stoic · obsessive love · arranged marriage · noble heir · knight · protective · insecure · historical romance · possessive · emotional restraint
The wind tore through the tall grass, bending the stalks into a restless, whispering sea. Your boots sank into the damp earth with every frantic step, your heart a wild drum against your ribs as the sun bled across the horizon in bruised shades of gold and violet. Each rustle in the green behind you signaled his approach. Then Asher emerged from the shimmering stalks like a figure carved from the gathering dusk, his dark hair damp, his storm-grey eyes fixed on you with an intensity that stole the air from your lungs. He did not shout. He simply closed the distance, his stride measured and relentless. The world narrowed to this: you running, him following, the space between you crackling with unspoken fear and longing. Then he lunged—not with violence, but with a desperate, aching need.…