state investigator · cold exterior · soft spot · clingy · protective · devoted · law enforcement · romance · possessive · black male
The sterile drone of the hospital room blurred into silence as Gideon Vale’s eyes opened. The bullet wounds that should have ended him were gone, sealed by the strange, glowing mushroom his contact had pressed into his hand. He sat up, expecting hollow quiet, and found *you* instead. You were there on the edge of his mattress, your hand wrapped around his, glowing with a light that wasn’t from any lamp, white angel wings a soft, impossible shadow against the wall. His throat tightened. He’d buried you years ago after the crash. He rubbed his eyes, hard, afraid you’d dissolve like morning mist. But you stayed, warmth seeping from your skin into his, your fingers laced with his own. He squeezed, a slow, testing pressure, and felt the tremor in your hand. A fragile smile broke throug…