Her heart swelled in her chest, the feeling that she might float away. She had known how he felt, but to hear it said out loud… that was something else entirely.
“Well?” he asked, nervous again. “Do you… what do you…”
“I did not leave last week because I hate you, Edward. I did not leave because I did not want to see you again. I left because I did not see a future where you would ever admit how you felt. You were just so determined to bring down Lord Grundon that nothing else mattered. Me especially.”
“That is no longer the case,” he said quickly.
“I know it,” she said with a warm smile. “Just as, unlike you, I know how I have always felt. It did not come right away. Even I fought it for a time. But…” She laughed and shook her head. “I suppose we are both new at this.”
“Does that mean…” Hope took his face.
“Yes,” she said. “I love you, Edward. And of course, I will come back. Only this time, do not expect me to leave again –”
He didn’t allow her to finish.
Having heard enough, Edward pulled Celestine forward into a kiss that she could tell as soon as their lips met had been on his mind for… well, likely since he saw her in the garden earlier. Funny that, as Celestine had thought the same.
Their lips met. Their bodies came together. Her hands on his waist, his on her face. It was not a hungry kiss, the type that saw their tongue dance and play. Rather, it was a kiss done to seal their confessions of love, and to show one another the truth in it.
And that kiss… it lit a fire inside of Celestine that she so desperately needed. For over a week, she had been miserable, broken, wondering if her life as she knew it had come to an end. But that single kiss dismissed such concerns, and she felt alive as she never had before.
Slowly, Edward pulled away, but he kept his hands cupped around her face. A smile on his lips, one that she matched.
“Now, I know I said that I did not marry you purely for my carnal desires, but…” He grinned.
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do you really think that now is the time?”
“I did promise to make up for what I did, did I not?” he said, still grinning. “What better time to start than now?”
Celestine breathed in deeply as she felt that fire roar to life. It spread across her body, down her thighs, and touched at her soul. Yes, she loved Edward, and their marriage was about so much more than passion and lovemaking. But that did not mean that such things needed to be totally ignored…
“You best get to it then,” she said with a wicked smile. “Lest I change my mind.”
In response to that, Edward took her hand and led her from the drawing room. And Celestine followed, her heart full, her excitement peaked, and blessed with the knowledge that as good as tonight had already been, it was only going to get better.
As would the rest of her life.
Epilogue
FOUR MONTHS LATER…
“Is something the matter?” Edward came in behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the neck.
“Oh… I did not…” She moaned from his soft kisses. “I did not hear you come in.”
“You were a little distracted,” he chuckled as he pulled his lips away. “Although, in your defense, I am often distracted by the same.” He indicated the mirror she stood before. “You look beautiful, Celestine.”
She scoffed. “I better. I have spent all afternoon getting ready.”
“And yet it took me only twenty minutes.”
In the reflection, Celestine looked flatly at her husband. “Perhaps next time you can wear the gown and I the suit? See how you like it.”
“But it looks so good on you…”
She laughed softly, and still with his arms around her, Celestine went back to check her reflection. She wore a gown of silver and black, tight around the body and legs, with no straps so her shoulders were bare. And while Edward thought that she had never looked so good, the expression on Celestine’s face suggested differently.
She pulled at the waist of her gown as if trying to stretch it.
