Carol's body was still sore and the hot water of her bath had stung terribly on her cuts and scrapes. She wrapped her blanket tight around herself and she stood before the fire. She had asked the women who had brought her the bath water to find her some clean clothes to put on but they hadn't shown up with them yet.

Carol walked to the full length mirror in the corner and stared at her reflection. She had scrapes across her cheek and she pulled the blanket back enough to see the bruise and deep gash on her collarbone. Her entire body looked this way. Bruises covered her stomach and cuts lined her legs.

She had very nearly died today and if not for Duke she would have. But she had lost the baby… She hugged herself tight and wiped away a tear. It was not the first time this had happened to her. As a matter of fact she had lost every child she had ever carried. Ten- eleven now- she had lost before her stomach had even had time to begin to round and three she had lost after they'd been born.

Two had died as babies but her tiny Olivia had lived to be five before the fever had taken her. Yes Carol Brown knew a thing or two about loss. Somehow though this loss hurt in a new way than the other losses of her unborn children had. Perhaps it was because this child had been created out of love… God knew she loved that rugged outlaw.

She crossed the room slowly on her sore legs and pulled her angel figurine from the pocket of her dress.

Tears filled her eyes as her heart broke in half when she realized that the wings had been snapped off… No doubt they had broken when she had fallen over the ledge. She let out a loud wail of pain and anger. Anger that this was happening to her. She had lost her baby and now she had lost the one reminder she had of her dead daughter.

The door flew open and she gasped when Duke barged in with his gun drawn.

"What are you doing?" she gasped as she grabbed at her heart in hopes of slowing it down.

"I heard you cry out… I thought someone was hurting you." he replied awkwardly as he slid his gun back into his leather holster. Carol shook her head.

"It's just my heart…" she replied sadly. "It's broken." She looked away from him and down at the broken angel in her hands as she moved to the bed and sat down on the edge of the feather tick mattress.

"Yeah well I was just coming to…."

"I've had this angel for a long time." Carol said interrupting him. Duke felt an urge to go to her when he heard the sadness in her voice but he fought it. He was leaving after all. "It was a gift from my daughter when she was five."

"I didn't' know you had a daughter." Duke replied, finding that his voice had a mind of its own.

"I don't." she said as she stared down at the wingless angel in her hands and wiped away a tear. "She died when she was five, only a few months after she gave me this. In total I have lost fourteen children… Fourteen! Of course eleven of them were never born and the other three I just didn't get to keep very long."

Duke lost all control of his body as he moved across the room and took a seat beside her. He wrapped his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Aren't angels supposed to have wings?" he whispered and she nodded as she sniffed.

"It broke when I fell today…"

"I'm sorry." Duke mumbled though the words shocked him. He had never uttered them before in his life.

"Sorry for what?"

"For having you on that ledge… Carol if I had known I never would have had you out there…" he laid his hand over her stomach while fighting to swallow around the emotion clogging his throat.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Carol replied softly. "I just didn't know how." Duke reached out and took the angel from her hands.

"I'll get you another one I promise." he vowed, all earlier plans to leave her forgotten.

"It can't be replaced" she countered with a shake of her head. He offered her a small half smile and pushed her wet hair behind her ear.

"I'll get you another one just the same."

Carol's heart caught in her throat when she looked into his dark eyes. Love.. She saw love. He looked at her so tenderly. He had never looked at her that way before. His hands were gentle as they cupped her face and his lips as soft as velvet as they passed over hers in a touch as soft as a whisper.

"Are you hurting?" he asked gently, his thumb tracing the cut on her cheek.

"Yes." she managed to gasp. "My whole body hurts." She felt her body tremble as he slid the blanket from her and laid her down. He stood and removed every article of his own clothing and Carol wanted to argue. Her body couldn't handle the rough way he liked to make love right now. She was hurting and sore…..

But all arguments died on her lips when his mouth gently began to kiss every single cut, scrape and bruise on her skin. His hands were as gentle as velvet as they massaged her sore muscles and took away the aching in her bones.

