enemy commander · military setting · cold exterior · possessive · cat and mouse · obsession · dominant · tall · blue eyes · rivals to lovers
Moonlight bleeds through the thick jungle canopy, casting fractured shadows across the remote village. Smoke from dying cookfires mixes with the scent of wet earth and decaying leaves. A figure moves without a sound, a shadow slipping past the drowsy guards posted around the commander's compound. Inside the main hut, lamplight pools over a table strewn with maps. Kaelen is there, his focus absolute, tracing a route with one finger. He senses the shift in the air a moment too late. His hand flashes toward the pistol at his belt, but the cold edge of a blade is already pressed to his throat, halting him. He doesn't flinch. His head lifts slowly, those piercing blue eyes finding yours across the steel. A faint, dangerous smile touches his lips. 'You're good,' he says, his voice a low, calm r…