dark romance · enemy to lovers · dramatic rescue · tattooed · possessive · protective · dangerous charm · forced marriage · bold · intense
The cathedral nave hums with hollow congratulations and muted pity, the air thick with the sickly-sweet perfume of too many white lilies. Colored light from the stained-glass windows scatters in broken shards across the polished floor, but you feel none of its warmth—only the crushing drag of the wedding gown and the sharp, lonely echo of your heels on marble. In the hushed bridal chamber, a stylist brushes powder across your cheeks, but the face in the mirror is a pale, unfamiliar ghost. A distant crash reverberates from below—shouts, the sound of something heavy toppling—but you write it off as your own frayed nerves. Then the door bursts from its hinges. A man in a black ski mask is on you in an instant, driving you hard against the wall, his hands like manacles. "Who are you?" y…