He braced himself over her and was looking deep into her eyes as he slid inside of her. Carol felt a tear slip down her cheek as he pressed gentle kisses along her temple and jaw. His every movement was slow and easy. Gentle and soft. It was tender but strong and she knew her heart would forever be his.

She felt him stiffen as she herself went over the edge and she was faintly aware of him calling out her name. He had never done that before. He continued pressing gentle kisses against her shoulders and hair as he moved off of her and laid down beside her. He pulled her body against his and buried his face in the dark waves of her wet hair.

Carol reached down and grabbed the blanket covering them both. She felt fatigue sinking into her deliciously sated body. Duke chuckled when she yawned.

"Tired?" he asked and she nodded as she snuggled against him. "Go to sleep then."

Carol felt her eyelids growing heavy and knew that she was going to be falling asleep very soon.

"I love you, Duke." she whispered as she drifted off.

Duke felt as if he'd just been punched in the gut. She loved him? Him! A no good, rambling, murdering thief who had been determined to leave her not too long ago.

Fear clawed at him again. It was like a wild animal raging to get out. Trapped. He was trapped. She loved him! He had just made love to her… Not bedded her. Not laid with her. Not any of the things he had done before with any other woman. No he had made love to her. It had been tender and amazing and it could NEVER happen again. Being soft.. Falling in love… Risking so much of himself to this woman was not something he could do.

Curly had taught him well and Duke had forgotten for awhile but he wasn't forgetting anymore. Falling in love, settling down, having a family… those were all things for weak stupid men, not a man like him. He would never be that kind of man.

He waited until she was sleeping and slid out of the bed. He quickly pulled on his clothes, ignoring the ache in his chest and the hole in his stomach. Why had she had to say she loved him and ruin it all? He grabbed his saddlebags and then paused at the door. He sighed as he removed his sack of money and tossed it on the table. She would need that. Without another backward glance he walked out and closed the door silently behind him.

888

Carol knew something was wrong the moment she opened her eyes and Duke wasn't around. The sun was already beginning to rise out the window and the room felt cold…. It felt as if she had just lost something very very important.

She stood quickly and wrapped the blanket tight around herself as dread settled deep in her stomach. There was a dress lying of the chair and she knew the ladies must have been in the night to give it to her. But where was Duke?

That was when she saw the leather sack on the table. Duke had always kept his money in that sack. She grabbed it in a shaking hand and opened the tie around it to see that it was indeed full of money. In that instant she knew…. She knew that if she went to the livery his appaloosa would not be there. Duke was gone.

Carol fell to her knees on the floor as she stared in disbelief at the bag. How could he do this? How could he just leave her? How could he just abandon her? She loved him! She needed him! And he loved her too, she had seen it in his eyes as they'd made love last night.

Sobs wracked her body as she thought back on all of her time with Duke. She would never be the same now that she had known him. She was forever changed. Surely as much as she loved him and with the amount of love she had seen in his eyes last night he would come back to her. She just had to stay here and wait for him….. He would realize his mistake and come find her.

And if he didn't…. If he didn't then there would be a tiny piece of her that she would never get back because she had given it to Duke that day at the wagon all those months ago.

888

Duke tried to tell himself the pain he was feeling had nothing to do with the woman he had just left behind. The sun was dawning and it was a new day. From now on he was going to be different. He was going to go back to living the way he had before Carol, only now he would be even more soulless than he had been before.

He told himself this was because he had once again turned off and buried his heart but he knew that wasn't the truth. The truth was he would be soulless from here on out because he had lost his soul. He had given it to Carol the second that he had looked into her icy blue eyes.

He pulled his hat low and continued on his way. He had almost thrown away his freedom… He would never make that mistake again.

A/N: And now we can see the reason duke was so jealous of marston when Marston found Rose... At first Duke had been happy that Marston had left Rose and hee didn't care about the woman but then Marston did what Duke hadn't been able to bring himself to do... Marston had gone back to the woman he loved. Dukes fear and the mantra that Curly had constantly taught him proved to be too much for him to overcome. There will be an epilogue and then this story is complete. I hope you all have enjoyed it so far :)