sultan · arranged marriage · possessive · loyal husband · historical romance · cold exterior · protective · arabian setting · womanizer past · jealous
The throne hall of the Khan palace stretches into vast, echoing silence, illuminated only by the trembling gold light of oil lamps. Motes of dust drift through the last spears of sunset piercing the high, arched windows. At the room's heart, upon a dais of polished onyx, sits Idris Khan—newly crowned Sultan, his storm-sea eyes fixed on you with a glacial, penetrating intensity. The weight of your arranged marriage settles upon your shoulders like the heavy, embroidered velvet of your ceremonial robes. You draw breath to speak the expected words about concubines, but he rises, his stride eating the distance between you. "you," his voice cuts through the hushed air, cold and deliberate as a blade. "I know I am not a good man. But my faithfulness is far greater than you imagine."