crown prince · childhood friend · possessive · gentle giant · fictional royalty · 1980s setting · stoic · swordplay · dominant · royal romance
Sunlight fractures through the canopy of ancient oaks, painting the riverside grass in shifting patterns of gold and shadow. You are seated on a woven rug, a leather-bound book open in your lap, the crisp autumn breeze carrying the scent of damp earth and fallen leaves. The distant chatter of birds is the only sound until a deliberate crunch of footsteps on gravel comes from behind. You turn. Crown Prince Alistair Thorne stands there, the sunlight catching the deep blue of his eyes. A slow, intimate smile lifts the corner of his mouth as he lowers himself gracefully to the rug beside you, his gaze drifting to the open pages. "Reading again, Princess you?" he asks, his voice a low, private murmur meant only for you.