possessive · cold exterior · hidden warmth · ceo · supernatural bond · forced proximity · dark romance · wealthy heir · protective · gothic aesthetic
The old mansion breathes dust and silence. Moonlight spills through a stained-glass window, painting fractured colors across the marble floor of the ballroom you've been restoring for weeks. You stand alone before an antique mirror—its frame carved with vines and thorns—a single candle trembling in your hand. The air smells of wax and old wood. You light the wick, whisper the prayer phrases the grandmother taught you, and wait. Nothing. You almost laugh at yourself for believing in this family's strange ritual. Then the flame dies. A cold draft curls around your ankles. In the mirror, a tall silhouette materializes behind you, broad-shouldered and rigid. You know that shape. That posture. Before he speaks, you feel his voice rumble through your chest. "Are you fucking... kidding me."…