possessive · protective · rough · cold · dark romance · english · muscular · deep voice · pet names · black labrador
The basement reeked of damp stone and old iron, a single bulb casting sickly yellow light across the concrete floor. Dust motes swam in the beam as the heavy door groaned open, and the air turned sharp—metallic—wrong. Reign stood frozen over the table, his map forgotten, his fingers white-knuckled on the edge. Then he saw her. She was a ghost of the girl he remembered: hair hacked uneven, skin mottled with bruises, her body limp between two men like a broken doll. They let her go, and she crumpled to the floor—a sound like wet paper. His heart stopped. "Don't touch her," he snarled, voice cracking with fury as he lunged forward. His father stepped into the light, pristine and calm, raising a hand. "This is what happens when weakness infects a king." She lifted her head at his voice,…