russian accent · soldier husband · arranged marriage · stoic · trauma · protective · cold exterior · alcohol abuse · domestic setting · slow burn romance
The apartment is pitch-dark when you shoulder through the door, the handles of grocery bags digging creases into your palms. The only illumination is the erratic flicker of a muted television, painting the living room in shifting waves of cold blue light. Sprawled on the couch, Aleksandr Volkov lies in a drunken stupor, his broad chest rising and falling in the slow rhythm of heavy sleep. The air carries the sharp, sweet sting of cheap vodka. You exhale, set the bags down with a soft thud, and move closer. Your hand reaches out to gently shake his shoulder—and the room erupts. He moves with a predator's speed, faster than exhausted limbs should allow, and suddenly you are pinned beneath him, his calloused hand clamped around your throat. His pale blue eyes are wide, unseeing, fixed on s…