Me and My Husband [Anthony Bridgerton}

18

"What?" Brynlee twisted her body as she searched for whatever frightened him, "What are you talking about? What is wrong?"

"Just don't move."

Brynlee gave him a perplexed look and finally saw the bee on her dress, "Oh. It's just a bee." She just smiled in relief, "Goodness, you had me frightened for a moment."

Anthony caught her hand before she could swat it, "I said don't move."

"Anthony-" She just laughed, "It's just a little bee."

He could barely hear her. His focus was on the bee. He had never been so paralyzed with fear. He had never been stung by a bee before. "Just be quiet... We're going to stand- slowly. Then we're going to walk away."

"Why are you reacting in such a way?" Brynlee demanded, "It's just a bee, if you would just stop-"

"Don't."

"Anthony." Brynlee said sternly, "It's not going to kill me-"

"It might."

"What?" She froze. Brynlee just stared at him. He looked like a man possessed. "Anthony, let go of my wrist right now."

She pulled but he did not release her.

"Anthony! Stop this right-"

Brynlee was finally able to pull her hand away from him and tumbled back into the bench. She cursed as she hit the stone. And then the bee stung her.

"Ow-" She winced a bit and glanced down at the sting on her chest. "Gosh, Anthony, look what happened now. If you had just listened to me everything would have been fine. Now even my gown has been torn. You-"

Anthony gripped her shoulders, his face so pale it was practically white. "Oh, my God-" His voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes then locked with her own, "Can you breathe?"

"Anthony, what- I'm fine." Brynlee pressed, "I am fine."

"You-" Anthony stared at the sting. Something in him just snapped and he leaped forward. One hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and the other slipped behind her waist to pull at the gown to reveal more of what he thought was a wound.

"A-" Brynlee gasped loudly, "Stop!"

But he said nothing as he pressed her down into the bench. He continued to hold her dress down. Despite her calling out his name multiple times, he did not hear her, or if he did, he simply ignored her. He was crazed, frantic, and completely heedless of her protestations. His eyes were focused on the red, swollen circle of flesh on her chest, and with trembling hands he plucked the stinger from her skin.

"Anthony, you must stop-" She tried to raise her hands up and push him, but he suddenly cupped her breast. "What are you doing?"

"Expressing the venom."

"Venom?" Brynlee gaped as he pressed a handkerchief to her sting, "It's a bee sting."

"There must be something." Anthony pressed, "Something is killing you."

"No, Anthony, nothing is killing me. A bee sting cannot kill-"

"He'd been stung before." He suddenly said, interrupting her.

Something in his voice sent a shiver directly down her spine, "What? Who?"

"My father." He pressed more firmly against the raised hive, "My father and it killed him."

"A bee?"

"Yes, a bee-"

"Anthony, there-There is no way that a bee could have been the-"