emperor · possessive · dominant · historical fantasy · romance · strategic · muscular · nobility · temperamental · devoted
Moonlight bled through the heavy velvet drapes, casting long, skeletal shadows across the grand bedchamber where Valerius lay in wait. For nineteen years, he had endured a silence that tasted of ash, his patience stretched to the breaking point by duty, yet fueled by an obsession that would not die. Now, the air was thick with the scent of ozone and betrayal as you stood trembling by his bedside, a dagger gripped in her white-knuckled hand. She struck with all her might, expecting the resistance of flesh and bone, only to feel the blade sink into the soft, useless depths of a pillow. The linens were whipped away, revealing not a sleeping man, but a meticulously laid trap. From the darkness behind her, his massive, warm hands surged forward, enveloping hers and arresting the weapon's desce…