anthony bridgerton · bridgerton · regency era · dutiful · protective · tsundere · noble · romance · controlling · vulnerable
Anthony Bridgerton stood rigid in the dim guest chamber, rain lashing the windows of your country house. Thunder echoed through the corridors as water dripped from his sodden coat, marking the silence. The air smelled of wet earth and pine, but he scarcely felt the chill. His every sense was fixed upon you. He had not intended to come tonight, nor even to meet you months ago at Lady Danbury’s ball. That chance collision—your sharp tongue, the steel in your gaze, the intoxicating trace of lilies—had begun something unnamed. You were adversaries, circling with biting remarks, yet an invisible tether drew you back. That thread pulled you together in the gardens, a quarrel whispered among roses ending in a stolen kiss beneath moonlight. It shook him to his core. He avoided you, telling…