Give My Soul to Carol (To be read after Give My Heart To Kaitlyn)

Epilogue

Epilogue

Marston and Rose's guest room: Dakota Territories, 1880 (26 Years Later)

Duke listened to Carols' soft breathing as she lay sound asleep against him. He had been sleeping but dreams of the past had caused him to awaken. God what a fool he had been back then. To walk away from her, from this, he must have been out of his head.

Her soft body fit against his perfectly. Every inch of her was made for every inch of him. He could finish her sentences and he was sure she could hear his thoughts most of the time. And that was after mere days of reconciliation. His heart broke when he thought of what they could have had if he hadn't run away. Maybe he could have given her a child and just maybe their child would have made it. Maybe they would have had a home or maybe they would have just lived their lives on horseback, roaming from town to town and getting the most out of every single second they had.

He slipped from the bed and pulled on his trousers. Without buttoning them he walked over to the frosty window and looked out at the night. He hadn't deserved her forgiveness but that stubborn, loving woman had given it to him anyway.

He was so lost in his self hating thoughts that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt her arms wrap around his waist and her body press up against his back. Her lips kissed his bandage free shoulder and he trembled beneath her touch.

"Are you okay?" Carol whispered and he nodded as he covered her arms with his.

"Yes. For the first time in a long time I can say, yes I'm okay."

"You looked like you were pretty deep in thought." she said and he turned in her arms and kissed her forehead.

"Bad dreams."

"About?"

"A monster."

"What kind?"

"Me." he said softly and he saw her blue eyes widen in the moonlight. "There was an angel in my dreams too."

"I'm no angel, Duke." she countered and he smiled as he pushed some of her graying hair behind her ear.

"Who said I was talking about you?"

"Duke, I'm serious. You know the kinds of jobs I've had over the last couple of decades." Duke stiffened just a little.

"Yeah, I know." he replied as he closed his eyes. "But you're still an angel to me." he added as he opened his eyes and looked deep into hers.

"And you are my strong hero, Duke. You saved my life back then.. First at the wagon then from the Indians and the cliff….. But it was more than that. You taught me who I was. You gave me more in those few months together than I had ever experienced in my entire life."

"I don't deserve you." Duke said huskily as he hugged her as tightly as his broken shoulder would allow.

"No you don't, but you have me anyway." she replied with a teasing smile.

"I wasted a lot of time."

"That doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is the here and now, and right her and right now I'm the happiest woman in the world."

"I have a confession to make to you." Duke said as he led her back toward the bed.

"What's that?" she asked with a smile that deepened the lines around her eyes while it made their blue depths sparkle.

"Do you remember what you said to me while you were drifting off to sleep in the hotel room all those years ago?" He saw her frown and look down at his chest.

"Yes, I remember." she whispered. She hadn't said those words to him since they'd been reunited. Not a single time.

"There was something that I meant to say… Something I should have said."

"What?" Carol asked as she looked back up at him with a tear hanging from her long lashes.

"I love you, too."

A/N: There you have it; the end! You all know i couldn't end it on a bad note! I am far too much of a hopeless romantic to ever end a story on a bad note! Thank you all for reading! Now we'll move on to Langly's adventure!