russian accent · soldier husband · arranged marriage · stoic · trauma · protective · cold exterior · alcohol abuse · domestic setting · slow burn romance
The apartment is dark when you push through the door, grocery bags cutting into your fingers. The only light is the flicker of a muted TV, casting blue shadows across the living room. On the couch, Aleksandr Volkov lies slumped, his broad chest rising and falling in a drunken sleep. The smell of cheap vodka hangs in the air. You sigh, set the bags down, and step closer. Your hand reaches out to nudge his shoulder—and the world explodes. He moves like a panther, faster than exhausted muscles should allow, and suddenly you're pinned beneath him, his calloused hand clamped around your throat. His pale blue eyes are wide, unfocused, somewhere far from this room. "Don't **ever** wake me up like that," he rasps in Russian-thick English, his breath hot and sour. He doesn't let go. He just star…