Hold Your Breath 01 - Stone Devil Duke (29 page)

“I love you.” Aggi
e smiled, the love unmistakable in her green eyes.

It was all
Devin could do to keep from crushing Aggie in the arms he clamped around her wet body. Finally, he let her loose, and spun her in the water so he could fully see her eyes. He cupped her face in his hands.

“I am so sorry I left you
, Aggs. So sorry I thought you and your brother…I did not know and I was stupid. And then I did not protect you. It was the one thing I promised to do, and I failed. I have no right to even ask, but can you forgive me?”

Aggie slid forward on her
knees, straddling Devin’s waist. Her hands went behind his neck, resting on the lip of the tub as she evened her eyes to his. “You did not fail me. You were just a little late. As for the reason you were late,” her eyes twitched mischievous, “that, you are in trouble for. For some bizarre reason, I think you do not understand how there could never be another for me. How you have me, heart and soul.”

His hand shaking, it went into her wet hair, clasping her tight to him, h
is head buried in her neck.

“I
n case you missed it the first time.” Devin leaned back, pulling his eyes up to hers. “I will say it again. I love you, Aggs.”

With a gasp, Aggie
choked him with wet arms. Her head turned to his ear. “Truly?”

“Truly. The worst moment of my life was seeing that knife on your neck.
Seeing the blood. Your blood. My life was taken away from me in that one moment, and that will not do. I never want to have to be the man I was without you.”

She moved her face so her green eyes could meet his grey ones. “
I am finally here. All of me. All of me for you.”

With a deep breath, Aggie spun
around in the tub, utterly content as she snuggled onto Devin’s chest. “When did you say it before?”

Devin
shrugged, his smirk hidden from Aggie’s view. “That does not matter.”

Her fingers traced the wet skin
on his chest. “So when did you know you loved me?”

He
smiled, letting his mind wander. “Truthfully, even though I did not give it credit for a long time, it was the night after you were shot. I was in the library, and you came for me. You swayed, could barely stand straight—injured, exhausted. But you still made it to me. You wanted me. You needed me. And then you left.”

Under the water, Devin
wrapped his arm tight around her waist. “I sat in the library, arguing with my drunk self. It was only a few minutes, but it was an eternity. I wanted the safest thing for you. The best thing for you, even if it was not me. But I did not want to give you up. I could not make myself give you up. And I knew that if I got up and followed you, I could never go back. That would be it.”

She turned her head into his chest, kissing his skin.
“Then you carried me up to bed.”

His lips went to
her forehead. “I did. And that was it. I have never looked back—except to thank God I was not a complete idiot in that moment.”

She tilted her head up to him. “Thank you for not being an idiot. And I guess that idiot-free choice makes up for your idiot move in the woods with my brother.” She pulled u
p. “Speaking of which, you did not kill him.”

Devin
laughed. “No, I did not.”

“Thank you. I am sure that was hard. I have had to resist once or twice myself through the years.
But I am so happy he is alive and back.” She set her head back down on his chest, then held her hand up, her last two fingers catching her gaze.

“Do they hurt?”

“Throbbing. But they will heal.” She grabbed his chin with her thumb and forefinger. “I will heal. You reminded me that I was capable of that. Thank you.”

“From day one, your capabilities have never ceased to amaze me, my love.”

She smiled. “Oh, and I broke some things.”

“I saw.”

“I am sorry.”

“Do you not know
,” he pulled her body up onto his so her face was next to his, “that you are more important to me than trinkets and furniture and priceless artifacts?”

Her eyes went big.
“Priceless artifacts?”

Devin
shrugged. “A few. But you, right here, talking to me with clear eyes. More than worth it. You are the priceless one. You are my everything, Aggs.”

He kiss
ed her, long, gentle, taking his time, with the promise of the life they were meant to lead together no longer waiting, no longer a dream, but here. Here and precious.

Aggie
dropped her head onto his shoulder, holding tight with both arms. “Did you know it is still raining out?”

Devin
looked through the window into the night, surprised by the torrential downpour.

He hadn’t noticed.

September
, 1820

Aggie had him for the whole day, all of his attentions devoted solely to her after he had been in London for a fortnight. The first half of the day had been spent in bed, and now she had him just where she wanted him.

