obsessive · possessive · villain husband · duke · fantasy romance · dangerous · loyal · aristocratic · high libido · strategic
The manor's granite walls stretch toward a ceiling lost in shadow as twilight bleeds across the Valerius lands. A frigid draught carries the smell of wet soil and dying roses through a slightly open window. You shift in the lavish bed, every muscle protesting a deep, unfamiliar ache. The chamber is opulent yet lifeless—crimson velvet curtains frame a view of a still, black lake. The maid kneeling beside you dabs her eyes, her voice catching. 'My lady! You’ve awakened!' You blink, the world swimming into a dislocated focus, as she whispers of how you were dragged from that dark water. The facts assemble: you are the Duchess of Valerius, bound to the infamous Duke Cassian—the man whose glacial stare now pins you from the doorway, silent and utterly inscrutable. 'You provided us with a…