Author's Note: Greetings, everyone! I hope you're all recovering your sanity slowly but surely during the pandemic :-P So, I've been spazzing non-stop about Kate and Anthony's romance in Bridgerton 2 to anyone with ears for weeks and finally decided to put that spazzing to better use: with a short drabble. I fully confess that I haven't read the Bridgerton books and that this drabble is solely based on Kate and Anthony's interactions in the Netflix series. I apologise if anything is historically inaccurate in this story. My idea of 'ye old times' is anything that happened to me last week ;-)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the Julia Quinn book series or the Shonda Rhimes Netflix version of Bridgerton or the characters. If I did, there would've been as much Kate and Anthony smut as Simon and Daphne got in Bridgerton 1 ;-P

Kate woke with a tremulous gasp.

The storm was at its fiercest, trying its best to shake the very glass loose from the grand French windows.

Kate's eyes fell on her husband snoring softly beside her. The silken linen draped his lower body carelessly, leaving his chest on display. The chiselled muscles in his abdomen rose and fell rhythmically with every deep breath he took.

Watching him like this often produced the sweetest ache in her. Anthony Bridgerton was so strong and handsome, even in his sleep.

White lightning flashed against the velvet curtains, forcing Anthony into consciousness with a loud grunt. "Where is my mallet of Death?"

A fond smile tugged at Kate's cheeks while tracing light fingers over her husband's cheek. "It is safe with all the other mallets, my darling."

If not for the raging storm outside, it wouldn't have surprised Kate in the least if Anthony had actually risen simply to verify her words. Aside from the staff, it was just the two of them there at Aubrey Hall. After enjoying a rousing weekend of frivolity and shameless cheating at Pall Mall, Daphne had travelled back to Clyvedon Castle with little baby Augie while the rest of the Bridgerton clan had returned to their family home in the ton earlier that morning.

It still felt surreal to Kate to call herself the mistress of this vast estate. Emerald lawns and the tranquil woods seemed to stretch for thousands of acres beyond the illustrious mansion till they reached the horizon.

Unlike their turbulent courtship (much of which had comprised of Anthony first courting her sister Edwina), the early days of their marriage were proving to be unexpected bliss.

A bolt of lightning flashed through the room, illuminating the exquisite tapestries within. Anthony opened his bleary eyes a moment later. They landed on Kate's slender form, held in place by the subtle grace that coursed over her skin.

A sleepy grin settled on Anthony's face. "Kate." His dark eyes crinkled with worry when his wife couldn't meet his gaze, hugging herself tightly. "What is it, my love?"

"It is nothing. Go back to sleep."

But Anthony knew better than to take Kate at her word. Her smile was always so bright and her words far too soothing when she sought to conceal her true feelings.

He sat up in bed and laid a comforting hand on his wife's arm. "Kate…"

The raven-haired beauty shook her head, willing her stinging eyes not to moisten. "It is foolish."

Anthony scooted closer to his wife. "It is never foolish if you are troubled in spirit." He clasped her hand in his, grazing his lips tenderly over her knuckles.

"It is the storm, dearest. It unsettles me."

A memory flickered in Anthony's mind's eye of a tempestuous time just like this. When he had discovered Kate in the library there at Aubrey Hall many months before. And how a storm all its own had rumbled inside both of them that night as they fought to deny their growing passion for each other.

"You have told me this before. But you have never said why storms unsettle you so. Won't you tell me now?"

Kate sighed and surrendered to Anthony's warm touch as he sat behind her and held her in his arms.

"When we lived with the royal family in Udaipur, I loved to sneak out at night and catch fireflies." Kate paused momentarily, smiling in remembrance. "I would put the poor creatures in tiny wooden chests I carved myself."

"How very beastly of you," Anthony teased, rubbing his wife's shoulders as she continued her tale.

A taut lump rose in Kate's throat and only a heavy breath could chase it away. "One night, I went to catch fireflies in the palace gardens and was gone a long time. When I returned, the servants had locked all the doors and I was trapped outside."

Anthony's jaw tensed. "In the storm."

Kate nodded. She could no longer stop silvery tears from flowing down her cheeks. "The lightning chased me at every turn so I could not escape. It was absolutely frightening."

"Kate…" Expressing emotion of any kind was typically not Anthony's strongest suit. But ever since he'd met his brilliant wife, laying his heart bare had become as easy as breathing. He drew soothing patterns across Kate's arm, inwardly pleased when she didn't recoil. "What happened then?"

Kate smiled unexpectedly. It grew and gathered on her high cheekbones, transforming her features with its subtle radiance.

A real smile.

"My Appa found me. He couldn't sleep either and went to look in on Edwina and I. When he saw my empty bed, he guessed where I was and went searching for me. When he found me outside, wet and shivering, he took my hand and led me to the scullery. He boiled some milk in a saucepan and made me drink it so I wouldn't catch cold. Then he took me back to my room, dressed me in a dry nightgown and sat by my bedside till I fell asleep."

Anthony's brown eyes shone brightly at his wife's tale. "He sounds like a fine gentleman."

Kate smiled sadly. "He was. I wish Appa could've met you - he would've liked you."

"I hope so, my darling. It was rather vexing that I failed to make even a good impression on Newton the first time we met."

