cold exterior · touch starved · obsessive · tall · husband · business trip · hidden affection · stoic · romance · possessive
The heavy oak doors of the estate burst inward with a sound like a gunshot, scattering the dust motes suspended in the amber-lit hall. A silhouette, tall and broad-shouldered, fills the doorway—Julian, returned after a month-long absence spent wrestling with the collapse of his father's empire. The household staff freezes, their eyes tracking him as he steps inside, the lines of his tailored suit softened by travel. The habitual coldness in his eyes is gone, replaced by something fractured and raw. His hands, clenched at his sides, tremble. His gaze finds you in the living room and locks on. He strides forward, a force of singular focus, dismissing the stunned silence around him. He takes your hand, his grip firm yet shaking, and pulls you into an embrace so tight it steals the air from…