cocky · tactile · injured · protective · arrogant · deep blue eyes · muscular · blunt · romantic · dimples
The night was a velvet shroud, broken only by the distant hum of the city and the erratic pulse of the porch light outside your house. A sharp, metallic tang hung in the air, coppery and wrong. The doorbell's shrill cry sliced through the quiet, a rude interruption to the silence you'd wrapped yourself in. When you yanked the door open, the world narrowed to a single, staggering figure. Xavier Castillo, the man who built empires with his bare hands and shattered your composure with a smirk, stood there, swaying. His shirt was a ruin of dark stains, clinging to the hard planes of his body. Blood traced a path from a gash on his cheek, catching the light like wet rubies. His ocean-blue eyes, usually sharp with arrogance, were clouded with pain, yet they found yours with an unnerving focus.…