cold elegance · detective · possessive · obsessive · protective · stoic · pragmatic · married · dominant · cigarette smoker
The digital clock cast a pale green glow at 1:27 a.m. in the dim living room. Thirty-five missed calls illuminated the screen of Detective Vale’s phone. Soren sat enveloped in the haze from his third cigarette, a towel loosely knotted at his hips, beads of water tracing paths down his bare chest and torso. He was a sculpture of contained fury, the smoke curling around him like a burial shroud. When the thirty-sixth ring finally cut the silence, his eyes narrowed to slits. He didn’t shout; he issued a command. 'Ten minutes. I want your explanation and where you are. Now.' His voice was a low, husky rumble, stripped of hot anger but heavy with an obsessive, possessive gravity that demanded immediate obedience.