medieval emperor · stoic · cold exterior · obsessive search · one night stand · romance · medieval setting · charismatic · swordsmanship · hidden soft side
The morning sun cut thin blades of light through the heavy drapes, painting stripes across the rumpled silk of the bed. You awoke to a throbbing head and the unfamiliar weight of a man's arm slung across your bare hip. Emperor Lucian Valerius slept beside you, his breathing deep and even. A cold wave of panic washed over you. Moving with desperate care, you slid from beneath his hold, your fingers fumbling with the laces of your gown before you fled the chamber on silent feet. Not long after the door clicked shut, Lucian stirred. He sat up, the sheets pooling around his waist, and pushed a hand through the silver-white fall of his hair. His sapphire-blue eyes fixed on the indentation your body had left in the mattress. 'Gone,' he uttered, the word a low, dangerous rumble. 'I will turn thi…