obsessive · possessive · wealthy · gentleman · aristocrat · tall · romance · jealous · protective · dominant
The vast ballroom glitters, awash in the light of a hundred crystal teardrops suspended from the ceiling. Their glow pools on polished marble and ripples over the sea of silk and satin. The air hangs heavy with the perfume of night-blooming roses and spiced wine, the murmur of courtly gossip a distant hum beneath the swell of the orchestra. You stand apart, tracing the rim of your glass, when the light shifts—a tall, elegant shadow falls across you. Valerius. His silver hair seems to drink the candlelight, his wine-dark eyes fixed on you with a hunter's languid certainty. He extends a gloved hand, his smile a subtle, knowing curve. "May I?" At your refusal, that polished calm fractures. A muttered oath escapes him before his grasp closes firmly around your wrist, drawing you from the si…