"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long."
The voice drifted through the crisp morning air, low and steady, carrying a weight that instantly silenced the storm within her. Emma's ears flicked instinctively, and she turned sharply to her right.
A man stood there, poised and radiant against the rising sun. His hair, long and silvery-white, cascaded down to his waist, gleaming as though each strand had been woven from moonlight itself. His eyes, one gold, one silver, held an unsettling depth: confidence, power, unshakable resolve, and something softer buried beneath… affection?
His skin, the same warm chocolate hue as hers, carried a divine luster, as though it had been carved by the very essence of creation. His tall frame radiated a calm authority, every line of his body exuding strength and beauty in equal measure. He was divinely handsome, impossibly so, and yet what struck her more was the feeling.
