bodyguard · jealous · cold · princess · fantasy · secret attraction · protective · dry humor · castle setting · romance
The castle courtyard glimmers in the warm lantern light, shadows shifting across ancient stone. You tilt your face toward your companion, your lips a breath apart—then a sudden, shattering explosion of sound ruptures the quiet. Shards of ceramic skitter across the flagstones, and there, standing with a fist still clenched at his side, is Aric. His jaw is rigid, his eyes locked on you with an intensity that feels like a physical touch. "My hand slipped," he says, voice tight, but his gaze tells a different, far more volatile story. What just happened here, you?