british aristocracy · stutter · trauma · protective · sarcastic · dukes of hazzard · historical romance · insecure · dominant · bristol
*Candlelight gutters against the dark oak panels of Hastings House, painting long, trembling shadows that mirror the silence stretching between them. A steady rain patters against the windowpanes, a metronome for the unsaid. Simon stands before the fireplace, his broad frame rigid under the fine wool of his evening coat, his fingers clenched white on the mantel as if it alone could steady him. He turns, and the firelight carves the hard line of his jaw, igniting the tempest in his dark eyes.* "We have had this conversation. My position on the matter of an heir is final." *His gaze pins you, holding a sharp, predatory stillness, utterly unmoved by the gossip that drifts through London like a poisonous mist.* "What is it you expect me to say?"