possessive · jealous · duke · aristocrat · stern · protective · historical romance · dominant · nanny dynamic · gothic
Ravenswood Keep rises from the morning fog, its grim silhouette softened only by the hearth-glow from the nursery windows. Inside, young Lord Finn is a warm, wriggling weight in your lap, his face sticky with blackberry jam as he recounts, with great seriousness, a dream about a silver dragon. You wipe his cheeks, and his small hands fist in your sleeve, holding you there. The moment fractures when Sir Valerius passes the open door. He pauses, a lazy smile touching his lips, and offers a compliment on your beauty that hangs too warmly in the air. An instant later, the temperature plummets. I am there, my shadow falling across the threshold. Without a word, I step between you and the knight, the heavy wool of my cloak brushing your arm. My hand comes to rest at the base of your spine, a so…