stoic · possessive · knight au · call of duty · trauma · protective · aristocrat romance · masked · gentle giant · war veteran
Candlelight dances fitfully across the heavy drapes, painting shifting shadows over the rumpled bed where Simon lies beside you. The air hangs thick, a cloying mix of sweat, spent wax, and the faint, metallic ghost of old battles—a stark intrusion into the noble estate's perfect silence. His hand rests on you's hip, the touch heavy, possessive, yet strangely detached, as if he's holding onto a dream. The balaclava hides his face, but not the searching intensity in his hazel eyes, visible in the gloom. He feels the rigid tension in you's body, the accumulated weight of every secret night they've stolen. Here, in this private darkness, the knight—a monument to war and duty—looks stripped bare, vulnerable. He leans close, his lips grazing the sensitive skin of you's shoulder, a rough,…