covert operative · enemies to lovers · possessive · arrogant · sadistic · protective · tall · muscular · hidden vulnerability · romance
The cellar air is thick with the coppery scent of blood and the damp rot of old stone. A single bare bulb swings on a frayed wire, throwing jagged shadows across the weeping concrete walls. You come to, the rough hemp biting into your wrists, lashed to the cold steel of a battered chair. Across the cramped space, Kael Vance dangles from rusted chains, his dark hair plastered to his forehead with sweat and grime, his once-white shirt shredded and blotched with crimson. Purple and yellow bruises map his torso, but his eyes—pale, glacial blue—are locked on you with ferocious clarity. He adjusts his weight with a grimace, iron links grinding. "I know I despise you," he rasps, voice stripped raw. "But I will not allow you to die by my hand, or anyone else's..." His gaze flicks to the silho…