A Duke’s Most Tempting Saviour – Extended Epilogue

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Five Years Later…

“Good morning, my love,” Michael’s usual morning greeting met her ear almost the moment that she turned over in their master bed. With the drapes still pulled around them, Amelia could almost imagine that they were the only two people in the world, and she smiled up at him even as he leaned down on his elbow to kiss her forehead. 

“Good morning,” she responded, wasting no time in kissing him back. For perhaps the first night in weeks, they had not been awoken to the sounds of screaming and crying coming from the nursery right next door. Though Amelia distinctly remembered waking once at the sound of a door opening down the hall, and the cooing of the nurse maid entering the nursery shortly before she had managed to drift back off to sleep. 

That woman is a godsend, Amelia thought, able to hear the woman now giving instructions to George and his younger sister, Madeline. The creaking of the rocking crib suggested that she was gently cradling baby Anne as she spoke. 

Lying back against the pillows with a deep sigh of relief, Amelia closed her eyes, relishing in a rare moment with nothing to do. It did not last long, as she felt her husband’s hand slowly snake down beneath the sheets, over her stomach and further south still until his fingers dipped gently between her thighs. 

“Michael, what are you doing?” she exclaimed, her eyes flying open in surprise. She came to finding him smirking down at her with excitement in his eyes and as he inched his body closer to hers she felt his rock-hard manhood spring against her hip. 

“Taking advantage of this moment we have alone together,” he responded and before she could offer any kind of protest or try to talk him out of it, he leaned down and kissed her. Feeling just as she did whenever he kissed her, as though the world was spinning all around her, she found herself unable to suddenly think of anything else. 

“Michael Ross, you are far too good at kissing,” she whispered against his lip,s and she felt him smirking against hers. 

 “What about this?” he asked in a seductive whisper even as he rubbed gently at her sex and slipped his fingers gently inside her. Gasping with shock and pleasure, she opened her legs to him in response. Wasting no time, Michael propped himself up on his elbows and knees and came down on top of her. Removing his fingers gently from her, he slipped the tip of his manhood deep inside her. He filled her up almost immediately, and she gasped at the shock of it before the pleasure took over and she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

Pulling him down to her, she kissed him passionately, rocking her pelvis back and forth to meet his thrusts even as the knot of pleasure tightened in her stomach and she knew that a climax was coming close. 

The rareness of such moments with her husband after three children made the sensations all the more powerful, and she had to bury her face in his shoulder when her pleasure finally became too much. Muffling her screaming in his shoulder, she felt her entire body spasm with the pleasure of her climax, her sex squeezing tightly around his manhood. 

Michael cursed into her ear as though he felt the way that her body was reacting, and she could tell from the grunting tone in his voice that he was growing close to his own ending.

Not quite ready for the moment to be over, Amelia urged him away from her. Even as the confusion and concern twisted his expression, Amelia smirked back at him and forced him down onto his back. His eyes alit with delight the moment that she came down on top of him. Straddling him, she slid herself back down onto his manhood and began to rock her pelvis back and forth, leaning down in order to kiss him, pinning him down to the bed with her breasts resting upon his chest. 

Michael’s hands came down on her hips and he urged her down until the full length of him was inside her. Amelia trembled and groaned, feeling his manhood hit all the right spots at once and she rocked back and forth faster and harder until she was panting for breath. 

When she felt her husband beginning to tremble beneath her and heard the sound of his laboured breathing, she knew that he was close. Her own heart hammering, her entire body fizzing with pleasure, her sex clenched around his member again and she tilted her head back to bite back a scream of pleasure as her climax ripped through her all over again. 

Michael cursed again, though this time it was little more than a breathless whisper, and in the next moment, she felt his seed spilling deep inside her. His hands gripped her hips slightly harder than before and he braced her down against him, groaning deeply as he finished. Amelia grew still atop him, and panting for breath, she leaned down to kiss him gently. 

Both of their bodies were trembling by the time that they parted, and the tranquil sensation of silence and release that overwhelmed them left them both smiling gratefully. 

As Amelia dropped down onto the bed beside her husband, he pulled her into his arms as he always did after their lovemaking, and pressed his face into the mass of curly red hair atop her head. 

“Every time feels like the very first with you, my love,” he whispered into her hair and a shiver of delight ran through Amelia’s body. She nodded in agreement because she could not quite find the words to respond. 

Still quivering, she laid her head upon his chest and enjoyed the sound of his heart beating beneath her ear. 

“Perhaps there may yet be another child on the way,” Michael suggested, his voice still shaking with the effort it was taking to breathe. Amelia’s stomach clenched at the words. It had only been four months since last she had given birth and the thought of having four children under six both thrilled and terrified her. 

“We have plenty of time for more children,” she said gently, nuzzling further into his chest, hoping to get his attention for as long as she could before the children decided they wanted to steal it away from her. Michael laughed as if in agreement and she was relieved when he did not press the issue. 

