My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 269

Vincent and Delaney spent their night in one another’s arms.  Her heart felt like it would burst with love for him and she was so happy that sometimes she couldn’t believe she was really there with him again.

He moved over her and her hands felt the warm skin of his back and the powerful muscles beneath it.  She kissed him with all the hunger and passion that had been building every day they had been apart.  Even when they would finish and collapse exhausted on the bed, he would pull her in against his chest and hold her there.

When they finally fell asleep they slept deeply and Delaney had relief from her painful dreams.  If she moved in the night it would wake up her husband and he would check to make sure she was still there and alright.  Both seemed to want to continue to touch the other to confirm they were real and this wasn’t just a wonderful dream.

–

Late the next morning Delaney slept draped over the hard, strong body of her husband.  He slept with his head turned away and an arm flung over his eyes to block out the light.

When Delaney finally woke up she smiled and felt her heart ache with joy.  She looked down at her handsome husband with the early morning sunlight washed over him and butterflies filled her stomach.

How had she woken up to this sight nearly every morning for a year and ever been able to do anything else but look at him?  He had to be one of the most beautiful creatures she’d ever seen.

Propping her head up on her elbow she studied his naked form with a sheet flung over his hips.  The puncture scars from the dragon’s teeth by his shoulder and on his abdomen seemed a darker shade of red than she remembered.  Her eyes traced the webs of scars coming off of them where they now ran all the way over his chest and were creeping over the other half.

She had noticed at some point the night before that the marks had now even begun to wrap around his waist and were creeping their way onto his back.  They were much thicker on his neck now too, encircling it like vines around a tree trunk.

Reaching out she let her fingers brush across them and was surprised by how hot they felt.  Had they always been so hot?  She sighed and felt sadness ease into her heart.  She had been away from him for so long she had forgotten things like this about him.  Closing her eyes she let her hand lay flat on his chest and worked to record in detail in her mind the way he felt beneath her.

Vincent shifted and she opened her eyes.  Looking up she found him watching her now with a sleepy smile on his face.

“If I died now and woke up in the afterlife I don’t know that I would find such beauty as I do when I wake up in our bed with you.”

Delaney blushed and giggled, dropping her gaze.  She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his chest.

“You’ve been very romantic since I arrived.”

Vincent chuckled and moved to look up at the ceiling, turning the more scarred side of his face away from her.  “I suppose I’m just happy to see you.  I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you,” she agreed, resting her head on his chest again and absently tracing the marks there.  “I forgot how hot these could feel.”

Vincent shifted uneasily beneath her and caught her hand in his, being careful with her bandaged wrist.  “Are you going to tell me how this happened?  Does it have something to do with why you weren’t wearing your dress when you got here?”

Delaney blushed and sighed.  She wasn’t eager to talk about all of this yet.  She wanted to enjoy just a bit more time with him where the troubles of the world were far away.  He wouldn’t be satisfied until she told him though so she took a deep breath and steadied herself.

“I fell out a window.”

“What?” he asked, turning to her in surprise, “What did you say?”

She bit her lip and looked down, “I… I fell out a window… At the card club.”

“You fell out a window?  How on earth did you do that?  Are you sure this is all that was injured?”

“Yes… I landed on my feet but fell forward and hurt my wrist then.”

Vincent frowned and considered this, “How did you land on your feet if you fell?”

“Because it didn’t start as a fall.  It started because I was jumping out of the window….”

“Delaney, what are you talking about?” he moved then to roll on his side and face her.  She laid on her back beside him and kept her eyes averted.

“I was trying to get away from Miles… he wouldn’t have let me leave if he’d caught me trying to leave out the doors so Constance and I pried one of the back windows open and I jumped out… Expect my skirt got caught and made me fall forward which is how I hurt my wrist.”

Vincent’s frown deepened, “Why were you trying to get away from Miles?  Why wouldn’t he have let you leave the club?”

Delaney swallowed hard, “Because… Because he knew I wanted to come here.”

Vincent was quiet then.  She waited for him to say something but he didn’t so finally she turned to look up at him.

“Are you… Are you angry?”

Vincent didn’t meet her gaze but his expression looked unhappy.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I just wanted to see you and he said I shouldn’t come here.  He never would have let me come here so I had to sneak out and that was the only way I could do it.”

“Delaney if… if you had to jump out a window to escape my brother because he was so serious about you not coming here don’t you think… don’t you think there might have been a good reason?”

She stiffened at his words and felt as if her body had gone cold.

“I-I knew he probably meant well but I needed to see you.  I thought… I thought you were happy to see me?”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face, “I am happy to see you but… but Miles was right.  You shouldn’t have come here and especially not in the middle of the night.  Especially not if you had to jump out a window and hurt yourself in order to come.”

Pain stabbed through Delaney’s heart and she felt her cheeks growing warm.  “I thought you would be happy to see me and I…”

“I am happy to see you Delaney but you coming here will only make things harder.  It will just break our hearts all over again when you have to leave.”

“But I don’t have to leave,” she said excitedly, “That’s why I came!”

Vincent frowned in confusion and watched as she hurried over and off the bed, pulling the sheet along with her.  She wrapped it around her and walked around the bed to her pile of clothes.  She had nearly forgotten their letters.  It took her a moment to locate them in the folds of her skirt but when she pulled them out she held them up to him with excitement.

“These,” she smiled, “These are why I wanted to come here and it doesn’t have to hurt us that I did.”

She handed them to him before climbing into the bed again and scrambling over to sit beside him.

Vincent studied the letters that were a bit damp but still in good shape.  He looked at the wax seals and recognized they belonged to the Queen and the King.  Delaney took hers from him and set it aside, pointing to his.

“It’s from Daniel,” she smiled, “He says we are to stay married.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because mine from Sophia says the same thing,” she giggled, “Open it and see for yourself!”

Her husband gently broke the wax seal and opened his letter.  Delaney waited anxiously as he unfolded and began to read it.

Slowly his gaze moved over the lines of words and she nervously watched his expression change from displeasure to confusion to something unreadable.  When he finished, he gently folded the letter back up and held it in his hands, staring forward at the wall in front of them.  He didn’t look happy as she had hoped for.

“What did it say?” she asked, “It said he wouldn’t break our contract, didn’t it?  It said we are to remain married and together.”

“Yes,” he answered quietly.

Now it was Delaney who frowned, “Why… Why do you look upset?  He said he won’t break our contract so that means we can stay together.”

“I know what it said,” he sighed, “But this letter doesn’t change anything.”

Her heart stopped, “W-Why?”

“Because Delaney you can’t stay here with me.”