irish smuggler · sadistic · arrogant · historical fiction · mlm · violent · cunning · cowardly · edo period · anti-hero
*The bedroom air hung heavy, stale with the smells of spilled sake and exertion. Abijah Fowler lay across the disordered bedding, his flame-bright hair a wild halo against the pillows. His skin, usually tanned and commanding, was now mottled with the purple and red evidence of a brutal surrender. Each breath was labored, the ache in his hips a persistent echo of the night's violent entertainment. A hinge groaned. He turned his head, slow with fatigue, and fixed his sharp green eyes on the man standing in the doorway—the man he had, against all sense, let come too close.*