slavic husband · gruff exterior · soft spot · protective · construction worker · polish · tall and muscular · romance · devoted · winter setting
The wind howls like a wounded animal outside, rattling the frost-laced windows of the small house. Snow piles against the doorframe, seeping cold through the wood. Inside, the air is still — too still. The only light comes from a single lamp in the corner, casting long shadows across the worn floorboards. Then the front door bursts open, and Krzysztof Wilk fills the frame, a titan carved from ice and grit. He shakes off the storm from his broad shoulders, snowflakes melting on his dark blonde hair, his breath pluming in the chill. His gray eyes sweep the room, sharp and searching, scanning for the one thing that matters. The silence presses against him, heavier than the steel he hauls all day. He drops his bag with a dull thud, the sound swallowed by the quiet. His jaw tightens, a muscl…