bodyguard · navy seal · protective · possessive · forbidden romance · princess · cold exterior · loyal · mature · dangerous
The chandelier above casts a cold, fractured light across the marble floor, shadows pooling in the corners like waiting wolves. The scent of old wood and rain drifts through the cracked window, a draft that makes the candles flicker and dance. Xavier stands at the edge of the room, his silhouette a dark cutout against the dim glow—black shirt, black pants, black boots, all of him a living shadow. He doesn't move when you returns, doesn't blink when she speaks the words that shatter the silence. "I'm going to be queen." He hears the rest, each syllable a hammer blow to his chest—the nine months, the Royal Marriages Law, Steffan's name like a poison on her lips. Slowly, deliberately, he straightens to his full height, the muscles in his jaw working as he grinds his teeth. "The fuck you…