My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 304

Delaney stared at her husband, unmoving except her eyes blinking against the light shining down from behind him.  She couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.  It was Vincent but not exactly the man she had been married to.  This was closer to the stunningly handsome face she had known before the war.

She got to her feet, staring at him with wide eyes.  It was as if the weeks of being so ill hadn’t happened.  He wore only a pair of breeches, the fabric like a second skin.  She took in the sight of the powerful muscles in his chest, shoulders, and arms.  Taking a step forward, she wondered if he was real.  Maybe this was only a dream.

He looked down at her nervously as she stepped up to stand before him.  Her eyes moved slowly over his body, taking in every detail she could manage.

At first, she had thought his scars were gone but now she saw they were still there, just a very faint red that was hardly noticeable.  They grew darker in a few places like on his chin and over his heart but nothing like they had been before.

His breathing caught as she reached out with a trembling hand and let her fingertips brush over his chest.  She felt a strange sense of relief when she found that his skin was still a bit warmer than anyone else’s, although nothing like it had been.  The only wound left that looked bad at all was the place on his abdomen where she had stabbed him with the tooth that had been stitched closed.

Her gaze moved up to his handsome face and the sight of him staring down at her so intensely caused butterflies to fill her.  She bit her lip and felt her heart thudding in her chest.

“Do I… Do I look alright?” he asked quietly, his voice giving away his nervousness.

“Have you not looked at yourself?” she asked in surprise.

He shook his head, dropping his gaze.  His wife smiled warmly at him, taking his hand in hers.  She gently pulled him to her dressing table.  The large mirror was gone but she still had the decent-sized one that sat there.

Delaney stopped far enough back that he would be able to take in the sight of himself from the waist up.  She let go of his hand and stepped out of the way so he would see only himself the first time he looked.  He kept his gaze on the floor though.

“Look up,” she giggled, “Look at yourself.”

“Delaney,” he said quietly, shaking his head, “I don’t know if… if I can.”

“Of course you can, my love.  You are the bravest man I’ve ever known.”

His eyes went to hers for a moment, her long chestnut locks free and hanging down around her face.  She gave him an encouraging smile and he could see how excited she was.

He dropped his gaze again, his heart pounding in his chest.  The last time he’d woken up after an encounter with a dragon’s tooth his reflection had been horrifying.  Vincent took a deep breath and then…

He looked up.

Delaney watched her husband’s face as he took in the sight of himself.  His mouth fell open in disbelief and she saw his eyes glisten.  With a trembling hand, he reached up and touched first his chest, and then his face.  He ran his hands over his cheeks, turning to look at her as he slowly shook his head.

“Delaney you… you did it,” he whispered, “The marks are all but gone and they don’t… they don’t hurt!”

“Really?” she asked, excited and relieved.

“Really!” he said louder before moving forward and sweeping her up in his arms, “You did it!”

Delaney laughed and clung to him as he spun around in circles, a deep chuckle rumbling in his chest.  She took his face in her hands as he lowered her to the ground again and she smiled lovingly up at him.

“Kiss me, wife,” he grinned, his eyes bright with his happiness.

She did as her husband commanded, her lips meeting his in a toe-curling kiss.  Burying her fingers in his hair and tasting the familiar sweetness of him, Delaney felt her head spin.

His fingers pressed into her skin with the thin fabric of the nightgown separating them.  As soon as he realized this he grabbed handfuls of it, pulling it up and over her head, only breaking their lips apart for a moment.  Vincent pulled his wife in against him and couldn’t remember her skin ever feeling so warm.  Maybe she felt warmer because he was less so.

When his hands slid over her waist and her pregnant belly they came to a sudden stop.

“Wait,” he whispered against her lips, “Wait I want to see you.”

Delaney wanted to protest, not ready to stop kissing him yet, but it was too late and he was stepping back, eyes on her.

A smile was on his lips as his eyes stared deeply into hers before they moved down, slowly taking in the view of her.  As soon as he did his face went slack and his eyes shot to random places on her body.  A frown began to crease his brow and worry bloomed anew in his eyes.

“W-What is it?” Delaney asked, stepping away from him in embarrassment and immediately snatching up the nightgown to try to cover herself again.

