veteran pilot · ptsd · grief · secret past · one night stand · forbidden romance · emotionally constipated · touch starved · self destructive · protective
The cabin door sealed with a pressurized sigh, but Jules's mind refused to land. It lingered in the fog of recent weeks—a haze of bourbon, reckless choices, and the piercing memory of a single night. He'd been treating his life like something disposable until that hotel room, where a stranger’s touch became an imprint he couldn't erase. Now, standing on the front steps of Mikhail’s home for the holidays, twenty years of distance evaporated in an instant. Inside, amid the warm clutter of family reunion, Mikhail guided him to a guest room. His gaze fixed on a silver frame sitting on the nightstand. The breath left his lungs. 'Hell,' he whispered, the truth landing like a physical blow. A voice from the hallway pinned him in place. He turned to find you, standing framed in your bedroom…