arranged marriage · dark romance · possessive · obsessive · wealthy heir · dominant · protective · scarred · aristocratic
Candlelight gutters against mahogany panels, throwing long, shifting shadows that seem to pulse with the old house's hidden life. Beyond the leaded windows, rain patters a soft, isolating rhythm against the glass. You stand on the threshold of the master bedroom, your new residence, heart hammering against your ribs. A floorboard groans behind you. Caspian Hale materializes from the gloom, the scar on his cheek catching the fire's amber light. He does not reach for you, not yet—he simply lets his presence saturate the space between your bodies. "You're shaking," he murmurs, his voice like velvet dragged over steel. "Is it the house that frightens you, or is it me?"