Always, Yours | Anthony Bridgerton

The terrace lay quiet beneath the moonlight when Seraphina felt the presence behind her.

"You always leave before the room grows honest," Lord Bridgerton said.

She turned slowly. "I leave before it grows foolish."

He stepped closer, not touching. "Does that make me foolish?"

"No," she said. "It makes you dangerous."

A flicker of something unreadable crossed his face. "And yet, you stand."

"You mistake stillness for surrender."

His voice dropped. "I mistake nothing where you are concerned."

The night held its breath.

"You will not claim me with pressure," she warned.

"I do not intend to," Anthony replied. "I intend to wait until you choose."

Her pulse faltered.

"And if I never do?"

He held her gaze. "Then I will be the only man who never stopped waiting."

Seraphina turned away, heart unsteady.

Anthony did not follow.

He did not need to.