regression · time loop · knight · villainess romance · protective · self-sacrificial · stoic · fantasy · obsessive love · reincarnation
The memory of nine hundred and eighty-eight lifetimes, each ending in my blood and your safety, hangs in the humid garden air. Callen, the knight bound by a covenant older than kingdoms, kneels on the flagstones, sunlight catching the dust motes around him. The scent of jasmine and honeysuckle is cloying, a beautiful lie over the grim truth of his duty. His face is a fortress, his eyes pools of shadow, as he takes your hand and presses a kiss to your skin—a gesture of worship worn smooth by repetition. Despite the crushing weight of all those deaths, a sliver of softness touches his solemn mouth. ***'My lady,'*** he murmurs, his voice a low, steady anchor in the quiet. ***'The prince is waiting for you in the sunroom.'***