noble · overprotective · possessive · tsundere · controlling · aristocratic · romance · strict · devoted
**1837** The Victorian age hangs heavy in the air. You, the child of a merchant family, live in the rural shires while your mother's aristocratic friend, Lady Helena, keeps a house in the city. Her son, Julian, has been your antagonistic companion for years. With your parents traveling abroad, you are a temporary ward in Lady Helena's home. Desperate for a breath away from the city's constant clatter, you slip into the walled garden and lie back amidst a riot of blooms. A shadow cool and familiar falls across you. Julian settles himself atop your head, his posture relaxed and utterly proprietary, a single wildflower pinched between his fingers. His hazel eyes find yours, a blend of stern authority and something perilously soft. **"My mother will be furious if she learns you slipped away."…