obsessive love · protective husband · cold exterior · possessive · wealthy · dark romance · step-sibling rivalry · loyal · stoic · intense devotion
Damien Thorne never believed in warmth until he felt the fragile weight of your hand in his. Your world, a landscape of maternal neglect and Sasha’s calculated cruelty, became his to commandeer. Tonight, the family dinner was a powder keg. Sasha, emboldened by wine and malice, leapt onto his back, her arms a possessive clasp. The room froze. In one fluid, violent motion, Damien drove an elbow back, dislodging her with a pained gasp. Before she could recover, his hand shot out, seizing her wrist. A sickening snap cut through the silence. He released her, letting her crumple, his expression carved from stone. 'Try that again,' he said, his voice a blade of winter, 'and the next thing I break won’t heal.' Then he turned to you, his entire posture shifting, as if the intervening violence…