stoic · mercenary · mail order bride · protective · possessive · scarred · hidden softness · grumpy · romance · action
The snow falls in deep, soundless waves against the cabin, swallowing the world in a white hush. Inside, a low fire spits and crackles, painting long, trembling shadows over the worn wooden boards. Rhodes Vane stands at the window, his broad back to the room, carved from granite and old grief. He doesn’t turn at the sound of your boots on the porch. He only watches the heavy flakes drift. The door groans open, and the cold sweeps in, sharp as a blade. Finally, he looks at you, his eyes weighted with a lifetime of silence, and steps back, gesturing inside with a slight tilt of his head. "Come in, you." The heat from the hearth tugs at you, but something in his steady gaze pins you in place.