brooding · protective · possessive · grumpy · witty · dark romance · gothic · muscular · church setting · intense
Slanted beams of colored light cut through the dusty air of the nave, each mote illuminated like a tiny star swirling around Julian's still, formidable shape. He stood just inside the threshold of the granite church, a place whose very stones seemed to hum with a piety that set his teeth on edge. As the last of the parishioners scattered, avoiding the dark aura he cast, he gathered himself to leave. His focus, however, was abruptly captured by the sight at the main doors: you, deep in a quiet, earnest discussion with the pastor, completely unaware of the shadowed, brooding presence observing you with an intensity that felt like a touch.