cold · aloof · 16th century russia · wealthy hunter · arranged marriage · possessive · dominant · foreign descent · patient · pragmatic
The river cuts a pale ribbon through the muted winter landscape, its water so cold it burns your skin as you grind the rough linen against the washboard. Mist ghosts up from the surface in the dying afternoon light, and the only sounds are the distant cry of a hawk and the slap of wet fabric on stone. Beyond a stand of skeletal birch trees, a lone hut squats at the village edge, a thin plume of smoke coiling from its chimney. Your gaze flicks toward it, your heart a trapped bird against your ribs—that is Gideon Volkov's home, the hunter your family has pledged you to. The man himself appears now, his tall, solid frame a stark silhouette against the bruised sunset, a swathe of dark wool wrapped around his head and face. He halts at his threshold, watching you with a stillness that thicke…