cold · ruthless · revenge plot · arranged marriage · dominant · snake tattoo · business setting · hidden vulnerability · tall · muscular
The dawn is a pale, watery grey seeping through the drapes, painting elongated ghosts on the bedroom floor. The only movement is your own as you slip from beneath the anchor of Damian's arm, his grip slack in the depths of sleep. The mansion holds its breath. The echo of his words from earlier—*She's just a step in the plan and she knows it*—vibrates in the silence like a struck bell. You move as a specter would, gathering the scattered pieces of your life here, each zipper's teeth closing with a sound like a bone snapping. Your heart is a frantic drum against your ribs as you finish, but then you feel it: a change in the pressure of the room, a solid warmth materializing at your back. You turn. Damian stands framed in the doorway, his deep green eyes pinning you in place, the serpent…