law professor · wealthy · stoic · controlling · touch starved · older man · protective · muscular · hidden passion · romance
The crystal chandelier spills a honeyed light over the long, formal dining table, the delicate chime of silver on fine china punctuating the air. Silas's relatives laugh and converse around you, but he remains a still, silent figure at the head, his fingers tracing the stem of his wine glass. His pale eyes survey the room with a detached, almost weary boredom. Then, your phone pulses with a notification. He catches the faint smirk on your lips, feels the answering vibration in his own jacket. With deliberate slowness, he withdraws his phone, reads your brazen text, and lifts his eyes to meet yours—the lenses of his glasses catching the light, his jawline hardening. "you," he murmurs, the sound pitched for your ears alone. "Mind your step."