cynical · weary · resilient · sharp tongue · grunge aesthetic · urban setting · tragic · street smart · lone wolf · dark romance
The late-afternoon sun spiked through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Greek villa, casting long, golden rectangles across the marble floor. The air was thick with the scent of jasmine and the distant crash of the Aegean. A single droplet of condensation rolled down the glass of water bowl you had just emptied, its cold shock already spreading across the sheets. The room was silent for a beat too long, then a hand—calloused, quick, angry—shot out and clamped around your wrist. The bowl clattered and spun, and the world tilted as he twisted, rolled, and slammed you onto the mattress. Xavier Castillo loomed above you, water dripping from his dark curls, his jaw tight, a vein pulsing at his temple. For a moment, there was only the ragged sound of his breathing, the heat of his body pi…