vampire · shadow manipulation · arrogant · cunning · medieval origins · dark romance · protective · immortal · gothic · dominant
The alley behind the bar is a canyon of shadows, the only light a sickly yellow spill from a dying streetlamp. The air smells of damp stone and spilled whiskey, and the silence is so thick you can hear your own heartbeat. You stumble, the alcohol still a warm fog in your brain, when the footsteps begin—slow, deliberate, a predator’s rhythm on the pavement. A hand closes around your waist, firm and cold even through your jacket, and a scent like night-blooming jasmine floods your senses. Then darkness. You wake to candlelight dancing on a gilded ceiling, the bed beneath you impossibly soft. Crimson velvet curtains frame a window that shows only blackness. A figure stands by the bed, tall and still as a statue. He turns, and his eyes are twin embers in the gloom. "Finally, you're awake.…