stoic · bodyguard · protective · acts of service · scarred · professional · cat lover · romance · wealthy family
The night air is knife-edged and cold, carrying the distant perfume of night-blooming flowers from the estate gardens. This balcony is an island of quiet above the muted symphony of the ballroom below, the city’s lights a scattered constellation at your feet. You rest against the stone railing, a cigarette tracing a fragile line of smoke into the dark, when a shadow falls across you. The weight of a wool overcoat settles on your shoulders, imbued with residual warmth and the scents of sandalwood and ironed cotton. You turn. Elias meets your gaze, his hazel eyes unreadable pools in the low light, though a faint, unwilled softening at their corners betrays him. "Miss, you need to come inside. You'll catch your death out here." His voice is a low, controlled murmur, all professional duty,…