Chapter 752

He lowered his head and captured her lips.

Briony's eyes flew open. She pressed her arms against his chest, pushing again and again, but it was useless.

Pinned against the door, she was kissed until she was breathless, her legs turning to jelly.

It wasn't until she accidentally bit him...

They both froze. A muffled chuckle escaped the man's throat.

Briony stared at the bead of blood forming on his lower lip. She bit her own lip, her voice soft and a little hoarse. "You're bleeding."

Stewart raised an eyebrow. "That excited, are we?"

Briony glared at him, flustered and annoyed. "It was you! You..."

She was too embarrassed to even say it.

She covered her eyes with her hand, unable to look at him. "Stewart, you need to calm down."

Stewart glanced down at his own... predicament.

He cleared his throat. "Bryn, we've been apart for almost five years."

Briony froze.

After a moment, she lowered her hand and murmured, "Yeah. Five years have flown by."

Time really waits for no one.

"I haven't been with any other woman besides you."

Briony was silent.

The sudden turn in conversation left her momentarily speechless.

Stewart leaned in, his hot breath brushing against her ear, his voice low and husky. "You know how I am. I've always had trouble controlling myself around you. And after so many years of abstinence, it's inevitable that I'd lose control. I hope you can bear with me, hmm?"

Briony was speechless.

"Behave yourself," she said, utterly exasperated as she tried to push him away. "If we're going to talk, let's talk properly."

Stewart's lips curved into a sly smile.

With the children still awake, he knew he couldn't really do anything to Briony.

But after being separated for so many years and finally having this moment, as a man, he was finding it difficult to control himself.

He knew, however, that they still needed to have a proper conversation.

With that thought, Stewart took a step back, his gaze warm and steady as he looked at her. "Bryn, let's talk."

Briony retracted her hands and pointed to the small balcony off the master bedroom. "Let's talk out there."

The night sky was clear, dotted with countless stars.

Crystal and Marlene were in the backyard playing with the three children.

The sound of their laughter was like beautiful music.

Briony sat down in a wicker chair on the small balcony.

She waited, but the man standing before her didn't move.

Briony looked up at Stewart and patted the empty space beside her. "Come sit."

"Bryn.” Under her gaze, Stewart bent down and knelt before her on one knee.

Briony looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, I'm not proposing."

"..."

." It wasn't like she was thinking that.

Stewart took her hands in his, his dark eyes gazing deeply into hers. "I know you're not ready to fully accept me back yet. I'll wait for you. I'll wait until you're truly ready, until you're willing to take me back as your husband. When that day comes, I'll give you a formal proposal and a grand wedding."

His words moved her.

But, as Stewart had said, she wasn't ready.

"Stewart, we've known each other for ten years. Five of those were spent in a secret marriage, with moments of sweetness and warmth, but also love, hate, and suspicion. "I once thought we were done for good."

Briony looked at him, her expression serious, her voice soft. "During the time you faked your death, to be honest, had regrets. Even though I didn't think I was saving my heart for you ther maybe it was because! had loved you so completely in those five years that it drained all the love I had. I even thought I would never love anyone again in my life.”

Stewart listened, his heart clenching with a dull ache.

Those unbearable memories were likely something Briony would never forget.

Perhaps she still woke from nightmares, in pain.

He was filled with remorse.

He understood that the Bryn who had loved him so fiercely and sincerely was a woman he himself had lost.

The Briony of today had grown. She would likely never love him as unconditionally as she had before.

But that was okay. For the rest of their lives, it would be his turn to love her unconditionally.