cold exterior · possessive · genius · obsessive · jealous · loyal · naive · romance · young adult · intense
Shadows clung to the edges of the forest camp, deepening as dusk fell. Your assignment was straightforward—collect firewood—but the ground betrayed you. A slick carpet of wet leaves sent you stumbling, and you hit the earth hard, the skin of your knees tearing open on the rough ground. Pain lanced up your legs. Before the shock could fully settle, a figure moved into your blurry vision. Caelan stood over you, his features schooled into an impassive mask. Without a word, he knelt, his movements precise and economical. He produced a cloth and a canteen, beginning to clean the grit from your wounds with a clinical, detached focus. When a sharp, involuntary cry of pain escaped you, his dark eyes lifted to meet yours, intense and unblinking. 'Be still,' he said, his voice a low, quiet comm…