Oath
Page 23
Liv nodded, smiling, her head tilting to the side. “You think daughter?”
“I think daughters. And sons. So many I forget their names.” His left hand moved from her back, squeezing between them to flatten along her belly. “But first, my love, it is time for a new oath. We need to go downstairs and get married. Everyone is waiting.”
She blinked hard, appearing almost surprised they had still had that small matter of their wedding to attend to. “They are?”
“They are.”
“I lost track of time.” She scrambled off Tieran’s lap, smoothing her gown as she stood, shaking the wrinkles from the silk of the golden skirt.
Tieran stood, unable to resist wrapping his arms around her once more, wrinkles be dammed. “I like this color on you. It matches your eyes.”
“And it matches your heart.”
He grinned. “Aunt Penelope will be pleased to see you in color. I believe she thinks my wooing of you has been a personal favor to her.”
“Why would she care?” Her fingers ran lightly along the line of his jacket lapel.
“You don’t even want to know, Liv.”
“She will win some coin, by chance?”
Tieran shrugged.
Liv sighed, a grin cracking her face. “Was my dress at the Jacobson’s ball not enough?”
His head slanted to the side with an exhale. “Apparently, there were too many conflicting reports about what was seen. If it’s any consolation, I don’t imagine she will actually accept the coin. Winning is more than enough for her. Forgive her.”
“I do not intend to ever speak to her on the matter.”
He smiled. “Magnanimous of you.”
“I have much better things to focus on.”
“Such as?”
Her chest lifted in a deep breath, her golden brown eyes looking up at him with nothing but love. “Kiss me before we go down?”
The chuckle stayed on his lips until he met her mouth, taking her, and he lost himself in her. Her soft lips gentle but demanding, matching his every motion, just as she always had since that very first kiss by the stairs. Kissing her was still a gift.
The surprises would always be there. The new layers to discover.
Yet now, the present was his.
Every moment, every day with Liv, the best gift.
{ Epilogue }
London
March, 1824
The unearthly scream ripped through the walls, tearing down the stairs to the library.
They weren’t going to stop him.
Not this time.
Tieran set his head down, barreling toward the library door.
Just as his fingertips touched the doorknob, he was tackled from the side, his body slamming against the wall.
Intercepted, but not beaten. He shoved, twisting, struggling against the four hands pinning him against the mahogany paneling.
He gained one foot of space from the wall.
Only to be battered back against it.
A new breath and the scream from above exploded into the air once more.
“The scream—it isn’t right. Not right.” His shoulders locked in place against the wall, Tieran looked from Lockston on his right to Newdale on his left. Both of his friends strained, grimacing against his strength trying to fling them from his body. “Bloody well let me loose, you bastards.”
Tieran heaved his chest outward, kicking off from the paneling. Their hands clamped against his shoulders, Lockston and Newdale shoved him back with a hard clunk onto the wall, the hanging painting near his head flinging out, almost falling from the force of the vibration.
“The scream is a scream, Reggard. Stop trying to break free,” Newdale shouted in his ear. “Ara and Talia are up there—”
“As I should be.” Tieran’s snarl, his latest attempt to escape Lockston and Newdale, did nothing to alleviate the wildfire burning through every muscle, every nerve.
He had to make it to Liv.
“As you would be, if you hadn’t tried to attack the midwife, Tieran,” Lockston said. “Liv cannot birth a baby and control you at the same time. She will suffer this and she will make it through.”
The scream hit a chilling height.
The rage in his veins bursting, Tieran tried to break both of their grips on his body. They scuffled until Lockston and Newdale managed to slam him against the wall again. This time the painting slipped from its hook, crashing to the floor.
“It’s not right—the babe wailed a half hour ago, we all heard it cry—she should be done. Done. Not this. Not this screaming. I need to get up there.” Tieran’s voice had dropped from the growl to desperation. He looked at Newdale. “There’s no reason for it—for her screams.”
Newdale’s grip on his shoulder tightened. “Ara will come down, Reggard. She swore she would, the moment you are needed—no matter what.”
The next scream came in a blast, slipping to breathless shards.
Tieran’s head swiveled to Lockston. “And I’m not needed for that? It’s the same, Fletch. The same as before. She is slipping from me.”
Lockston’s mouth tightened, his head shaking. “It’s not the same, Tieran. Not by far.”
“It is.”
“No.” Lockston’s voice went low, vehement. “I was there too. It’s not the same. Not by far. Liv is not Rachel, Tieran. This is not happening again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” Lockston had to swallow, choking out his words. “Liv is strong. She is your match. And she will make it through this.”
