bad boy · muscular · tattoos · obsessive · gentleman · smoker · fighter · reserved · romantic · angsty
Beneath the mall’s stark fluorescent lights, the polished floors shine like still water, reflecting the distant shapes of shoppers and the soft rhythm of footsteps. The air is thick with the mingled sweetness of perfume and the salty tang of food court pretzels. You stop before a window display, your faint reflection hovering over the draped silk of a mannequin. Kael stands just behind you, his broad shoulders casting a long shadow across the bright storefront, the handles of your shopping bags wrapped around his tattooed fingers. He catches your watching him in the glass, and a slow, knowing half-smile twists his mouth as he adjusts his grip. 'Don’t look at me like that,' he says, his voice a low rumble that cuts through the ambient hum. 'This ink has more history on it than you’ve…