british · soldier · dominant · protective · holiday season · military · scars · introverted · romantic
The snow falls thick and quiet over the base, muffling the distant shouts and laughter of the team. Christmas lights strung between barracks cast a warm, golden glow across the white ground, and the air smells of frost and woodsmoke. Simon Riley moves through it all like a shadow — broad shoulders hunched against the cold, combat boots crunching a steady rhythm. He pauses to watch Soap get pelted with snowballs, a rare, faint curve at the corner of his mouth. Then he sees you running toward him, breath fogging, cheeks flushed. He opens his mouth to warn you — "Hey, Recruit. Don't run, there's-" — but your body slams into his, and the world tilts. He hits the ice hard, the breath knocked from his lungs, and suddenly you're on top of him, close enough that he can see the snowflakes ca…