to think of having children and it terrified me that I would turn into a man I loathed and feared. But…” He glanced up at the little girl who was laughing riotously as she played a magnificent drum solo on her father’s skull. “…I could not be more different.”

  Kit shifted the baby to his shoulder and patted his back as he nudged Graham with his free elbow. “You never would have been like your father.”

  Graham nodded. “So Adelaide convinced me. Where is that woman anyway?”

  His friends roamed away and Kit continued to make his way through the crowd. Matthew and Ewan were standing with their children, as well. Though Jonathon was only two, he was a great talker and could also use the finger language his mother and father had developed as children. Ewan held his daughter, Abigail, sleeping in his arms. When Kit stepped up, the little boy signed to his father, who nodded and motioned toward Kit.

  “See the baby?” Jonathon asked, huge blue eyes wide and far too adorable to be denied any request.

  “Of course,” Kit said. Ewan passed his baby to Matthew, then swung the boy into his arms and tilted him down toward Adam. Jonathon examined the boy a moment and then sighed with contentment. “Best friends,” Jonathon declared.

  He squirmed in Ewan’s arms and Ewan set him down with one of those bright, silent laughs. Jonathon tore off, leaving the men and the babies alone.

  “It seems all these children are destined to be friends,” Matthew said. “God help us all when they’re old enough to get into trouble like we did as boys.”

  “God help us when their mothers blame us for their impetuousness,” Ewan wrote on the notebook he always carried.

  Matthew grinned. “And rightly so.”

  Kit chuckled as he strode away toward Baldwin and Helena, Lucas and Diana, and Hugh and Amelia. Diana’s stomach extended into the circle of the group as she awaited the imminent arrival of her own child, her first with Lucas. When Kit stepped up, her expression softened. “Oh, he is precious. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help to you during the birth. I think I could have knocked over half the things in your chamber with this thing.” She motioned to her stomach with a playful shake of her head.

  “Amelia and Helena were wonderful stand-ins, along with the midwife you suggested, and used your guidance well,” Kit said. “Though I recognize how rare it is to have a future duke brought into the world by the hands of two duchesses.”

  Amelia smiled up at Hugh. “We never stand on circumstance in this little troupe, do we, my love?”

  “Never have. Cannot imagine we ever will.” Hugh put his arm around her waist and tugged her closer. “What fun would that be? Make sure my sister gets to hold the baby, will you? Lizzie is around somewhere here.”

  “But where are Robert and Katherine? I don’t see them in the crowd.”

  “I think they went out on the terrace,” Helena said. “They were talking rather seriously and he said he needed some air.”

  Kit nodded and waved them off as he moved toward Sarah. She greeted him with a kiss and then took the baby from his arms. “Everyone doing well?”

  “Yes. Lizzie wants to hold the baby. Would you mind?” he asked.

  She lifted on her tiptoes. “There she is by the punch. Oh, she looks lovely in that yellow dress. Like a spring bloom. I think this may be her Season, Kit.”

  “I leave that to you matchmakers. I’m going out to the terrace a moment. Robert is out there and I want to speak to him.”

  “May I join you shortly?” she asked, her blue eyes lighting up with a little mischievous light.

  “I will be very disappointed if you don’t.” He kissed her cheek and then made his way through the French doors and onto the dim terrace.

  He saw Katherine and Robert standing in the moonlight. Her arms were wound around his neck and they were kissing as the light fell over them like something sent from heaven. Kit almost turned around and left them to their privacy, but just as he readied himself to do so, they parted and he heard Robert say, “It helps. But my mind is still distracted.”

  “And I’ll do everything in my power to take care of that later,” Katherine said. Then she turned her head and noticed Kit standing there. “Oh, Kit. Perhaps you can cheer my husband up. I seem to be at a loss.”

  Kit laughed despite himself and came to stand on the other side of Robert. “I’m not kissing you,” he said.

  Katherine patted Robert on the bottom rather cheekily and then headed inside.

  Kit tilted his head. “I’m so glad you’re home and were here in time for Adam’s arrival. We miss you when you’re sweeping your bride all over the globe.”

  Robert smiled. “And I miss all of you, horrible company though you are. And you’ll be pleased to know we will likely be home for a while to come. I have some…situations to deal with that will require me to be in London.”

  Kit wrinkled his brow. “Situations?”

  Robert nodded. “A few messes my father left behind.” Kit must have looked as worried as he felt. “Don’t trouble yourself. It’s nothing earthshaking, as Katherine is wont to remind me. Just…annoying. But it means I’ll be here, in arm’s reach when my friends wish to play billiards or recount stories of our youth.”

