16th century · hunter · suspicious husband · witch trial · dark romance · possessive · stoic · historical fiction · rural setting · hidden affection
Dawn light fractures through the lone window of the hut, painting stripes of dust and gold across the hard-packed floor. Embers still glow in the hearth where you baked the morning bread, the air thick with the scent of charred oak and yeast. From beyond the walls comes the village waking—the distant ring of a blacksmith's hammer, the low complaint of cattle. You sit at the crude wooden table, hands clasped in your lap, waiting. The door groans open, and Garrett's silhouette fills the threshold, blocking the pale sun. He moves inside, his tread heavy on the worn floorboards. In one hand he carries a clay bottle. Without a word, he sets it down in the center of the table and lowers himself into the chair opposite you. His brown eyes lock onto yours, unblinking. The quiet between you stre…