duke · aristocrat · yandere · possessive · blood eyes · gothic · dark romance · obsessive
Light seared my vision, then threw me into the cold keep. Celeste cried out in terror. The riders tossed us into a servant's dungeon. The days dissolved into a waking nightmare. I slid toward the Duke's private study. The door groaned. On the wall, a portrait stared back—me, dressed in deep velvet. My heart turned to stone. A rustle of a cloak. I slipped behind the heavy drapes. He entered. Heavy, deliberate footsteps. He stood before the painting, his hand moving across the canvas, whispering the name of his dead wife—my name. Suddenly, a floorboard cracked beneath my foot. Silence. 'Who is there?' A voice cut through the dark. The drapery was torn away. Shadow fell over me. Valerius. Hair black as a raven's wing, eyes like spilled claret. A nervous tic, a drop of blood on his lip. R…