All too quickly, there came a knocking at the door and Amelia half expected George and Madeline to come running in, all dressed and ready for the day ahead. Instead, the door remained closed and with a deep groan, Michael yelled, “Enter!” 

At that the door opened, and Amelia peered through a gap in the drapes that surrounded them in the hopes of seeing who had entered the room. The clearing of a throat told her exactly who it was, and she quickly sat up, pulling the bedsheets up to her chest to cover her modesty while her husband sat up and pulled back the nearest drape. 

“What is it, Renwick?” Michael asked the butler who was standing in the doorway with his eyes averted from the bed, clearly knowing what their still being there meant. 

“Forgive the interruption, my lord, my lady,” Renwick said in the politest of tones, “But I am afraid that you have visitors awaiting you downstairs.” 

Michael and Amelia glanced at each other feeling slightly confused. “Who could it be?” Amelia asked aloud. 

In response, Renwick said, “It is your brother and his wife, my lord.” 

Again, the couple looked at each other, though this time, in surprise. Rarely did they receive a visit from his brother and his wife, though their relationship with them was not quite so frightful as it had once been. 

“Please see them to the drawing room, Renwick,” Michael suggested quickly, “We shall be down with the children as soon as we are dressed.”

“Of course, my lord, my lady,” Renwick said, and Amelia could just see him bowing before he quickly exited the room. 

Even as she and her husband hurried from the bed to dress, Amelia wondered out loud, “I do hope they have not come bearing bad news so early in the morning.” 

The moment that Amelia, Michael and the children entered the drawing room, Amelia knew why Edward and Bridgette had come. The reason was fairly obvious simply from the looks of them both. 

“Uncle Edward! Auntie Bridgette!” George and Madeline cried as soon as they entered the room, and they threw themselves at the two nobles in greeting. 

“Steady on now, children,” Amelia warned, having seen Bridgette’s swollen stomach the moment that the noblewoman stood up from where she had been sitting on a satin couch. 

“Oh, do not worry.” Bridgette smiled in return. “They are fine and we are pleased to see them.” 

Bridgette quickly gave both her niece and nephew a hug before guiding them to their uncle to do the same. Glancing at each other, Amelia and Michael moved into the room to sit on the couch opposite the other couple while the two children too to armchairs close by. 

Madeline was the first to mention Bridgette’s obviously growing stomach. “Auntie, are you having a baby like Mama did with Anne?” 

“Madeline!” Amelia scolded, cringing at her redheaded daughter’s brashness. 

“Not to worry, Amelia, it is why we have come,” Bridgette explained, laying her hand upon the top of her swollen stomach and reaching out with her other to take hold of her husband’s hand. “Edward and I wished to come and tell you the good news. We are expecting our first child in a few months time.” 

“A few months!” Michael exclaimed, looking from Edward to Bridgette and back again. “Why have you not told us before now?” 

“Michael!” Amelia exclaimed, feeling almost as though her husband was suddenly as bad as their daughter. She took to cradling Anne more vigorously in her arms in order to try and hide her annoyance with them. 

“It’s okay, Amelia,” Edward said with a gentle smile before he turned to explain to his brother, “I am sure you well know of our previous losses, at least, our early ones. We decided after the third not to announce anything until we were absolutely certain everything would be well.” 

Edward and Bridgette shared a saddened look before they turned happier smiles upon the rest of their family. 

“It appears we finally have a baby who wished to stay,” Bridgette said with a mixture of sadness and excitement in her tone. Amelia could not stop herself from returning the woman’s sad smile. 

“We are so pleased for you both,” Amelia said quickly, reaching out to squeeze her own husband’s hand with the baby resting in her other arm, “Are we not, Michael? Children?” 

“Oh, yes!” Michael responded. 

“Does this mean we are finally going to have a little cousin to play with, Mama?” George asked and he turned to look at Amelia with excitement, his jet-black hair flying out at odds and ends even though it had been brushed several times before they had come down to the drawing room. Amelia smiled at him fondly and nodded. 

“I suppose that it does, sweetheart,” she replied fondly. 

“Oh, I do hope that it’s a girl!” Madeline exclaimed excitedly.

“No! We need for there to be another boy! I am fed up of playing girl games and you already have Anne!” George protested, sticking out his tongue at his sister. 

“But Anne is just a silly little baby and she cannot do anything!” Madeline protested, looking just as frustrated as her brother was. 

The two of them began to attack each other over the arms of their chairs until Michael boomed, “Calm down the both of you! This is no way to act in front of guests!” 

The two children who looked so much like their parents both quickly dropped back down into their seats with a huff and both crossed their arms. The deep scowls that sunk their faces were enough to make Amelia bite back laughter. 

“It does not matter whether your cousin turns out to be a boy or a girl so long as they are healthy,” Amelia said to the children a little more gently. As if she agreed, little baby Anne began to coo and reached for Amelia’s face, stroking her tiny fingertips across Amelia’s chin. 

