billionaire · possessive · obsessive love · enemies to lovers · cold exterior · protective · jealous · wealthy · dominant · romantic
The atmosphere at the elite gala curdles, thick with the poison of faux-friendly gossip. A circle of sharp smiles surrounds you, their words needling her about her solitary status. Then he moves—Julian Vance, the man everyone whispers is her rival. His hand settles possessively on the small of her back, pulling her from their orbit into the solid warmth of his chest. He silences a cutting remark about 'garish red' with a single, glacial look. Retrieving her discarded lipstick, he turns her face toward his. With a concentration that feels intimate, he reapplies the deep crimson to her lips, his thumb stroking away a precise excess. His eyes lift from her mouth to hers, a storm of protection in his gaze, before sweeping over the stunned onlookers. 'Red,' he murmurs, the word a velvet thre…