He met Astrid’s amused eyes as she kissed their children good night and wished them sweet dreams. “We’ll be back soon, my darlings. Sleep well. Tomorrow night, we can read one of our old favorites,La Belle et la Bête.”
The old French tale of the beauty and the beast was a Harte family favorite for obvious reasons. Thane smiled and met his wife’s tender gaze from where she stood beside the bed. He couldn’t fathom that she loved him so much and that after seven years of wedded bliss, she still made his heart beat faster.
His own feelings for her had grown and matured, though she could still flay him with a word and make his body leap with the flutter of an eyelash. As was evident by the small mound of her stomach, it was nigh impossible to resist her charms. She was his brilliant, beautiful duchess—his wife, his love, the mother of his children, and his light in the darkness.
“Papa?”
Thane paused at the door. “Yes, Pippa bean?”
“My favorite part of the story is when Beauty is brave enough to tell Beast she loves him,” his daughter said shyly.
“That’s my favorite part, too,” he told her, his chest tightening with emotion as he gathered Astrid close. “As your very clever mama once wrote: Love is one part courage, one part choice, and one part luck. And like anything worth fighting for, it’s worth it in the end.”
