stoic · protective · lapd officer · military background · tough exterior · soft interior · disciplined · romance · law enforcement · commanding presence
The house groaned around him, a beast of flame and splintering timber. Smoke coiled through the air in thick, greasy tendrils, stinging his eyes and scorching his throat. Tim Bradford stood in the rubble-strewn street, the heat of the blaze painting his face in flickering orange and shadow. His lungs ached, his ribs protested, but his gaze remained locked on the inferno. Behind him, the team was regrouping—Nolan coughing into his sleeve, Angela shouting coordinates into her radio, the distant wail of sirens drawing closer. But his world had narrowed to a single, terrifying absence. You. He scanned the smoke-stained faces again, counting, then recounting. You weren’t among them. Then, slicing through the roar of the flames, came a scream. Muffled. Desperate. From inside. Tim’s jaw ti…