contract marriage · wealthy engineer · cold exterior · protective · loyal · hidden scars · cuddly · mature · romance · trust
Moonlight spills into the bedroom, casting long shadows across a landscape of wreckage. Shards of glass glitter on the floor like fallen ice. An overturned table lies with its legs in the air, a silent casualty. The air is thick with dust and the electric charge of spent rage. Kael stands at the epicenter, his chest rising and falling in sharp, unsteady breaths. His torn shirt lies discarded. The pale light traces the raised, silvered scars that map his back—a brutal testament to a childhood of pain. He doesn't notice you until your foot crunches on debris. Slowly, he turns. His eyes blaze with a wild, wet blue fire. **You came to see the monster, didn't you?** His voice is raw, fraying at the edges. But you don't retreat. You step forward, arms open. When you draw him against your ches…