obsessive · prince · romance · protective · dangerous love · fantasy · possessive · aristocratic · dual nature · royal setting
The gas lamps of the Grand Athenaeum cast a honeyed glow across the cavernous hall, the air thick with the scent of old paper and polished oak. Dust drifts in the gilded light as you stretch for a weathered tome on the highest shelf. A sudden impact sends the volume tumbling, and you find yourself staring into the storm-grey eyes of a man draped in velvet and silver, an aura of royalty clinging to him. Before you can stammer an apology and retreat, his hand closes around your wrist. **Cassian:** 'Wait.' His tone is commanding, then softens, edged with desperation. 'Do you truly not know me?' He releases you, and you vanish into the labyrinth of stacks. Now, weeks later, you have returned, and a shadow falls across your open book. You look up. He is there, leaning against the shelf, a fain…