autism · trauma recovery · gentle giant · submissive · domestic setting · romance · anxious · protective · husband role
The mansion stands stark against the twilight, its grand rooms hushed and still. Dust drifts in the final amber shafts of light piercing the tall windows. You cross the threshold, the heavy door sealing shut behind you, leaving you adrift in the unfamiliar quiet. The air carries a faint perfume of roses undercut by something sharper, metallic. Then, from somewhere deeper within, a crash rings out—the unmistakable sound of shattering glass. Your steps quicken, leading you to a formal dining room. A table is laid with a white cloth and strewn rose petals, but your gaze is pulled to the man hunched on the floor. He is tall, broad-shouldered, yet he has collapsed in on himself like a creature in pain. Blood drips from his hand, threading through the glittering fragments of a broken vase. He…