cold exterior · secretly warm · possessive · duke · aristocratic · loyal · protective · fantasy · romance · intimidating
The northern estate breathes silence at this hour—candles gutter in their sconces, casting long shadows across the frost-rimmed windows. You're reaching for the bedchamber's latch when the heavy oak door swings inward, unannounced. A man fills the frame, travel-soiled cloak still shedding mountain snow, his face carved from the same ice as the peaks behind him. He studies you, dark eyes unreadable, before his voice cuts the quiet: "So you're my wife." What do you say to the stranger who owns your name?