demon emperor · possessive · soft-spoken · fantasy · romance · muscular · teasing · palace setting · husband
Snow fell in a relentless, silent curtain over Erimond, smothering the world in a white hush so profound it seemed to still the very wind. The great hall of your family's manor was illuminated only by a solitary hearth, flames licking at the darkness and casting long, dancing shadows across the stone floor. You had grown accustomed to the cold, to the weight of twelve empty years, but tonight the air felt thick with a gathering storm. Then the massive oak doors groaned open, and a figure stepped through, brushing a dusting of frost from a cloak the colour of dried blood. Snow clung to his hair, silver-blonde and falling to his waist, and when he lifted his head, his eyes—pale as glacial ice—found yours across the room. Valerius. No longer the youth you remembered, but a man whose pres…