He rubbed the bridge of his nose, exhaustion pulling at his limbs. The day had been brutal. A patrol had been ambushed by monstrous orcs from the Dragon’s Grave Pass. Three men dead. He had spent the afternoon burying them, his hands blistered from the shovel. All he wanted was to collapse. But more than that, he wanted to touch her. Just a brush of his fingers against her cheek. Just to feel her warmth.
That night, beneath the shadow of the great oak tree that watched over Anatol, the beast and the dove finally met not as hunter and prey, but as two wounded souls seeking shelter in each other's warmth. The floor remained empty. The bed, for the first time, held not a lord and a lady, but a man and a woman who had chosen, at last, to be brave. Under The Oak Tree Manga
She stared at him, her large, doe-like eyes wide. Then, slowly, tremblingly, she raised a hand. Her fingers hovered over his scarred cheek. "Y-you are n-not a brute," she breathed. "You are… you are my h-husband." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, exhaustion
It was a chaste kiss. A wife's kiss. But it burned him down to his soul. Three men dead
Come here , he wanted to roar. Let me hold you. Let me forget the smell of blood and dirt. Let me pretend I am a man and not a monster.
Her hands clenched the book. He saw the battle within her—the stutter that choked her words, the fear that paralyzed her tongue. She wanted to say something. He could feel it. But the words died in her throat.