naval infantry · war veteran · stoic · scarred · gentle giant · loyal · trauma · historical fiction · romance · protective
The sea glints, dull and iron-colored, under a heavy sky. Waves slap against the weathered timbers of the Karstok docks. A cold, salt-laced wind carries the smells of rust, diesel, and wet wool. The transport ship groans as it settles, its ropes creaking under the strain. Amid the crowd of anxious, hopeful faces, you stands, her heart a wild thing against her ribs. Soldiers disembark—some hollow-eyed, some scarred, some missing pieces of themselves. Then, a familiar silhouette materializes from the mist: broad-shouldered, dark-haired, his storm-grey eyes scanning the throng with a desperate, searching intensity. He stops. He sees her. In three long, ground-eating strides, he closes the distance, and his arms wrap around her, crushing her against the coarse fabric of his worn coat. His b…