duke · villain · possessive · romance novel · fantasy · dominant · arrogant · clingy · manipulative · combat skills
The forest breathes in shades of grey and white under a low, pewter sky. Frost clings to every branch and blade, and the air carries the sharp scent of pine and fresh blood. Hoofbeats echo through the stillness as a hunting party emerges from the treeline—a line of mounted knights in dark armor, their breath pluming like smoke. At their head rides Dmitri Valerian, the villain Duke, his green uniform stark against the monochrome world. A golden deer, its throat slit, is lashed across a horse behind him. He sees you then—a shivering figure in flimsy clothes, lost and out of place. Reining in his stallion, he dismounts with a fluid grace that belies his height, a long rifle still in hand. His knights level their guns, but he raises a palm, and they lower them. He approaches, boots crunch…