Last chapter, everyone! Oh my word. BUT, there will be an epilogue, so I'll hold off on final goodbyes. I'll try to get that out to ya'll as soon as I can. It may be a Christmas present, or a gift to ya'll on my birthday. Either way, you should have it by the end of the week.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A ring.

Mr. Haddock had given him a ring.

Blood rushed through his ears in steady whoosh-ing streams. With shaking fingers, he reached out and picked it up. Jackson twirled the cool metal between his thumbs and forefingers, tossing the now empty box onto his bed. He couldn't stop the smile that was curling his lips. He slipped it on his finger and watched it, studying it as it bent the light around his finger.

A ring.

He clutched his hand to his chest; his fingers traced the smooth shape.

A ring.

He ran from his room and slowed his pace at the top of the stairs. Reigning in the tumultuous emotions tumbling through him, he walked down and headed for the sitting room. He stopped in the doorway; his eyes meet green. "Mr. Haddock, may I speak with you?"

"Of course," he answered as he stood. With mumbled excuses and pardons to the others in the room, he left and followed Jackson down the hall, through the kitchen and out into the back garden.

The young man grabbed the gentleman's hand and pulled him down the well-worn paths to a small corner hidden behind knotted, bare branches. Once safely hidden away from prying eyes, he turned to face Mr. Haddock. A smirk curled his lips as he asked, "Should I take this as a marriage proposal?"

"A promise."

"Oh." Jackson swallowed the lump in his throat; it sunk into his stomach and dragged him down. He shouldn't have expected more: not with Mr. Haddock being a proper gentleman, with an image to uphold, and the immorality of it all. But..."How?"

"I do not know, but we can work it out. If you wish...I know it is not much but a promise. Public relations would not be condoned."

"This is only reserved for darkened bedrooms," he said, quoting Jenny's words from not so long ago. His eyes fell to the ground, studying the matted carpet of wet, brown leaves that covered the path.

Fingers gripped his chin and pulled his face up. "Look at me," Mr. Haddock pleaded softly.

Jackson raised his eyes from the ground to where his hand was still latched onto his coat sleeve. He picked at the dark fabric; his index ring traced small circles. He wondered if the gentleman could feel the movement through the fabric.

He sighed and his hand encompassed Jackson's, stilling his finger. He squeezed lightly. "I am not ashamed of my feelings for you. I am not ashamed of you. But I know the people I interact with; I know what people fear and isolate. I do not want them seeing you as any less because of me."

He looked up to meet his soft gaze. "What about you?"

Wincing, his eyes darted to the side. "My father's name prevents much harm to come to me. You would be faulted for everything. I cannot let that happened."

"Faulted?"

A small, lopsided smile curled his lips as he met his eyes. "You seduced me."

"Did I?"

"What do you think?" he asked sarcastically before sobering up. "I am not worried about myself; I just do not want you to be harmed because of me, because of us. I do not want anyone to know not because I want you as my secret, but because I fear what would happen if someone did." His voice cracked; he took a deep breath. "What is important is that you know how I feel and that...hopefully, I know that you feel the same."

The auburn haired man looked as if he was about to say more, but Jackson had enough of talking. That was all they had done but not now. Not. Now. He rested his free hand on the gentleman's hip and pulled him closer, bringing their lips together.

He stood rigid against him for a moment before his hand lifted off the young man's and cupped his neck instead, angling his head. Jackson smiled and brought the gentleman's arm around his waist before wrapping his own around his shoulders. His hand slid from Mr. Haddock's hip to his lower back and pressed the heel of his hand into the small nook. Too much time had been spent flitting around each other for him to not get the most out of this; he was going to submerge himself in this man, drown himself in his existence.

The other man responded eagerly, yanking him so close that his arm wrapped around all of Jackson's waist until his fingers could brush against his opposite side. His fingers whispered gently over his side before digging into the young man's flesh. He pushed him down while Jackson pulled him in. He took everything in, letting the man's essence swirl inside of him boiling his blood until it flushed his skin.

At some point, both of his arms had wrapped around the gentleman's neck so tightly that he held his own biceps to stay so close to him.

When they finally broke apart for air, they stayed a tangled mess of limbs and pressed bodies. The gentleman rested his forehead against Jackson's; his hot, muggy breath poured over his face, making it difficult to gather much oxygen from the already used air, but he wasn't going to complain. Breathing in the man had him getting dizzy. He licked his bruised lips.

"Well, Mr. Haddock-"

"Henry," he said.

"Hmm," he mumbled as an incoherent question.

"My name."

He smirked. "And what am I supposed to do with that?"

"Say it."

"Henry," he whispered.

The man's forehead pushed harder against his.

"Again," he requested in a hushed voice.

"Henry," he returned, equally as soft. Bumping their foreheads together, he said the gentleman's name once more before he leaned over and brought his lips back to the man's.

He hummed as fingers snaked into his hair and pulled him closer. The long appendages twisted and knotted his hair before loosening their hold to stroke through the strands and massage his scalp.

This kiss was lazier, less desperate, as they took the time to study and memorizes the curves of each other.

He loved it. While the other had been a raging fire, this was the sweltering heat of summer that filled every inch of you, seeping into your pores and latching onto your bones, as you laid back and relaxed into it. Summer had never been his favorite season, but perhaps kisses like this could change his mind. The heat smothering him and nestling him in its arms as it rocked him to sleep.

As Jackson pulled back, his eyes fell down to the scar on Henry's chin. His lips hovered over it for a moment before kissing it gently. "What happened?" he asked.

He laughed. "I was an over-eager and curious child who got too close to the new dog my father had brought home."

The young man hummed and kissed it again. Doing so was just as wonderful and fulfilling as he imagined it would be.

Henry's hand slipped from his hair and brushed against his lip. The pad of his thumb smoothed over the slim cut that was still etched there.

Jackson gave him half a smile. It was still too tender to do much else, especially after being ravished by the other man's lips.

"I cannot wait until this heals," the gentleman said gently. "I miss your smile."

"Do not worry. You will be seeing a lot more of it."

He took a shaky breath. "I can hardly believe it. I fear any moment I will wake up in an empty bed, and you are still no more than a distant thought I cannot hold close."

"You won't. As long as I am here, you will never wake lonely again," he said, tightening his grasp on the gentleman and burying his face in his chest.

"Neither will you, Jackson," Henry assured him, wrapping his other arm around his waist and pulling him close. He rested his face in the crook of Jackson's neck and shoulder.

"Jack," he breathed out.

The man's warm breath tickled as he whispered his name against his skin, but not as much as his lips when he placed a kiss against the sensitive flesh underneath his ear behind his jaw.