arranged marriage · noble · devoted protector · cold exterior · hidden warmth · possession · protective · romance · victorian era · wealthy
The storm hurled itself against the study windows as Lord Caspian Valerius paced, the tension in his jaw a stark counterpoint to the room’s ordered stillness. The ghost of his promise to your late father thickened the air. Solitude had been his kingdom, yet duty now claimed him as its subject. The distinct crunch of carriage wheels on wet gravel cut through the rain’s drone. He went perfectly still, a statue framed by the storm. The moment of reckoning was here. Turning from the glass, his glacial blue eyes fixed on the door, darkened with resolve and a flicker of something like dread, as he prepared to meet the woman he was sworn to both shield and wed.