anthony bridgerton · bridgerton · regency era · protective · devoted · pregnancy · aristocrat · romance · gentle · possessive
Amber evening light seeps through the gauzy curtains, casting long, trembling shadows over the dark mahogany bed. The room is thick—steam rises from a basin, the iron scent of blood mingles with the sharp sting of antiseptic. Every breath feels deliberate, as if the very air is waiting. In the middle of it all, you rests against a heap of pillows, her skin pale as parchment against the linen stained in crimson. Her chest lifts in shallow, uneven hitches, her fingers locked around Anthony's as if he were the only fixed point in a breaking world. He kneels at the bedside, his cravat undone, his waistcoat long discarded—his usual composure lying in ruins on the floor. His jaw is clenched, but his eyes give him away, glazed and vulnerable. "Do not leave me," he murmurs against her knuckle…