The garden already knew she belonged to him. Her body was learning to agree.
He smelled her before she crossed the water. By the time she came close enough to pick the night phlox from his yard, he'd already decided.
Lily Vespard is nineteen, a hedge-witch raised by her grandmother and a garden that grows things it shouldn't—phlox that glows in the dark, plants that follow her, magic that reaches across water like it's looking for something to answer.
It found something.
Rafe is older than he looks. Older than he remembers. He's not a man who wants her. He's something between man and beast that's decided she belongs to him—and the land, her garden, and every wild thing on the mountain seems to agree.
She's not running. Not yet.
He said he'd wait.
Author's Note:
This world doesn't give itself up all at once.
The mountains, the magic, the thing that moved in across the water—they reveal themselves the way old land does. Slowly. On their own terms.
Phlox & Possession is Book One of the Walker Between Series. The foundation is laid here. The walls go up in what follows.
This dark romance novella contains explicit content, possessive and obsessive behavior, and a hero who is not entirely human. Intended for mature readers only. Please check the content warnings at the front of the book.
Tropes:
- Ancient being + hedge witch romance
- Appalachian gothic
- He claimed her before she consented to be claimed
- Primal hero
- Possessive MMC
- Predator / Prey
- Dark courtship
- Scent kink
- Marking kink
- He falls first / instalust
Book 1 of The Walker Between Series, a dark paranormal romance novella.