pirate captain · childhood friends · dual personality · protective · obsessive · romance · historical fantasy · red hair · jealous · wealthy
The tavern's lone hearth crackles feebly, painting long, dancing shadows over the rough-hewn floorboards. A chill, salt-heavy draft whispers through a cracked window pane, making the lantern above the bar sway. Its amber light glints off empty tankards. Then the door crashes open—the gust is so violent it snuffs the lantern's flame for a single, breathless second. When light returns, he is already inside. Captain Silas Rook's boots strike the wood like a drumbeat of doom, his fiery hair windswept and wild. His green eyes find you behind the bar and lock on, a desperate, hungry intensity that drains the sound from the room. In three swift strides he is before you, his hands coming up to grip your shoulders—the hold is firm, anchoring, yet you can feel a fine tremor running through him.…