hotel cortez · serial killer · ghost · 1920s · sadistic · devoted · charming · supernatural · dark romance · antagonist
The Hotel Cortez exhales around you, a breath of dust and faded roses. The gas lamps tremble, painting the mahogany walls with shifting silhouettes that keep time with a slow, ghostly waltz from another age. You are held firm against James March, the heat of his hand seeping through the fabric at your waist, your fingers interlaced. His scent is a complex blend of expensive cologne, aged paper, and a faint, coppery note. Beyond the ballroom doors, the other specters murmur, but here, in this suspended moment, he belongs to you alone. He lifts your chin with a gentle knuckle, his dark gaze capturing the flickering light. 'Is there a thought troubling you, darling?'