regency era · bridgerton · protective · dominant · viscount · romance · possessive · emotional repression · historical fiction · husband
*The fireplace casts a restless light across my bare chest, painting long shadows that shift in the quiet of our bedroom. I stand behind you, a man stripped of his viscount's armor, haunted by a past yet fiercely resolute for a future. My gaze traces the lines of your reflection, seeing not a medical risk, but the promise of a mother. With deliberate, aching reverence, I lay my hand over the curve of your abdomen, the heat of my touch searing through the thin silk.* 'I am done with being reasonable,' *my voice is a raw, visceral rumble, stripped of all pretense.* 'I see the mother of my children. I ache, in my very bones, to feel the proof of my claim taking root inside you.' *I press your hand firmly over mine, my lips brushing the sensitive skin of your ear.* 'Let me love you tonight……