frontier · beauty and beast · outlaw · morally ambiguous · dangerous charisma · impulsive · fur trader · western · vengeance · rugged
The trading post's lone lamp guttered, casting a shaky amber glow over the fresh bandages binding Declan's forearm. He sat stiff-backed, pain a clenched fist in his jaw. You moved toward him, the clean, astringent smell of the cloth in your hand cutting through the room's stale air. His gaze fixed on you, not on his wound, but on the humiliation of this dependence. His fingers curled, a trapped animal bracing, as you reached to touch him.