Page 85 of Bound By the Duke

Her gaze was already locked on the small figure charging toward them like a firestorm of joy.

Lottie skidded to a breathless stop before them and threw herself straight into Aurelia’s arms. “Mother,” she murmured, content.

Without hesitating, Aurelia wrapped her arms around the child, laughing as well. Then, she spun the girl around as though she had been waiting her whole life for that moment.

“Oh, my darling girl,” she breathed, her voice breaking with joy. She buried her face in the child’s hair, kissing her again and again. “I missed you. I missed you so terribly.”

The little girl clung tighter to her. “It wassoboring without you.”

Aurelia laughed again, the sound husky, relieved and aching all at once.

As the excitement grew between them, someone stood silently behind.

Percival.His eyes were locked on them, like someone beholding something unreal.

He couldn’t believe it. His daughter, who had always kept her distance from adults, had freely pressed her cheek against Aurelia’s shoulder, secure and unafraid.

And Aurelia…

She looked like something sacred. Like she washis. Like a woman who could tear him apart if he let her in.

She was a duchess, yes. But beyond that, she was always a thing he would never touch without burning.

And still, he wanted to burn.

God, hewantedit.

“And Sophia?” Aurelia murmured, swaying gently with the child in her arms. “Did she keep you in line?”

Lottie made a face, her nose wrinkling in mock betrayal. “Sophia’s too strict.”

Aurelia let out a dramatic gasp. Then, she laughed and tucked a stray curl behind the girl’s ear. “I will tell her you said that. Though between us, I don’t doubt it.”

When they shared another laugh, Percival once again felt the urge to smile. It tugged at the corners of his mouth before he could even control it.

His teeth sank into the inside of his cheek, but he was quick to swallow.

He told himself that he was not allowed to smile like that. Not over something so close to bliss. Because if he let himself fall into that feeling, there would be no crawling out.

Most essentially, he didn’t think he deserved it.

“What about Sir Whiskerton?” Aurelia asked, her eyes scanning the lawn.

As though he understood, the cat appeared, dashing across the grass with his tail high, meowing his indignation at being left behind.

Lottie giggled, breathless. “Even Sir Whiskerton missed you!”

Aurelia knelt down to gather the feline into her arms. She nuzzled him, closing her eyes. “Oh, my knight,” she whispered. “Did you guard the manor while I was gone?”

The cat purred like a creature in paradise. And Percival could barely stand it. Or perhaps that was his denial.

He continued to watch them, Aurelia with the cat in her arms and Lottie pressed against her side. The sight made something dangerous curl low in his belly. It stirred a particular feeling he had never expected to experience. Not in his bleakest hopes. Not in his darkest nights.

And now that it was real, now that he could feel it, he realized he wanted it. This family.

More than breath. More than control. More than the distance he had so carefully maintained between them.

He wanted to feel the warmth, too. He wanted Lottie to be so carefree around him as well. So he decided to speak.