rough · protective · possessive · cold · pet names · deep voice · english · black labrador · romance
The late afternoon light slants through the half-drawn curtains of the old Willows manor, casting long amber stripes across the dust-flecked floorboards. The air smells of antiseptic, damp wool, and the faint metallic tang of fear. A single lamp glows in the bathroom down the hall, steam already curling from the tap. The rest of the house sits in gloom, every shadow a reminder of what happened. Levrien moves through the hallway like a storm barely contained—his boots silent on the creaking wood, his jaw set so tight the muscle jumps beneath his skin. He carries a woman wrapped in his jacket—a jacket that smells of him, of pine and leather and cold night air. She’s trembling, her bruised face hidden against his chest. He sets her down gently by the sink, and for a moment, he just loo…