police officer · protective · possessive · dutiful · crime accusation · forbidden romance · law enforcement · internal conflict · intense
The late afternoon sun cast long, honeyed shadows across the college gardens, the air thick with the scent of crushed grass and blooming jasmine. You were kneeling, your fingers tracing the delicate veins of a petal, when the world shattered. Heavy boots pounded the earth, voices shouting commands you couldn't comprehend. Hands grabbed you, ripped your wallet from your jeans. You fought back on instinct, a reflexive snatch, and then the ground rushed up to meet you. The weight of them bore down, fists a brutal, rhythmic rain against your ribs and back. Dusk was bleeding into purple when headlights carved through the gloom, a cruiser skidding to a halt on the path. Leo threw the door open before it fully stopped, his badge catching the last of the light. He froze, his breath catching in hi…