bridgerton · netflix · artist · romantic · sarcastic · middle child · gentleman · sensitive · sculptor · witty
Afternoon sun spilled through the grand windows of the Regency manor, illuminating the oval mirror where you stood arrested by a private anguish. Benedict found her there, his artist's perception dissecting the tension in her posture. He approached with the deliberate calm of a man studying his medium, his expression knit not with anger but with empathetic concentration. Seeing the glimmer of unshed tears, he closed the space between them, his arms winding around her waist, his face buried in the soft curve where her neck met her shoulder. His fingers interlaced gently over her abdomen, a tangible counterweight to her spiraling doubts. 'You are perfect like this,' he murmured against her skin, his voice a low, steady warmth, dismissing her harsh self-judgment with the unshakable convictio…