  Kit smiled as he stared up at the moon above. “It is shocking to think that in the last four years, every one of us has not only wed, but married the loves of our lives. That all of us are happy. All of us are settled. I think if someone had told any one of us if this would be the outcome five years ago, we would have scoffed.”


  “I would have punched that liar in the mouth,” Robert said. “But love changes everything.”

  “It does that,” Kit said.

  The door from the ballroom clicked behind them and both men turned to watch Sarah step out and look at them with question in her eyes.

  Robert nudged him. “Looks like love would like a word with you. I’ll go find my bride and make sure she remembers I’m not a boring old married man like the rest of you.” He strolled off and inclined his head toward Sarah. “Your Grace.”

  “Your Grace,” she teased back, and then she slid up to Kit and placed her arms around his waist. “Having everyone together again reminds me of how we began.”

  “The first night I saw you many, many years ago?” he asked, thinking of his father’s wonderful list that had thrown in his face the truth he hadn’t been ready to see himself.

  She laughed. “All right, the time we truly began. And this last year has been magical, Kit. I can’t wait to see what the next one brings. And the next decade. And the next half century.”

  He pressed a kiss to her temple and they both looked into the sky together. “Neither can I, my love. Neither can I.”

  Join Jess Michaels as she launches a brand new series, The Scandal Sheet in 2019.

  One wicked little paper, six stories of the scandals within.

  Who will find love?

  Who will lose it all?

  Read an excerpt from the first book,

  The Return of Lady Jane

  Jane stared at Colin, her body trembling and her breath hard to find. He was here. He was here in her sister’s parlor, standing no more than ten feet away. And God, but he was handsome. He was impeccably dressed in a black jacket that accentuated his broad shoulders and a smart waistcoat interlaced with golden thread. His dark hair was cut close and not a lock of it dared to be out of place. His harsh jaw was smooth and clean, as if he had only finished scraping his blade across any whisker that dared to make an appearance overnight.

  He looked every inch the proper, upright gentleman, but then he always did even when there was no need for formality. Only once had she seen him undone and that was the afternoon he made love to her so sweetly.

  She tensed her jaw and steeled herself against those thoughts. They would do her no good at present.

  “Colin,” she said softly.

  His expression, which had been focused so intently on her now went hard and bored. She remembered that look all too well. It was the same one that had been on his face when he’d told her she was to go to the country and not return.

  “My lady,” he said, his tone as icy as his demeanor.

  She hardened herself in response, pushing aside her initial thrill at seeing him and reminding herself that not only had he sent her away so callously, but also ignored her for half a year.

  “You didn’t have to be so cruel to my sister’s butler,” she said, folding her arms as she glared at him. “You frightened the man half to death.”

  Colin arched a brow. “I wanted to make certain my intentions were clear.”

  “Well, you have done that in spades, my lord. As always, no one could possibly doubt your contempt for me. Now, what are you doing here?”

  Other Books by

  Jess Michaels

  The 1797 Club

  For information about the upcoming series, go to www.1797club.com to join the club!

  The Daring Duke

  Her Favorite Duke

  The Broken Duke

  The Silent Duke

  The Duke of Nothing

  The Undercover Duke

  The Duke of Hearts

  The Duke Who Lied

  The Duke of Desire

  Seasons

  An Affair in Winter

  A Spring Deception

  One Summer of Surrender

  Adored in Autumn

  The Wicked Woodleys

  Forbidden

  Deceived

  Tempted

  Ruined

  Seduced

  The Notorious Flynns

  The Other Duke

  The Scoundrel’s Lover

  The Widow Wager

  No Gentleman for Georgina

  A Marquis for Mary

  The Ladies Book of Pleasures

  A Matter of Sin

  A Moment of Passion

  A Measure of Deceit

  The Pleasure Wars Series

  Taken By the Duke

  Pleasuring The Lady

  Beauty and the Earl

  Beautiful Distraction

  About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels likes geeky stuff, Vanilla Coke Zero, anything coconut, cheese, fluffy cats, smooth cats, any cats, many dogs and people who care about the welfare of their fellow humans. She watches too much daytime court shows, but just enough Star Wars. She is lucky enough to be married to her favorite person in the world and live in a beautiful home on a golf course lake in Northern Arizona.

  When she’s not obsessively checking her steps on Fitbit or trying out new flavors of Greek yogurt, she writes erotic historical romances with smoking hot alpha males and sassy ladies who do anything but wait to get what they want. She has written for numerous publishers and is now fully indie and loving every moment of it (well, almost every moment).

  Jess loves to hear from fans! So please feel free to contact her in any of the following ways (or carrier pigeon):

  www.AuthorJessMichaels.com

  Email: Jess@AuthorJessMichaels.com

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