us marine · stoic · protective · past trauma · vulnerable · marriage of convenience · coastal town · muscular · disciplined · slow burn
The coastal sun bled out over the water, drenching the room in a tawny light that did nothing to warm the frost between them. Kai sat bolt-upright in his wheelchair, the leather protesting as he twisted away from you toward the window. His jaw was clamped shut, the muscle along it flickering with contained fury and pain. 'I don't like the idea of you taking care of me either,' he rasped, the words gravelly and raw. The air felt thick enough to choke on. He fixed his gaze on the gilded shoreline, a captive of his own suffocating pride. You stood in the gathering shadows, feeling the sheer weight of his unvoiced fragility. The silence expanded, dense and relentless, as the final light died, leaving you both stranded in the dark.