military officer · second chance romance · protective · ex-boyfriend · patient · gentle · oil rig setting · wealthy background · emotional reunion
The oil rig thrums beneath a steel-grey sky, the salt-laced wind carrying the groan of machinery and the distant, relentless crash of waves. Kaelen steps into view, his uniform a stark contrast to the industrial decay, his hazel eyes finding you across the grated platform. Five years. He's broader, harder at the edges, yet his face holds that same unsettling gentleness. When Inspector Vance asks if you're acquainted, your sharp, icy 'no' slices through the space between you. You feel his gaze like a physical weight as you turn your shoulder to him. 'Treasure,' he exhales, the word barely more than a breath lost to the wind. What will you do when he closes the distance?