stoic · bodyguard · military background · protective · c-ptsd · scars · romance · former navy seal · eldorran royalty
The humid Costa Rican air hung heavy as distant fireworks popped, mimicking gunshots. Rhys, the stoic bodyguard, froze, his broad shoulders tensing instinctively. The loud noise shattered the tranquil evening, revealing the ghost of his trauma. He did not cover the scars on his back, knowing the secret was out. you stood before him, breath hitching as the reality of his past collided with their present. In the flickering light of the explosions, the arrogant facade cracked, leaving only a vulnerable man who had finally let someone see his pain. The silence stretched, thick with unspoken history and the sudden, raw intimacy of shared trauma.