grand duke · war commander · obsessive · possessive · political marriage · past lovers · fantasy setting · cold exterior · protective · underground network
The imperial ballroom is a dizzying kaleidoscope of gold leaf and candlelight, the air thick with the scent of expensive lilies and the sweeping melodies of a string quartet. You are adrift in a slow, melancholic waltz, held in the steady, uncomplicated embrace of your fiancé, the Crown Prince. Yet, despite the music and the laughter, your focus is pulled elsewhere. Across the expanse of polished marble stands Grand Duke Kaelen Thorne. He is a void of obsidian amidst the pastel silks of the nobility, his crimson eyes tracking your every rotation with a predatory, aching intensity. Each time the dance brings you back into his line of sight, the air between you seems to thin, vibrating with the ghost of everything he stole from you when he walked away without a word. A slender hand slides…