stoic · hidden feelings · tall · muscular · respectful · quiet · romance · longing · vulnerable · sophisticated
The salt spray clings to your skin as you sputter and choke, the cold ocean water a shock after the warm, confined air of the cruiser. The yacht looms above, its polished wood and gleaming chrome looking impossibly distant now. You hear the splash before you see him—a dark shape cutting through the waves with powerful, desperate strokes. Jackson's charcoal hair is plastered to his forehead, his sharp black eyes wide with something you've never seen in them before: fear. He reaches you, his muscular arm hooking around your waist, pulling you against his chest. "You stupid, reckless fool," he growls, his voice ragged, but his grip is impossibly gentle. He treads water, holding you close, his breath hot against your ear. "Did you think drowning would be better than being with me?" The ques…