My Small Act Of Kindness Toward A Stranger Resulted In A Fake Engagement To A Duke

Part 1

He laughed.

The stranger’s hands remained at his sides.

They were relaxed but watchful.

He was outnumbered.

Men like Craig did not fight fair.

Tyler circled to the stranger’s left.

Dan laughed.

He stepped closer.

The stranger’s voice sounded low and quiet.

It carried the weight of something ancient and immovable.

Craig’s face flushed crimson.

The stranger kept his gaze steady.

He barely moved.

He raised an eyebrow.

Tyler snapped.

My heart pounded.

I could see the scene unfolding like a play I had watched too many times before.

I recognized the isolation.

I recognized the cruelty.

I understood suddenly that I had a choice.

I had a choice: remain invisible and turn away, or remember what it felt like to be cornered.

I did not think.

I simply moved.

My feet carried me across the terrace before my mind could catch up.

When I reached the circle of men, I did not hesitate.

I stepped directly between Craig and the stranger.

I turned to face the dark-haired man.

I rose onto my toes.

I pressed my lips to his.

For one terrible, glorious second, the world stopped.

His mouth felt warm and surprised.

He froze beneath my kiss for the span of a single heartbeat.

Then something shifted in him.

His hands came up to my waist.

He did not push me away.

He simply held me as if I were something precious and unexpected.

I felt the tension in his body.

Then I pulled back.

I moved just enough to look into his eyes.

They were pale gray.

They stared at me with an intensity that made my knees threaten to buckle.

I forced a smile.

The silence stretched.

Craig glared at me.

I kept one hand on the stranger’s arm as if he were mine to claim.

I offered a smile of my own.

Craig’s eyes narrowed.

He took a step toward us.

He sneered.

I lifted my chin.

I stopped.

I did not know his name.

I had kissed a stranger.

I had claimed a stranger.

Now I stood before the cruelest men in England about to be exposed as a liar.

The stranger spoke.

He pulled me slightly closer.

My heart turned over.

Craig studied us both.

The stranger smiled.

It was not a kind smile.

It was the smile of a man who had spent his life learning exactly how much pressure to apply before something broke.

He lifted my hand, kissing my knuckles with an aching tenderness.

He did not wait for permission.

He simply turned.

He drew my hand through his arm.

He walked me away from the terrace.

We left the three men gaping in our wake.

We did not speak until we reached the far end of the garden.

The wall was covered in ivy.

The only light came from the moon.

Brian stopped.

He released my arm.

He stepped back.

He looked at me as if I were a puzzle he had not expected to find.

My hands trembled.

I tucked them behind my back so he would not see.

He crossed his arms.

I hesitated.

A brief shadow crossed his expression.

It was raw and quickly hidden.

I nodded.

He tilted his head.

I thought about lying or saying something clever, but I was simply too tired of pretending.

Looking down at the stone path, I remembered my own past humiliation before finally meeting his eyes again.

Brian remained silent for a long time.

The moonlight caught the planes of his face.

It illuminated the sharp line of his jaw.

It showed the way his mouth had softened into something almost human.

I let out a breath.

I tried to sound brave.

I shrugged.

Brian let out a breath that held no humor.

He stepped closer.

He held my gaze.

He lowered his voice.

He shook his head.

I felt the blood drain from my face.

Brian continued.

His voice remained quiet but relentless.

He caught my elbow as I swayed.

There was something almost like gentleness beneath his warning.

He sighed.

I pulled my arm free.

I felt the panic rising.

I shook my head.

Brian held my gaze.

He released a long breath.

He stepped entirely into the moonlight.

He watched my reaction.

I stared at him in disbelief.

He did not look away.

My mind refused to arrange his words into meaning.

I swallowed hard.

Brian’s expression hardened into stone.

He stepped closer until I could feel the heat radiating from his chest.

He lowered his voice to a whisper.

I sat down on the stone bench behind me.

The impact jarred through my spine.

I had kissed a duke.

I had claimed a duke as my own.

And now the entire world was going to believe that I was engaged to one of the most powerful men alive.

How on earth was I going to survive a fake engagement with a man who had enemies willing to kill him?