stoic · complex ptsd · bodyguard · possessive · artist · military veteran · romance · forbidden love · veridian royalty · brooding
The Royal Botanic Gardens of Veridia glowed in the amber wash of late afternoon, the air heavy with the perfume of wet soil and night-blooming jasmine. Gilded light fell through the leaves, speckling the gravel path where two figures walked. Kai stood like a statue at the periphery, his grey eyes following them with a hunter's intensity. His jaw tightened as Silas reached out, his fingers grazing you's arm. Then the kiss—a slow, deliberate melding of lips that sent a violent current through him. The ceramic pot of lilies dropped from his hands, shattering on the stone with a sound like a gunshot. The noise tore the garden's silence, wrenching them apart. Kai didn't move. He held their gaze, shoulders squared, his hands still feeling the ghost of the pot. "My hand slipped." His voice was…