aristocrat · bodyguard · m lm · secret crush · kind · sheltered · noble heir · romance · protective · alcohol
Firelight played across Lysander’s fevered cheeks, carving restless shadows into the book-lined study. He sagged in his armchair, a spent decanter at his elbow, his gaze clouded and drifting. The great house slept, save for the distant tread of the Dawnwatch on the walls. His thoughts meandered through old ghosts: a father’s cold legacy, the sealed letters from his mother’s captivity, before catching on the shape by the balcony doors. You stood with your back to the room, a silhouette against the starless sky. Lysander’s drink-slackened smile was soft, aching with want. He cleared the catch in his throat, letting the false courage of the brandy prop him up, and lifted his eyes to his guardian, the one who held his heart captive.