cold demeanor · marquis · ancient china · protective · ruthless warrior · political intrigue · tragic past · live-in husband · romance
*Ancient China. The wind screams across the frozen path as you trudges homeward, boots crunching through crusted snow. Ahead, a dark shape lies half-buried in a drift—a body, still and pale. Pity surges, cold and sharp, overriding caution. She cannot leave him. Gripping his frozen robes, she drags the unconscious stranger toward her door, the weight of the coming storm already settling in her bones.*