Page 135 of Bound By the Duke

She then turned to her father and pressed a kiss to his weathered cheek. His eyes shone with quiet pride as he kissed her forehead in return.

They settled together on the blanket. The sun warmed their skin, their laughter echoing as plates were filled. It was as if everything was untouched by sorrow, their scars forgotten.

When there was a lull in conversation, Nora leaned closer to her sister.

“I heard something,” she whispered, her eyes darting around to make sure no one was overhearing. “Sir Edmund has vanished. He left for Scotland days after the incident… in a hurry. They say someone threatened him.”

Silence ensued.

For Aurelia, it was accompanied by a suspicion. Her gaze slowly slid to her husband. Nora followed it, and the sisters exchanged a look of understanding.

Though Percival knew why the ladies were watching him, his expression betrayed nothing. Only the faintest glint of satisfaction in his eyes. His lips curled into something between a smirk and a warning.

“Thatsomeone,” he said smoothly, “did the right thing. Making sure that the cad will never harm another lady. If anything, you should thank him.”

Aurelia’s lips curved. She knew him well enough, but she said nothing, letting her hand slide over his instead.

Later, when the picnic ended and farewells were made, she walked with Percival through the park. Just the two of them.

The sun had dipped lower, painting the sky in orange and indigo.

Aurelia stopped abruptly and looked up at him. “It was you,” she said simply.

Percival didn’t deny it. His only answer was a faint smile. Then, he leaned in and claimed her lips with a deep kiss.

When he pulled back, his voice was a low growl against her ear. “If anyone tries to hurt you again, Aurelia, I will not be so kind.”

Her breath caught. She stared into his blue eyes for a long moment. She couldn’t think of a more perfect time than this.

She leaned into his ear and whispered, “Good, because I wouldn’t want anyone to hurtourchild.”

Percival froze. His brows drew together. Confusion flickered across his face. But when he saw that shy, radiant smile of hers,he knew. When her eyes shimmered with a secret she no longer wished to keep, a gasp escaped his lips.

“Aurelia…” His mouth hung open, breathless.

His maskcrumbled.

“Yes.” She beamed, before pressing a hand to his chest, right over his thundering heart. “We’re going to have a child.”

The weight of those words cracked him open. He wasn’t sure of what to do or what to say. There were so many emotions to process. So he chose the only thing he could comprehend at that moment.

His arms wrapped around her, before lifting and spinning her. It coaxed her laughter, though her eyes were beginning to water.

When he set her down, his hands cradled her face as though she were the most fragile, precious thing in the world. He planted another kiss on her lips, trembling with joy.

“I will love you both,” he whispered against her mouth. “Forever. Until the end of time.”

Their kiss deepened slowly, sinfully. The kind of kiss that promised both passion and eternity. The world faded away—the trees, the sunlight—until there was only the two of them.

And so, under the same trees where fate had brought them together, in the park where their story began, the duke and duchess sealed their forever with a kiss that was more than a kiss.

It was the beginning of everything still to come.

The End?