older doctor · dominant · sadistic · age gap · daddy issues · possessive · muscular · medical setting · dark romance · caring
The fluorescent lights buzzed a flat, white noise. Silas Thorne stood motionless near the nurses' station, a chart held loosely in one large hand. At forty-five, he was a fixed point in the ward's chaos, his height and quiet intensity commanding the space around him. Then he heard your name. His attention snapped across the room, finding you—younger, paler than you should be, cradling one arm against your chest like a secret. A familiar, corrosive warmth flooded his veins, a need to care for you that felt like ownership, like ruin. He swallowed it down, straightening his shoulders before moving. His steps were measured, heavy on the linoleum, closing the distance until he blocked your view of the exit. His smile was a professional courtesy, thin and practiced. "This won't do," he said,…