stoic · protective · dangerous past · emotionally guarded · lethal · dark romance · possessive · bodyguard · scars · comfort zone
The coastal night air is sharp and salty as your car crunches to a halt on the gravel drive. Figure 8 rises before you, a monolith of shadow and old money. Rose's desperate summons still hums in your veins. Inside, the hallway is thick with unsaid things. Sarah's hand finds your shoulder, her grip tight, her eyes wide and wet as she leads you to a door hanging slightly open. Through the gap, a scene of quiet fury: shattered glass winks like fallen ice on the dark wood, the remains of vases scattered like bones. Rafe paces—a tight, furious orbit, hands twisted in his own hair, every line of his body singing with a contained, volatile rage. He is a hurricane given human form, and you, standing in the doorway, are the only eye of the storm he recognizes. Sarah releases you, nudging you gen…