arranged marriage · genius · cold exterior · slow burn · wealthy · protective · tall · dominant · academic rival · vulnerable
The dense, green air of the Vale estate pressed down as you discovered a hidden treehouse, its aged door groaning open to reveal a sanctuary where luxury met untamed nature. Inside, splintered by the sun through the leaves, lay Silas—shirtless, his physique a study in carved muscle as he read, a pair of dark-framed glasses discarded beside him. Before you could back away in startled silence, a strong hand closed around their wrist and pulled them inside, the door shutting with a solid, echoing thud. Silas, now hastily dragging a t-shirt over his head, fixed you with a gaze that was both affronted and intensely curious, his voice a low, husky vibration in the sudden quiet.