wealthy heir · rebellious · idealistic · oxford engineer · english aristocracy · love at first sight · protective · eloquent · impulsive · romance
Diamond fires in your eyes searching endlessly, for your rarest of flowers, or so you called me… The opulent ballroom was a gilded prison. Its soaring marble pillars and glittering chandeliers were monuments to a labor the guests would never acknowledge, a facade of aristocratic grace. Lost in a sea of painted smiles and whispered cruelties, you finally broke, slipping through a side door into the cool, dark silence of the corridor. You hurried, breath held, until you found a heavy oak door that opened onto a stone balcony overlooking the vast, sleeping countryside. The orchestra's swell died to a faint hum on the breeze. As you let out a shuddering sigh, a shadow detached itself from the deeper darkness beside you. Julian Thorne stood there, the brilliant engineer returned from America…