Page 70 of A Duke, a Virgin and a Baby
“Sentimentality is not really your strong suit.”
The calmness in Seth’s gaze evaporated almost immediately.
“I will push you down a flight of stairs, bastard.”
“Ah, do with me what you will, but I draw the line at anything that would upset my wife. She is expecting me back early in time for dinner tonight,” Julian warned, only half serious.
“How is it I am the one to be wed, yet you are the one who has seemingly embarked on your honeymoon?” Seth questioned with a shake of his head.
“Not the honeymoon. Not yet. But I cannot deny that everything has been… pleasant, thus far.” Julian cleared his throat as he gathered some of the important documents he would need to return to the estate with.
Pleasant was a weak understatement.
Julian was the happiest he had ever been. His heart was constantly full, and his arms always warm from the way his wife lovingly cuddled into his side. He had never known such love, had never known that he really could have the kind of happiness that was usually reserved for fantastical stories within a book.
Yet, every morning for a week, he had woken up with his wife snuggled in his arms. He never knew he could feel so blessed until he leisurely attempted to count the freckles along the bridge of her nose, smitten by every single dot that reminded him of stars in the sky.
He had developed a habit of falling in love with her, again and again. Each little action she did, every time she flashed a smile at him, he felt his heart swell with appreciation and awe. It was slightly concerning to the point that he had begun to wonder if perhaps he was falling ill with how strange he felt.
But then he realized that in the past, he would have done all that he could to keep her at arm's length and bury each andevery notion of her that occurred within him. Suddenly, Julian was learning that it was perfectly all right to receive love and return it in the same breath. His world did not end as he had once assumed it would when he told his wife that he loved her, but rather, it grew and became whole when she returned the sentiment.
He knew it was obvious just how deep his feelings for his wife ran, and he was proud of it.
“I am glad to hear it. I am glad that we are both leaving what we had known behind, and we are focused on our future. No matter what, we will leave those awful days behind and charge into the future together. We deserve that much.” Seth told him, his blue eyes filled with conviction.
Julian nodded, patting his brother on the back fondly.
“We do. And we will get all that we deserve and more.”
About an hour later, Julian said farewell to his brother and made his way back home, eager to see his wife.
It was strange how he could barely tolerate the idea of being away from her nowadays. He already believed that he must have been possessed to have kept her confined for two days to their chambers after he had admitted his feelings for her.
In fact, the only reason he had left his home today was because Seth had expressed an interest in getting ahead of the processof learning to fulfill his role in the family business. With his wedding around the corner, Julian’s brother wished to have all his affairs in order, so that he might begin to work immediately after his honeymoon.
“I’ve already missed so much of his life,” Seth had sighed, when Julian arrived at the house that he had given to Seth. “I have neglected him – although that wasn’t intentional. And now, I must make things right and ensure that he wants for nothing. The best way to do that right now is to prepare to provide for him.”
Julian felt as though there could be no limit to how proud he was of his brother. Seth had continued to mature, now that he had discovered what was more important to him than anything else, and he was choosing his love and his responsibility above all else, and Julian was prepared to help him through each path his journey would take him through.
And so, the desperation and need that threatened to consume him whenever Anna was not in his sight was a mystery he was not sure he cared to solve, but rather an occurrence he was willing to easily accept.
He knew what the cure to the momentary illness of need was, and that was all he required.
Returning home filled him with immense joy, especially when he walked into the foyer of the house and caught sight of his wife peering down at him from the top of the stairs.
He proceeded to eliminate half of the distance before he opened his arms up to greet her, smiling at how giddy she was as she made her way to him.
When her body collided with his and he inhaled the sweet scent that clung to her skin and hair, he felt his muscles relax. Because at last, he was home.
“My love,” he smiled down at her. “Have you been well?”
Anna giggled, cupping his face gently with her hands. “You ask as though you have been away for days, when it was merely a few hours.”
“Well, they were quite torturous, without you. So I might as well have spent an eternity out of your grasp,” Julian grumbled, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
A red blush spread over her cheeks, and Julian marveled at the sight, caressing the red stain with his thumb.
“Oh, my poor darling,” Anna tsked, the corners of her lips quirking upward slightly. “There, there. You’ve returned, and that is all that matters.”
