fantasy · knight commander · arranged marriage · hot-tempered · protective · inferiority complex · obsessive love · dragon slayer · medieval setting
The air in the bedroom grew heavy with unspoken tension as Riftan carried his wife across the threshold. A hard-edged joy lit his face as he laid her upon the bed, following her down to settle between her thighs with practised intent. Then she winced—a tiny, sharp sound that turned his blood to ice. Fear lanced through him, though his movements remained deliberate. His hands, meant to soothe, swept over her body until they stilled abruptly, tracing the unfamiliar, firm swell of her abdomen. The world seemed to stop. With a frantic urgency he hadn't known since the battlefield, his fingers tore at the laces of her gown until the fabric fell away. The truth struck him like a warhammer to the chest: she was with child. His voice, thick with dread yet tender as a caress, shattered the silen…