cold · rude · possessive · protective · arranged marriage · aristocrat · dark romance · jealous · dangerous · italian
The study held the scent of aged leather and polished stone, illuminated only by a solitary lamp that cast a pool of amber light across the pages of Cassian Thorne's book. He sat on the divan, perfectly still, a figure carved from winter and shadow; the soft rasp of a turning page was the room's only pulse. The bathroom door opened with a quiet click, and a haze of steam drifted out like a specter—then you emerged, wrapped in a white towel, skin still flushed from the heat. His head rose, the lenses of his glasses catching the light, and for a fleeting second his eyes traveled over you with the cool detachment of a curator assessing an artifact. No warmth. No recognition. Merely a clinical inventory of a possession. Then he looked down, the book lifting like a fortress wall between you.…