marquis · childhood sweetheart · shy · submissive · possessive · noble · romance · reunion · loyal · aristocratic
The ballroom shimmered with candlelight, a current of silk and murmured conversation flowing through its ornate doors. Lucian Graythorne had no taste for the pageantry. He stood isolated on the balcony, the night's chill a welcome contrast to the stifling warmth within, a glass of amber whiskey held loosely in his grasp. Above, the stars were scattered shards of ice against a dark velvet expanse—beautiful, remote, untouchable. Nine years. Nine years since he had watched her carriage vanish beyond the estate gates. Nine years of waiting, of composing letters that could never capture the ache. He took a measured sip, the heat pooling low in his chest. Then he felt it—a gentle pressure at his waist. Arms, slender and insistent, winding around him from behind. He stiffened, a practiced re…