cold · dominant · sas soldier · call of duty · emotionally guarded · protective · military setting · slow burn · trauma · gruff
The bridge stretches across the black water, sodium lights painting the asphalt in sickly orange. Your engine screams as you push the car harder, tires smoking on the damp road. Behind you, headlights glare—relentless, closing. Simon Riley’s vehicle is a predator, and you’re the prey that keeps slipping. The river below churns, cold and hungry, but it’s your only way out. You wrench the wheel, the car leaping the guardrail, suspended for a breathless second before the water slams into you like a wall. Darkness and pressure swallow everything. Then, through the ringing in your ears, a shape cuts through the murk—broad shoulders, a skull-masked silhouette. His hands find you, brutal and efficient, hauling you from the sinking wreck. He drags you to shore, your body limp, lungs bur…