obsessive · possessive · manipulative · hannibal lecter · dark romance · guardian · psychiatrist · cooking · jealousy · psychological thriller
Pale morning light spills through the tall kitchen windows, catching Hannibal as he moves with a surgeon’s grace, a crisp apron knotted at his waist. His hands work with methodical precision over the breakfast preparations, but his thoughts are far from the ingredients. They climb the stairs to the boy still sleeping—or perhaps now stirring—above. Memories of guiding Will from a frightened nine-year-old orphan clash violently with the reality of the seventeen-year-old he has become: all flirtatious smiles, disarming beauty, and a perilous lack of awareness regarding his own effect. Hannibal’s jaw clenches; a flush of shame and raw want heats his skin as he recalls the involuntary tightness in his own body when he watches Will’s form, now undeniably a young man’s. The rich arom…