“Oh, is she not just a little sweetheart?” Bridgette commented and it quickly hit Amelia that although their youngest child was several months old, Edward and Bridgette had yet to meet her. 

Now it is no surprise why, Amelia thought, looking again to Bridgette’s swollen stomach before she raised her eyes to meet Bridgette’s and asked, “Would you like to hold her?”

After Madeline had been born, Amelia had refrained from asking the woman, unsure as to whether it might upset her to have a babe in her arms when she had so struggled to carry one of her own. Yet now seemed as good a time as any to make up for that.     

“Oh, can I?” Bridgette asked, looking even more excited than Amelia would have hoped. With a smile, Amelia rose to her feet and circled around the centre table to place the baby in Bridgette’s arms. 

For a moment, Amelia felt a familiar stab of disgust at being close to Bridgette, remembering all too well the animosity there had once been between them. She quickly forced it away, continuing to smile even as she moved back to her own seat, leaving the babe in her aunt’s capable hands. 

“Thank you, Amelia,” the woman said whole-heartedly, and it was clear from the grateful look in her eyes, that she was not merely talking about allowing her to hold the baby. 

“You know, Michael, I must admit,” Edward said even as he leaned in to offer his little finger to the baby, clearly just as taken with her a his wife was. “I do not envy you.” 

“I am afraid I do not understand your meaning,” Michael responded, watching his brother and his brother’s wife closely as though he too was a little on edge with his youngest daughter in their grasp. Baby Anne did not seem all too bothered as she wrapped her tiny fingers around Edward’s little finger. 

Amelia felt her husband’s hand land on her knee, though she did not draw attention to it by looking down even when she felt his grip squeeze her leg. It was clear that he was seeking comfort in her and discreetly she moved her hand on top of his to offer it. 

“Seeing how much work you have on top of caring for this growing family of yours,” Edward commented with a shrug of his shoulders, “I no longer envy you the heirdom.” 

Michael scoffed with laughter and when she saw the two brothers’ gazes met, Amelia felt a rush of relief. For the first time in a long time, the tension that had always lived between them appeared to dissipate. “Be careful, Edward. Father might decide that you are deserving of the title after all, if he hears you no longer want it.” 

Edward and Michael both laughed haughtily then, and it was clear that they were sharing in on some personal joke. Amelia and Bridgette both glanced at each other. From the look in the other woman’s eyes, Amelia knew that she was unsure as to why they were laughing either. 

“I would not accept it,” Edward responded, shaking his head solemnly. “I have seen how it has already begun to turn you grey.” 

Michael gasped, feigning insult, and Ameli bit back her own laughter. Though neither of them mentioned it, both she and her husband had noticed the hair around his temples that had begun to turn grey. Yet Amelia had to admit she rather liked it. She believed it made her husband all the more handsome and rarely, when she did mention them in jest, she would call them his wisdom hairs. 

“Any good brother would offer to share the burden,” Michael grumbled and they fell into an easy conversation of laughing and joking, the children joining in wherever they could while not really getting anything of the adults words, making everyone laugh all the more. 

For the first time in perhaps ever, Amelia felt quite content to sit with her brother and sister in-law. All the hostility and pain of the past seemed to have become water under the bridge and the view from above was much brighter than below. 

Resting back against the couch, she leaned into her husband when her wrapped an arm around her waist and while Edward and Bridgette were caught up with their attention on Anne, Michael leaned in to kiss her temple and whispered into her ear, “Have I ever told you how pleased I am for your stubbornness?” 

Surprised by his choice of words, Amelia twisted in her seat to look at him, unsure as to what he could possibly mean. Seeing her expression he smirked and added, “If you had not been nearly so stubborn, neither of us would be sitting here now.” 

A thrill of excitement rushed through Amelia as she suddenly remembered the early days of their encounters, when she had been too stubborn to leave and he had been too headstrong to accept her help. 

Leaning back into him, enjoying the way he squeezed her to him with his arm still wrapped around her, she responded, “And have I ever told you how pleased I am that I ignored your foolish attempts to make me leave?” 

Nuzzling his nose against her cheek, he growled playfully into her ear and Amelia knew without a doubt that no matter what happened, their love would always shine through. Even so many years after their wedding ceremony, she still felt like that young girl whose heart had fluttered a little too fast whenever she looked at that one special patient. 

“You will always be the most beautiful woman in my world,” Michael assured her in a husky tone, and she knew without a doubt that he was thinking of the rare morning they had shared together in bed. Her own heart fluttered to think of it herself and for the first time since Anne had been born, Amelia found herself praying that another child might begin to swell inside of her. She would never grow tired of allowing their love to swell inside of her and grow into something just as beautiful as the three children they already shared. 

Closing her eyes for several moments, she listened to the rest of the room, enjoying the cooing of baby Anne and the chipper voices of George and Madeline, smiling at the sounds of the adults’ laughter. And suddenly, all was well with the world again.

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