Tieran stared at him, wanting desperately to believe the resolve in Lockston’s eyes—make the resolve a reality. But he was helpless.
A tiny whimper made it into the library.
The whimper grew louder as the door opened.
Talia appeared in the doorway clutching a wiggling, whimpering bundle of white cloth to her chest. She took in the scene quickly and stepped to the three men bunched against the wall. “Tieran, you need to meet your son.”
She elbowed her husband’s back. Lockston released his clamp on Tieran. Newdale followed suit. Lifting the white bundle to Tieran, she set it along his chest.
It took Tieran long seconds to lift his hands, taking the swaddling from Talia.
His breath held, he looked down. A tiny face. Red and splotchy and whimpering, his mouth smacking.
It took everything from him. All rage, all strength, all fear, all thought. The tiny face took everything he was, and demolished it.
Wonder. Wonder was what he was left with.
“And now you need to come upstairs with me,” Talia said. “Ara is still upstairs with Liv.”
His look whipped up to her. “She is…is…”
Talia smiled. “She is well, Tieran. And she needs to see you direct.”
Clutching his son tight to his chest, he moved past Talia, finally free to see his wife again.
Tieran stepped into the bed chamber without knocking, desperate to see with his own eyes his wife alive and breathing. The only thing that had slowed his run was the small babe he was carrying.
The midwife bustled about the bed, removing blood-soaked sheets, and Ara stood by the head of the bed, her back to the door.
In the middle of the frenzy, Liv sat propped up in the bed, her dark hair a wet mess, sweat still glistening on her brow.
Liv looked from Ara to him, a weary smile instant on her lips. Her hand lifted, fingers motioning him to her.
Tieran strode across the room, moving to the opposite side of the bed from Ara. Sitting next to Liv’s thigh, his hand went behind her head, clutching her, needing to feel in his skin that she was actually alive. Had not slipped from him. Had not left him for death.
He swallowed, all words lost to him.
Liv smiled at him, her golden eyes sparking through the weariness on her face. “You have not noticed.”
He shook his head. “What?” The one word barely made it past the lump in his throat.
�
�What Ara is holding.”
His eyebrows drawing together, Tieran looked from his wife to Ara standing across from him. She held a white bundle of cloth to her chest, much the same as the one cradled in his arm.
Newdale’s wife grinned at him.
“What…” Tieran looked down at the bundle in his arms to assure himself he hadn’t somehow set his son down without thought. Mouth still smacking, his son was secure in his arm.
He looked up at Ara once more, his eyes travelling to his wife.
“Two, Tieran,” Liv said, her voice soft.
“Two?”
She nodded, her head tilting toward Ara. “And she is a girl.”
Tieran’s hold on the back of Liv’s head tightened as his gaze went to the bundle in Ara’s arms. Ara took a step forward, handing the babe—his girl—to Liv. She stepped out of the room with the midwife, leaving them alone.
The door clicked closed, and his world froze for a long breath, the reality setting into his mind, into his heart. His daughter in Liv’s arms. His son in his arms. His wife sitting before him, breathing, alive, and beaming at him.
Her grin widened. “You had me carrying two of your babes, Tieran. That was extremely arduous.”
The chuckle rumbled from deep in his chest, spurring from the mass of unspent energy of the last hours. It erupted, jarring his son and sending him into a wail.
Liv lifted her hand, slipping the tip of her pinky into the babe’s mouth. He quieted.
“So I heard.” His hand squeezed her neck. “I apologize for that.”
“There is no need.” The grin remained on her face. “Just promise me we will keep it to one at a time hence forth.”
“I will make every effort to do so.”
Her head shook in a half-hearted scold as her golden brown eyes met his. “Thank you—for you are not the smallest man to bear children with. And let it be known that I blame you for kissing me by those stairs so many years ago and making me fall in love with you.”
“I will take the blame. Happily, my love.” He leaned forward to kiss her brow. “I can claim that I knew from the start what a splendid match we are.”
She laughed, a weary but heartfelt sound. “Then I take it back. It was me that made you fall to my charms.”
“That I did, Liv. That I did.” The wonder in his chest bloomed tenfold. His look went from the delicate face of his daughter peeking out from the blanket, to the tiny unfocused eyes of his son, to his wife’s face, to her golden brown eyes. She had never been more beautiful.
The peace emanating from her wrapped around him—wrapped around all of them—and tears slipped down his face.
Always another layer.
Always another present.
~ Author Note ~
Word of mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you liked reading Oath, Lords of Action, please consider leaving a brief review—even if it is only a line or two, it is an enormous help. I truly appreciate the reader’s words and thank you so much!
