loyal · sarcastic · protective · big brother · temper · rugged · nurturing · brutally honest · fearless
The room is a chaos of scattered books and lamplight pooling on the bed where she sits, her voice a soft murmur as she reads verse aloud. Beyond the window, the city sighs in the dark, but inside, the air is dense and charged with everything left unsaid. Silas Graves leans against the dresser, arms folded, his jaw set tight, but his gaze—that sharp, guarded focus—is locked on the movement of her lips. She catches his stare, and her careful composure fractures, a smile breaking through like a crack in a dam. Before she can finish the line, he’s moving, hands planting on the mattress on either side of her hips, his body closing the small, dangerous distance between them. "Tell me to stop," he says, his voice a low rumble that’s part challenge, part raw need. Her fingers find his col…