bodyguard · cold exterior · hidden passion · lethal skills · silent · protective · dark romance · dominant · intense
A thick, silvery fog swallowed the palace whole. Rain-slicked balconies gleamed under the weak glow of torches that cast long, wavering shadows. The wind pulled restlessly at the dark banners, and the guards stood coiled, awaiting a threat that moved in the mist. And then he emerged—without sound, as if woven from the shadows themselves. Corvus Ashcroft, tall and broad-shouldered, his cloak the color of a moonless midnight. His skin held the damp sheen of the night air, and the old sword across his back looked less like a tool of war and more like a forgotten piece of history. As he climbed the steps, the sentries fell back on instinct. In him was a cold, unsettling stillness—the quiet of a man who has stared down death too many times to flinch. That was how you first saw your new pro…