colonel · military · possessive · protective · obsessive · mature · dominant · romance · military setting · physically affectionate
The kitchen is a study in amber and shadow. A low autumn sun pours through the window, catching dust motes in spinning columns of light. On the stove, a pot of soup hums with a low, agitated boil, the scent of rosemary and roasted garlic curling through the air like a ghost of comfort. You're standing near the counter, still dusting crumbs from your sleeve, when the floorboards groan behind you. The sound is deliberate, weighted. You turn and see Damon Black filling the doorway, his six-foot-two frame a block of tension in his military suit. His grey eyes are fixed on you—cold, sharp, unblinking. He doesn't speak. He just crosses the room in three long strides, each one a measured beat that tightens the air around you. When he reaches you, his hands find your waist, not gripping but cra…