He grabbed her wrists in his own tight grip though and held them up, his frown growing.

“Vincent what is it?” she demanded before she let her eyes drop to her body as well.  As soon as she did she inhaled sharply and jerked her hands from his.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, “Oh my God…”

“What was the price, Delaney?” he demanded urgently, “What was the price for saving me?”

“I-I-I don’t know,” she shook her head, “This had never been done before so she said she didn’t know what the price would be.  She said she only knew it wouldn’t be death and it wouldn’t harm our baby.”

Vincent stepped back, running his hands over his face and through his hair, his chest rising and falling quickly as he began to panic.

“We’ll go to the city,” he said, “We’ll go to Helena and we’ll ask her to come up with a way to reverse the magic.  I would rather die of the poison than have it in you.”

“We can’t reverse it.  She told me there’s no… there’s no undoing it…”

“Then we’ll think of something else!” he said loudly, “We’ll do something.  I can’t… I can’t have the poison inside you, Delaney.  I can’t let it kill you.”

Delaney was quiet as she reached down and lightly touched her skin.  Scattered here and there were scars like Vincent’s.  They were the same shade of red as some of his darker ones.  She brushed her fingertips slowly over one on her hip.

It was a bit warmer than the skin around it but not by much.  She realized though that her skin, in general, felt a bit hotter than it had before.  It wasn’t raised like Vincent’s had been before the magic.  They also didn’t hurt her.  Delaney felt herself relax a little.

“I think… I think they’re just marks.”

Her husband paused, “What do you mean?”

“They’re warm but they don’t hurt and they’re not raised like yours were.  They’re not a dark red and they’re not all connected.  I think they’re just scars, Vincent.  I don’t think… I don’t think they’re poisoning me.”

He walked slowly back to her, kneeling on the ground in front of her he let his fingers brush over one that wrapped around her ankle and onto the top of her foot.  Then he moved to a longer one on the inside of her thigh.

When he stood he caught sight of something on her cheek.  Taking her face in his hand he turned it.  There was a scar running from in front of her ear down to her jaw.  When he let go and she turned to look at him again she saw the pain clear in his eyes.

He looked downward again.  She moved her hand so he could touch the one on her hip but he caught her hand in his.

Turning it over, she saw in the palm was a darker scar that looked like a webbed burst of lightning.  Delaney lifted her other hand and turned it over.  She smiled softly as she looked at the scars on both palms.  One was from saving her best friend’s life and the other was from saving her husband’s.  She never would have dreamed she could have been capable of such things.

“Delaney I’m so sorry,” Vincent whispered, “I’m sorry this happened.  I… I can find something to help take away these marks. I promise.  I…”

“Shhh,” she smiled fondly up at him before giving him a quick kiss.

“I’ve heard that scars are a sign of strength,” she said quietly, “I don’t think I ever really understood it until recently…

“I saw the dragon you faced.  He was huge and terrifying and… and I have no idea how you did what you did.  It was so brave.  You risked your life to save everyone else and then you had scars to show for it.  Now it seems obvious to me that you had all those scars because it was such a huge thing you did.”

Vincent was quiet and kept his eyes down on her hand.

“I like the scars,” she said to him, “I like that I will always have a reminder of all we’ve been through and all we’ve overcome.  I don’t want to try to hide them.  I don’t care who sees them just like I don’t care who sees yours.  They’re marks of our strength.”

A small smile curved his lips.  He reached out and ran a finger over the scar on her hip before moving his hand so he could hold it to her growing belly.  He looked up at her then with his gorgeous green eyes.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, his gaze moving over her face.

“You’re handsome,” she smiled, doing the same.

Delaney felt her heart swell.  At one point she had thought she would never be able to love him because of his scars.  Now she loved him even more with them and had gained some of her own.

Vincent turned with Delaney to face the mirror and they both looked at their reflections.  The handsome, scarred, Duke with his beautiful, scarred, Duchess.

The perfect pair.

He swept her up then and she giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  He stared into her sea-glass eyes and felt his love for her wash over him.  He carried her to their bed, sitting her gently on the sheets.

And then he kissed her.

The End.