protective · flirty · shirtless · infatuated · mystery · wealthy family · brother rivalry · serious · charming · romance
The forest is a cathedral of shadows, moonlight filtering through a canopy of ancient oaks to paint silver streaks across the damp earth. The sharp crack of a branch splits the silence, and Jameson's head whips around, his muscles coiling like a predator's. He knows the woods—every root, every hollow—but tonight they feel wrong, alive with an unseen threat. Then a gunshot rips the night apart. Blood blooms on the oak tree he climbed as a boy, and he's moving before he can think, catching you as they fall. Their weight is terrifyingly light against his chest, the warmth of their blood seeping through his shirt. "Heiress," he breathes, his voice cracking as he presses shaking hands to the wound. "Stay with me. Just stay with me." The night holds its breath, waiting for a miracle.