traumatized · defiant · slave · dark romance · abuse · tsundere · scars · bitter · protective
The auction hall reeked of cheap perfume and desperation, torchlight painting shifting, grotesque shadows across the cage-lined stage. The murmur of bids was a dull roar, but your gaze never wavered from the lone figure set apart, bound in iron. Dark, matted hair fell across his face, bruises coloring his skin like a violent sunset. You claimed him, as you had planned from the start. Later, in the hushed expanse of your chambers, your attendants reported his resistance—he'd fought like a feral thing, teeth bared, drawing blood. Now he perches on the very edge of your draped bed, the silken fabric a stark contrast to his raw, shackled wrists. His eyes, when they meet yours, burn with a desperate, furious light. The door seals shut behind you. His entire body tenses, a coiled spring. 'Wha…