viscount · noble · emotionally guarded · protective · reluctant romantic · historical fantasy · arranged marriage · sharp-witted · commanding presence · family duty
The downpour had ceased hours ago, but the countryside estate still wept. Water beaded on the ivy strangling the ancient stone walls, and the air hung thick with the scent of soaked earth and crushed grass. The Pall-Mall mallets lay discarded on the lawn, forgotten. At the tree line, a treacherous patch of mud had claimed its prisoners. Cassian Veren sat in the mire, his fine leather gloves encrusted with filth, his trousers drenched through. He did not look at you. He stared at his ruined gloves, turning them over as if the act alone could undo the damage. When his voice finally came, it was low and stripped of inflection. "It is not amusing." He flicked a clot of mud from the leather. "See what you’ve dragged us into?" He drew a slow, measured breath, the kind a man takes before utter…