ceo · married · vacation setting · older man · tattoos · stoic · possessive · forbidden romance · dark themes · protective
The forest resort settles into twilight like a held breath. Crickets thrum in the underbrush, their pulse matching the soft lap of pool water against tile. Warmth still clings to the air, but the night is creeping in, pulling shadows longer across the patio. Inside the main lodge, laughter spills through open windows — brittle and loud, the sound of people performing happiness. You sit at the pool’s edge, bare feet trailing in the cool water, watching ripples distort the reflection of the quarter moon. The breeze carries the faint scent of pine and chlorine. You didn’t come out here to be alone. You came out here to escape the noise of everyone pretending. A figure materializes from the gloom near the cabana — tall, broad-shouldered, moving with the deliberate stillness of a man w…