She fired her pistol.

The old chipped wine glass shattered, the shot echoing back to them from the trees.

“Well done.”
Devin swatted her backside as she set her pistol on the table.

She turned to him, eyes twinkling. “I am impressed. It only took a year, but you have finally learned to
compliment me with grace, my husband.”

“
I am not about to chance capturing you back in bed a few hours from now with a sulk. Besides, there is still one glass left and it is my turn.”

“So your sportsmanship will not last?”

Devin smiled. “Let us see how my turn goes.”

Aggie eyed him
as he loaded his pistol. “Did you have any real discussions with Killian when you were in London?”

“No.
We only spoke about business. Since the wedding and what he has chosen to do, I am leaving him to his own devices for the moment.”

Aggie sighed. “I had hoped…it is just so disappointing.”

“He will right himself eventually, Aggie.”

“Will he? Or will it be too late by then?”

Devin shrugged. “It is not our concern at the moment.” He looked sharply at his wife. “Most pointedly, not your concern, at the moment, dear wife. I can see your mind spinning. We did what loyalty dictated, and now we will stay out of it. No interference. Do you understand.”

“Fine.”
Aggie rolled her eyes that it was a command rather than a question from him. Some things refused to change about her husband—not that she necessarily wanted them to. There was a reason she loved him as much as she did, after all.

Aggie
shook her head as she tucked a rogue curl behind her ear. “I guess I have enough to be concerned with at the moment as it is.”

“Your brother?”

She nodded. “He did not care for mother and Lizzie coming to Stonewell. Lizzie was right to make the request to come. She is happier here, but Mother is still only marginally better. Only a few words here and there. Jason wants to fix everything—change everything back to the way it was—but he cannot, and he is fighting it. It is clear he is on a precipitous edge. An edge I have no way of understanding, try though I did while I was there.”

Devin fired. Shards flew through the air.

“How in the world…” Aggie stared at the empty spot on the wooden rail that had just held the last glass. Devin had just outshot her twelve-to-eleven.

She moved in front of him, arms crossed. “You have been practicing on me. Admit to it.”

“Possibly.” He grabbed her wrists, pulling her arms apart and settling them around his waist. “You did not think I was going to continue to let you trounce me every time we were out here, did you? I do not know why you would believe my bruised pride would allow you to continue to beat me in our matches.”

She tightened her arms around his waist, looking up at him.
“I will just have to spend more time practicing myself, then. Although I doubt you are going to let me touch a pistol for a while.”

“I am not?”

“Since you brought up the topic of pride, I have a suspicion that your pride—the good kind of pride, that is—is going to increase tenfold in about nine months.”

“Nine months?
Whatever for?”

Her face cracked wide in smile.

“No.
”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

She nodded, chin hitting his chest. “Yes.”

He picked her up, smothering her as he swung her in a circle. Setting her down, his hands went up to frame her face. “Yes? Truly, Aggs?”

“Yes.”

“Then you are right. No more pistol for you. And I will resist reminding you that I am the reigning victor in our matches. At least for the next year.”

She chuckled
, poking him in the ribs. “You, my dear husband, are a gentleman like no other.”

Devin laughed. “Never forget it, my Aggs. Never forget it.”

Thank you so much for taking
a trip back in time with me. The next book in the
Hold Your Breath
series is now out:
Unmasking the Marquess
. Killian is the star of this one!

And, as there is more to come, be sure to sign up for news of my
next releases at
www.KJJackson.com
(email addresses are precious, so out of respect, you’ll only hear from me when I actually have real news).

If you liked reading
Stone Devil Duke
, please consider leaving a brief review on Amazon—I truly appreciate the reader’s words and thank you so much! Reviews are the best way to help others like you find something they will like too.

Like other genres?

I
f you want to switch genres and check out my
Flame Moon
paranormal romance series,
Flame Moo
n #1
, the first book in the series
, is currently free (ebook) at all stores.
Flame Moon
is a stand-alone story, so no worries on getting sucked into a cliffhanger. But number two in the series,
Triple Infinity
, ends with a fun cliff, so be forewarned. Number three in the series,
Flux Flame,
ties up that portion of the series.

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~ K.J. Jackson