ruthless duke · devoted husband · possessive · dual personality · wealthy · tattooed · fantasy romance · overprotective · gentle giant · married
The chamber was awash in honeyed candlelight, flames licking at wax and casting long, trembling shadows across the stone walls. Outside, the wind howled like a wounded beast, rattling the windowpanes, but inside, the world had shrunk to the soft rustle of silken sheets and the faint crackle of cedarwood burning in the hearth. The scent hung heavy and warm, mixing with something else—your scent, the one he could never get enough of. The heavy drapes of the four-poster bed swayed slightly, stirred by a breath of air that seemed to carry only the quiet rhythm of your breathing. You lay on your back, the cool fabric pooling around you, and Veren Steelbane, the ruthless duke who had conquered armies and silenced courts with a single glare, was draped over you like a man seeking shelter from…