What’s next? Oh, how my neurons lit up when I brought forth Lady Desmond in this book—I can’t wait to tell her story, yet hers is not the first story to tell in my next series—it will most likely be the third. We’ll get to her! This next series has yet to be titled, so be sure to sign up for my new releases list (if you’re already signed up for one of my lists—don’t worry, I’ll let you know!) to know when it is coming out in late spring 2017.
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More of my Books:
Historical Romance
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my other historical romances—each is a stand-alone story and they can be read in any order (here they are in order of publication as of January 2017):
Stone Devil Duke, Hold Your Breath
Unmasking the Marquess, Hold Your Breath
My Captain, My Earl, Hold Your Breath
Worth of a Duke, Lords of Fate
Earl of Destiny , Lords of Fate
Marquess of Fortune, Lords of Fate
Vow, Lords of Action
Promise, Lords of Action
Oath, Lords of Action
Next historical release, Title TBD (Spring 2017)
Paranormal Romance
Flame Moon #1
Triple Infinity, Flame Moon #2
Flux Flame, Flame Moon #3
* * *
~~~
Stone Devil Duke
~~~
The first in the Hold Your Breath series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
Marked for death, Lady Augustine Christopherson finds herself scouring the slums of London in a desperate search to find the men who killed her father, and are determined to dispose of her. To protect her family, to protect herself, she is determined to find the men before they find her. The last thing she wanted was an entanglement with a duke that threatens her very survival…
Hardened long ago, the last thing the Duke of Dunway wanted was an entanglement with a chit of the ton. But in the flash of a pistol, his fate is altered as he finds himself honor-bound to protect Lady Augustine from, of all things, herself.
Order your copy today
* * *
~~~
Unmasking the Marquess
~~~
The second in the Hold Your Breath series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
Some people are born with backbone. Others have to fight for it.
List in-hand of suitable bachelors, Lady Reanna Halstead, the epitome of naivety, is thrust into London society with demands to gain a husband. To her utter amazement, she manages to capture the attentions of the Marquess of Southfork. Her love, dreams, and future are soon pinned on her marriage to this one man. One handsome, kind, fantastic man.
One man, who has a very different idea of what this marriage will be.
He will be hated, before he is loved.
Killian Hayward, Marquess of Southfork, is only one step away from completing the revenge he has fought his entire life for. All he has to do is marry Lady Halstead. The one woman that is the key to his revenge. To his peace.
The one woman that will threaten the very foundation of his entire existence.
Order your copy today!
* * *
~~~
My Captain, My Earl
~~~
The third in the Hold Your Breath series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
One destined to live life on the seas.
As captain of the Windrunner, Katalin Dewitt has one mission in life. Serve the ship. The ship that has been her home her entire life. The ship that is the key to keeping her father safe from certain death.
She never expected to take pity on an injured deckhand from an enemy ship and allow him onto the Windrunner. And she certainly never expected to allow him into her life.
One determined to make his way home.
Bound, gagged, and held captive on one ship after another for two long years, Jason Christopherson had long since given up hope of ever getting back to land, much less to his beloved England.
He never expected to land on a pirate ship, bound for land. And he certainly never expected to fall in love with his new captain, threatening the one thing he needed most in life–to return home.
Neither expected to fall in love. Neither expected to be torn
apart by a brutal betrayal.
Order your copy today!
* * *
~~~
Worth of a Duke
~~~
The first in the Lords of Fate series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
One on the wrong side of the ocean.
Lost and wandering the woods, Wynne Theaton was surviving quite nicely until Rowen Lockton appeared. He saves her from getting trampled by a thief’s horse, but then becomes insistent on showing her where she truly is…
One refusing to deny fate.
Fate tossed Miss Theaton into his path, and the Duke of Letson is not one to deny fate. But the woman comes with a host of problems, not the least of which is her belief that she is in another country.
An undeniable attraction.
He was not looking for a wife. She was only searching for home. But fate has very different plans for the two of them—if they can survive the secrets of the past, of the forgotten.
Order your copy today!
* * *
~~~
Earl of Destiny
~~~
The second in the Lords of Fate series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
Life as a backdrop has its rewards.
Miss Brianna Silverton not only prefers life in the background—she depends on it. It is far easier to decide upon a proper husband for her younger sister that way, plus, it keeps her rooted as the spinster she is determined to be. She has secrets to hide, and she isn’t about to let another man touch her—never again.
He knew it the very moment he saw her.
A constant wanderer, the Earl of Luhaunt, Sebastian Rallager, never paused in one place for long. Not until the moment he saw Brianna across a crowded ballroom floor. Instinct had never failed Sebastian, and he knew it instantly—she was his. Now he just had to convince her of that fact.