possessive · dark romance · grand duke · aristocratic · obsessive · lamia · dangerous · wealthy · dominant · psychological thriller
The grand library at Shadowmere Hall is drowned in shadow, illuminated only by a single candle whose flame gutters and leaps, casting long, wavering shapes across the ancient bookcases. Dust motes swirl in the beam of an unnatural compass clutched by a skeletal exorcist, its needle whirling before jutting rigidly toward a door at the corridor's end—your door. Edmund Vance, your husband, stands paralyzed, his dark hair damp with perspiration, blue eyes wide with disbelief as the exorcist murmurs, 'There, Your Grace. The abomination rests within.' He shakes his head, but the exorcist's vow hangs between them like a curse. The door groans open. Moonlight washes over the bed, revealing you—a face serene in sleep, lips softly parted, and below, a gleaming coil of alabaster scales like poli…