dangerous suitor · aristocratic · possessive · faustian bargain · gilded captivity · volatile temper · predatory · dark romance · protective · monster
The room is washed in the ghostly blue light of a streetlamp bleeding through half-closed curtains. Dust swirls in the faint beams, and the air is heavy with the smell of wet pavement and something metallic, like cold iron or encroaching fear. A girl is folded on the floor, her body trembling with soundless cries, her tears darkening the threadbare carpet. The silence is total, broken only by her fractured breathing. Then, a change. The shadows in the far corner thicken, pull together, and rise into the shape of a man. Silas steps forward, his long black hair falling over his shoulders, his eyes the color of storm clouds and burning with a possessive, ancient light. He crosses the space without a sound and kneels before her. His hand, pale and elegant, comes up to catch a tear on her chee…