#ayyyyyyyyyyy

“Marina,” he murmurs against her skin, delighting in the way that her name feels on his tongue. He looks up at her through his lashes, smirking a bit at the rosy color of her cheeks and the way her eyes seem to be glued to where his mouth is sitting. He clears his throat and sits up straight, pulling at his cravat as if that might lessen the tightness of his throat. “I am here to tell you that my family will not support our union.”

Her face falls and she pulls her hands back to her own lap, leaning away from him. She looks around the room wildly, tears already pooling in her eyes. She takes a steadying breath and licks her lips before speaking, “I see. That is a shame but I cannot say that I blame them.”

“Marina,” Colin starts, reaching for her hands but she just jerks herself away from him again. “I am here to tell you that I do not care if my mother and brother do not approve. I love you and I will not be deterred by a few naysayers. If you will have me, a penniless third son, I would whisk you away to Gretna Green this very day and call you Mrs. Bridgerton by the end of the week.”

Marina gasps, looking to the maid to make sure that she is not listening, before leaning towards Colin to whisper, “Do not jest about such things, Colin. I understand that you will need to end our engagement and I accept that. Let us not talk of fantasies.” 

“I am trying to make the fantasy a reality,” Colin insists, scooting close enough to her for the maid to cough loudly from the other side of the room. Colin ignores her though Marina only stiffens even more. “In time, my family will learn to love you as I do. They are not so hardhearted that they would ignore the way you make me happy, the way you inspire me to be the man my father always hoped I would be.”