Epilogue #2
“I learned from the best.” His shirt joined the growing pile of clothes on the floor. “Now, be a good husband and go lie down on the bed.”
For a moment, she thought he might resist—might turn the tables and pin her to the mattress instead. But then he smiled, that rare, genuine smile that transformed his face until she almost couldn’t catch a breath and moved to the bed without argument.
“On your back,” Ashley instructed, her voice steady despite the flutter in her stomach. “Arms above your head.”
Raven complied, watching her with dark eyes as she climbed onto the bed beside him.
Ashley took one of the silk scarves and wrapped it carefully around his right wrist, securing it to the bedpost with a knot she’d practiced.
Then the left, until both his arms were stretched above his head, bound but not uncomfortable.
“Too tight?” she asked, checking the bonds.
“Perfect.” His voice was rough with desire. “You’ve learned well.”
“I had an excellent teacher.” Ashley reached for the leather cuffs next, securing one around each ankle and attaching them to the lower bedposts. Not pulled taut—she knew Raven preferred some freedom of movement—but enough that he was thoroughly restrained.
When she was satisfied with her work, Ashley sat back to admire him. Her husband, the powerful Duke of Blackstone, bound to their bed and entirely at her mercy. The sight sent heat pooling low in her belly.
“Now,” she said, reaching for the blindfold, “let’s see how you like surrendering control.”
“Ashley—” But whatever protest he might have offered was cut off as she secured the silk over his eyes, plunging him into darkness.
She heard his breathing change, becoming deeper and more deliberate. After five years, they both knew what the blindfold did—how it heightened every other sensation, made every touch more intense.
“Trust me,” Ashley whispered, echoing the words he’d said to her so many times. “I’ll take care of you.”
She started slowly, trailing her fingers across his chest, learning the new topography of his body through touch alone.
Five years of marriage had changed them both—Raven had relaxed into contentment, the harsh lines of grief that had marked him when they married now smoothed away by happiness and laughter.
“Ashley.” Her name was half plea, half warning.
“Shh.” She leaned down to press a kiss to his chest, just above his heart. “I’m in charge tonight, remember? You don’t get to make demands.”
She felt him strain against the bonds, testing them, and smiled against his skin. He could break free if he truly wanted to—the silk would tear if he pulled hard enough. But he wouldn’t. That was the trust between them, the foundation of everything they’d built.
Ashley took her time, mapping his body with hands and mouth, finding all the places that made him gasp or groan.
Behind his ear, where his pulse jumped beneath her lips.
The sensitive skin of his inner wrists, stretched and vulnerable above his head.
The plane of his stomach, taut beneath her exploring lips.
When she finally took him in her mouth, his hips lifted off the bed and pushed him further into her throat.
“I love the sound of you pleasuring me with your mouth. But God I wish I could see you.”
She ignored his plea. And ran her tongue over the sensitive tip, loving the salty taste of him.
“You’re torturing me,” Raven managed, his voice strained, his arms taut.
She finally took pity, wanting him inside her before he came.
“All good things come to those who wait.” Ashley straddled his hips, the silk of her nightgown tracing over his sensitive skin while he was bare beneath her.
“Now you know how I feel all those nights when you tie me up and take your time.” And she rose and slowly sank down onto the hard length of him. But then she didn’t move.
“Ashley, please—”
“Please what?” She rolled her hips deliberately, eliciting a groan. “Tell me what you want, Your Grace. Beg for it.”
The reversal of their usual dynamic made her head spin with power. This was what he felt, she realized. This heady control, the knowledge that she could bring him pleasure or deny it at her whim. That he trusted her enough to surrender completely.
“I want you,” Raven said, abandoning pride. “Please, Ashley. I need—”
“I know what you need.” She finally reached for the ribbons of her nightgown, untying them slowly. “And I’ll give it to you. But first, I have something to tell you.”
She felt him go still beneath her, even his breathing seeming to pause. “What is it?”
Ashley let the nightgown slip from her shoulders, pooling around her waist, before reaching up to remove his blindfold. She wanted him to see her face for this.
Raven blinked against the candlelight, his eyes adjusting, and then focused on her with that intensity that still made her breath catch. “Ashley? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” She smiled, letting joy bloom across her face. “Everything is perfect. Better than perfect.” She took his bound hands in hers, holding them despite the silk scarves. “Raven, I’m with child again.”
She watched the words register, saw shock give way to wonder, and then to pure, incandescent joy.
“With child? You’re certain?”
“I saw the physician today. If my calculations are correct—our baby will arrive just after Christmas.”
“Another baby.” Raven’s voice was thick with emotion. “Ashley, that’s wonderful. That’s—” He pulled against the bonds suddenly, frustrated. “Untie me. Please. I need to hold you properly.”
Ashley laughed, reaching to untie the scarves with shaking fingers. The moment his hands were free, Raven pulled her down against his chest, wrapping his arms around her despite his ankles still being bound.
“A baby,” he repeated, pressing kisses to her hair, her forehead, her cheeks. “Our third child. Oh, Ashley.”
“I’m hoping for a girl this time,” she admitted, her face pressed against his neck. “I love our boys desperately, but I’d like a daughter to teach all the things my mother never got to teach me.”