Kate giggled at her husband's silly logic. "Appa and Newton are very different, Anthony."

"Yet, equally intimidating perhaps."

"Newton is a dog!"

"And a churlish one at that," Anthony griped under his breath.

A crackling thunderclap sounded, making Kate yelp in fright. Her hand flew to Anthony's again, grasping so tight it began to bruise.

"It is alright, my love."

Anthony moved their clasped hands to his cheek, curling his other hand fiercely around Kate's lithe waist.

"It is just a storm. You are safe."

He buried his face in the dark waves of Kate's hair, finding his own comfort in the subtle scent of lilies which still clung to the loose tendrils.

His words and his soothing presence did what was needed. Kate's breath slowed and soon, the rhythm of her tremulous heart became a soft murmur once more.

"I cannot stop even the mightiest thunderclap. But my arms are always ready to hold you whenever you are frightened."

Just the sound of his husky tenor was enough to drive all thoughts of the storm far from Kate's mind. It took every ounce of restraint she possessed not to fling herself into his arms every time he was near her.

"You cannot protect me from the thunder every time."

Anthony's lips brushed resolutely over the curve of her cheek. "Of course I can. It is my duty."

Kate's heart swelled in her chest. "How did I not know before just how wonderful you are?"

Anthony gathered her in his arms once more. "You were most likely distracted by my pleasing smile."

Kate allowed herself a delicate eyeroll and a sardonic chuckle as her husband planted an affectionate kiss on her temple.

"I was distracted by your misguided self-adulation, my lord."

"Not quite so misguided if it won your heart in the end." Anthony traced his lips over Kate's collarbone, making her tremble beneath him.

Kate bit her bottom lip in ill-concealed pleasure, her hand cupping the back of her husband's head. "Oh, how you vex me so, Anthony."

"As you vex me in turn, my viscountess."

Kate finally had enough. Anthony's brief look of surprise vanished when she turned suddenly in his arms and melded their lips together.

Every kiss they shared was a swirling inferno: the frenzied fervour of two celestial beings colliding and uniting.

Kate let out a moan when Anthony pressed her firmly against him, till there was no escaping his desire. It seared through her skin, incinerating any traces of doubt. It irked and pleased her all at once, knowing she had this effect on him, as he did on her in turn.

He was like the storm: powerful and alarming her senses in unimaginable ways.

They had already made love earlier that night till the last candle in their bedroom had died and cooled. And yet, it was never enough. Kate couldn't ever imagine a time in the future where she wouldn't burn for Anthony as she did now.

"Anthony…" Kate breathed, feeling her body being carried away on the wings of her own sweet rapture. "I love you."

Anthony in turn smiled wondrously, overcome by the mere fact that he had finally obtained the object of all his desires. He inhaled Kate's lilied scent once more, planting a bruising kiss on her shoulder. "And I you."

In the midst of their rapturous embrace, another thunder clap, far mightier than its predecessors, sounded in alarming proximity.

Most surprisingly of all was the girlish scream that had escaped Anthony's lungs just moments before.

"It is far from amusing!"

Kate's laughter disavowed that notion entirely, her whole body seizing up with the effort. "Sadly, we are in disagreement in this regard, my viscount."

Anthony cleared his throat awkwardly. "Perhaps…we should send for Newton…to ensure he is not alarmed by this foul weather."

Kate tittered ever so slightly at her husband's discomfiture. "Perhaps we should. He is generally amiable during foul weather, but this storm would make the most stoic of pups disconcerted."

"I concur. We - I mean, he, should not be left alone in this monstrous storm."

Kate smiled widely at Anthony's nervous glance towards the windows lit up by ominous flashes of lightning. She turned his cheek back towards her with a feathery touch and kissed him sweetly.

"Don't worry, dearest. I too shall protect you from the mighty elements," she declared.

Anthony cleared his throat again. "Quite unnecessary, though I am obliged to you for your thoughtful consideration."

"It is truly a delight to tease you."

"I am a gentleman, Kate. Bridgerton men do not succumb so easily to such childish diversions." Anthony huffed, looking thoroughly put out.

"Is this then so very childish?" Kate's brown eyes darkened, her fingers making their devilish descent over her husband's form.

Anthony sucked in more breath than what was necessary. "You are going to be the death of me, Kate…"

"Not just yet…" Kate promised, laying tantalising kisses across the sharp lines of Anthony's jaw.

The thunder boomed and crashed violently once more.

"Oh, hell!" Kate cursed in fright.

"Send for Newton at once so he may protect us!"

Author's Note: Admittedly, Anthony's reaction to the storm came out sillier than I initially intended. In my defense, I feel like Jonathan Bailey would've played Anthony exactly like this in a similar situation :-P I apologise for the lack of smut for anyone who broke down the figurative Aubrey Hall mansion doors just for it. I was trying to show some restraint and focus solely on the peaceful moments in Kate and Anthony's married life.

Well...somewhat peaceful as there was a monstrous storm :-S

I hope you all liked the story behind Kate's dislike of storms and a tiny peek into life with her beloved Appa :-)

I'd better stuff some food in my mouth now, and try not to obsess about Kate and Anthony's romance (and naturally fail at the latter). Thanks so much for reading - stay safe during the pandemic. Pip pip, cheerio!