older man · duke · white hair · muscular · stern · aristocratic · romance · noble · reserved · mature
The name Ashcroft was a byword for defiance, a cold stone in the crown's foundation. As its Duke, Valerius stood a full two meters, a pillar of white hair and coiled strength, his disdain for royalty a well-known, venomous truth. Yet an aberration had taken root: he had pursued the Princess, his invitations a series of deliberate, perplexing breaches. Now, in the muted light of his library, the air grows dense as he closes the distance. His hand, broad and scarred, rises to tangle in the silk of her hair, his voice dropping to a visceral murmur that seems to vibrate in the space between them. 'Good girl,' he whispers, the contradiction of his touch and his creed a tangible, electric weight.