“A daughter.” Raven’s hand moved to her still-flat stomach, covering it protectively. “A little girl with your fair hair and determination. God help me, I’ll have three of you to manage.”
“You’ll be wrapped around her finger within moments of her birth,” Ashley predicted. “Just like you are with James and William.”
“Probably.” He didn’t sound at all concerned about this prospect. “When were you going to tell me? Or were you planning to reveal it while I was tied up and helpless?”
Ashley laughed. “I only got the confirmation today. And yes, I thought telling you while you were bound to our bed would be…memorable.”
“It’s certainly that.” Raven shifted, and she heard the leather cuffs creak against the bedposts. “Though now I’m rather restricted in how I can celebrate this news properly.”
“Are you?” Ashley reached down to free his ankles, making quick work of the buckles. “Better?”
The moment he was completely free, Raven rolled them over, pinning Ashley beneath him with gentle care. His hand remained on her stomach, protective and possessive.
“Much better.” He kissed her softly, reverently. “Thank you.”
“For what? I hardly managed this alone.”
“For making me happier than I ever thought possible.” His dark eyes were suspiciously bright in the candlelight.
“Five years ago, I was a broken man convinced I’d never love again.
Never feel joy again. Hiding a part of myself.
And now I have you, and our sons, and another baby on the way. Ashley, you’ve given me everything.”
“We gave each other everything,” she corrected, touching his face with wonder.
Even after five years, sometimes she still couldn’t believe this man—this wonderful, complicated, passionate man—was hers.
“That first night you trusted me with your scarves, with your desires… you gave me permission to be myself. To stop apologizing for my past and start living my future.”
“The lady who never behaves,” Raven murmured. “Thank God you don’t. If you’d been perfectly proper and obedient, we’d have never found this.”
“True. Though I seem to recall you rather enjoyed tying me up specifically to make me behave.”
“And you enjoyed it too.” His hand traced up her side, over the curve of her breast. “You still do, if tonight’s preparations are any indication.”
“I do,” Ashley admitted, arching into his touch. “I love when you take control. But I also love this—seeing you surrender to me. Trusting me the way I trust you.”
“Always.” Raven’s kiss was deeper now, more demanding. “I’ll always trust you, Ashley. With my body, with my heart, with everything I am.”
They made love slowly, carefully—Raven suddenly hyperaware of the precious cargo Ashley carried. She laughed at his excessive caution, pulling him closer and reminding him that she wasn’t made of glass.
Afterward, they lay tangled together, Raven’s hand still resting protectively on her stomach as if he could already feel their daughter growing there.
“Do you remember our wedding night?” Ashley asked softly. “How you didn’t come to my bed?”
“How could I forget? I was convinced I was doing the noble thing, protecting you from my darker nature.” Raven’s laugh was self-deprecating. “I was an idiot.”
“You were grieving. And afraid.” She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “But look at us now. Two sons, another baby on the way, and a love I never dreamed possible when we were forced to marry.”
“Forced to marry,” Raven repeated thoughtfully. “Strange how what seemed like a disaster at the time became the greatest blessing of my life.”
“Mine too.” Ashley snuggled closer, feeling safe and loved and completely content. “Though I do have another secret.”
“Other than you’re with child?”
She sat up and moved on him. “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
He gave a wicked smile. “Tease. But I love it when you tease me. Another Sisterhood secret?”
“Maybe.” It definitely was. The Sisterhood was planning another challenge. It paid to keep their men on their toes.
“I can keep a secret,” he promised. When Ashley merely smiled, he added, “I could always tie you up and tickle it out of you.”
“That’s not fair,” she squealed as he ran his fingers up and down her ribs where she was most sensitive.
His hand traced lazy patterns on her skin. “My proper duchess who likes to be tied to our bed. My scandalous wife who hosts society’s finest balls. My brilliant partner who’s given me more joy than I ever deserved.”
“We both deserved it,” Ashley said firmly. “After everything we went through—your grief, my scandal, all those months of careful distance—we earned this happiness.”
“We did,” Raven agreed. “And I intend to spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret marrying me.”
“I could never regret it. Marrying you was the best thing that ever happened to me, even if it took us a while to figure out how to make it work.”
They lay quiet for a moment, comfortable in the silence that only came from years of intimate knowledge of each other. Ashley felt herself beginning to drift toward sleep, warm and safe in her husband’s arms.
“Ashley?” Raven’s voice was soft.
“Mmm?”
“I love you. More than I thought it was possible to love anyone. You know that, don’t you?”
She smiled against his chest. “I know. And I love you just as much. Even when you tie me up.”
“Especially when I tie you up.”
“Especially then,” she agreed with a laugh.
As sleep claimed her, Ashley reflected on how far they’d come from that forced marriage five years ago. From separate bedrooms to shared intimacy. From careful politeness to passionate love. From society’s scandal to society’s darlings.
And now, with another baby on the way—hopefully the daughter she’d been hoping for—their family would be complete. Unless there was another baby or two down the road.
The lady who never behaved had found her happy ending after all. Not through propriety or obedience, but through trust and love and the willingness to be completely honest about who they were, silk scarves and all.
It was, Ashley thought as she drifted off to sleep in her husband’s arms, exactly the kind of improper, passionate, wonderful life she’d always wanted. And she’d found it…even if it had taken a scandal and an arranged marriage to do it.
The End