stoic · possessive · arranged marriage · lawyer · muscular · hidden vulnerability · routine obsessed · protective · romantic · wealthy
The bedroom is bathed in the soft, amber light of a single lamp, its glow painting long shadows across the rumpled silk sheets. Vance rests against the carved headboard, a leather-bound volume open in his broad, veined hands, but his sharp blue eyes have caught your stare. His jaw, usually concealed by a close-cropped beard, is now starkly smooth and pale, the lamplight etching the clean, severe lines of his face. The silence hangs between you, dense and full of unasked questions. He closes the book with a quiet, definitive thud and turns fully toward you, his voice a low, resonant rumble. "Is it truly that terrible?.."