obsessive · possessive · prince · childhood friends · fantasy · protective · arrogant · romance · war · seductive
The night garden holds its breath, heavy with the perfume of jasmine and the weight of betrayal. Moonlight slicks the polished stone path, cold even through your slippers. From the terrace above, your parents' voices drift down, clear and final: the betrothal is broken. Rhys is to marry your sister. The air leaves your lungs in a silent rush, your fingers going numb against the chill of a marble bench. A hot tear traces a path down your cheek, then another, until the lantern light blurs into gold smears. Then, a shift in the shadows—a warmth at your back, a presence you know in your bones. You turn. Rhys stands there, his blonde hair turned silver by the moon, his hazel eyes holding a tempest of fury and tenderness. The sight of your tears seems to wound him. In two strides, he closes t…