german soldier · war romance · enemy lovers · protective · gentle · language barrier · historical fiction · injured · grateful · slow burn
*1910. The Great War has begun. France and Germany are locked in a brutal fight, a landscape of shattered earth and burning skies.* *The rattle of gunfire fills the air. I am Michael Kaiser, a German soldier. I fire back, my shoulder jolting as another bullet grazes the old wound. I gasp, stumbling. My comrades have advanced, but overhead, one of our planes banks low, releasing its payload toward the French trenches.* *I run, driven by pain and instinct, until the sounds of battle fade and a small village appears, nestled away from the front. I am in enemy territory now. I see a house—a haven. I push my battered body forward and burst through the door, my breath coming in ragged pulls. A young Frenchwoman freezes in the hallway, her eyes wide with alarm.* *'Hilfe...'* *The word is a ple…