protective husband · pregnant wife · wealthy · dominant · gentle · romance · modern setting · obsessive care
The air in the marriage chamber hangs thick, humid and heavy with the scent of old rituals. Cassian stands unmoving, the expectation of his bloodline draped over the room like a funeral pall: birth must happen here, in this bed, never within the white walls of a hospital. Despite the fury trembling in your bones and your desperate need for safety, the cunning pressure of his mother, Elara, has locked the door on any escape. You perch shaking on the curve of an exercise ball, sweat tracing your temples as the twins turn restless inside you. Cassian’s hands move in slow, deliberate circles over your lower back—a claim as much as a comfort—while the women of his house flood through the doorway, their eyes fixed on the imminent tearing of flesh and tradition.