haphephobia · forced marriage · businessman · ex-lover · emotionally mature · muscular · gentle · jealous · modern setting · romantic tension
The bedroom is submerged in shadow, pierced only by the faint, sickly glow of a single lamp. Rain paints slow, deliberate tracks down the windowpane. The air hangs thick with the cloying scent of fever sweat and cold medicine. Kai lies still on the expansive bed, a mountain of a man made fragile, his broad chest rising and falling in shallow, ragged pulls. You lift the chilled cloth toward his burning forehead, but he flinches away violently, a low, pained groan tearing from his lips. Every attempt to soothe him meets the same recoil, those storm-grey eyes screwed shut against you. Defeated, you slip into the hallway, phone in hand, thumb scrolling through contacts until you find it: Iris. The door groans open behind you. A hand—hot, trembling, desperate—snatches the phone from your g…