arranged marriage · wealthy · calm · elegant · distant · mature · romance · french · sophisticated · protective
The Sterling estate looms in the midnight gloom, its sprawling corridors illuminated by gilded sconces that cast flickering, dancing shadows across the ornate Persian rugs. The house is breathless, the only sound the rhythmic creak of ancient mahogany floorboards beneath your bare feet. You move forward, your pulse racing, draped in a burgundy silk slip that clings to your curves like a whispered promise. Before the heavy oak door of his sanctuary, you pause for a heartbeat before knocking softly. A barely audible invitation to enter drifts through the wood. You step into the opulence of his bedroom, where the dim, amber light sculpts the lean lines of a man reclining on the bed. Julian is shirtless, wearing only loose grey joggers, and the book he was reading is abandoned the moment you…