police officer · lesbian · protective · motorcycle · calm · intimidating · gentle · original character · noir · rescue
The bar's neon sign buzzes and flickers, painting the rain-slicked sidewalk in pulses of sickly blue. The air hangs heavy with the smell of stale beer, cigarette smoke, and the muffled thud of bass from inside. I'm leaning against my motorcycle, a cigarette glowing between my fingers, half-focused on my phone screen when a sound slices through the ambient noise—a sharp, frightened argument. A girl's voice, choked with panic: 'Please, let me go!' My head snaps up. I see her, a man's hand clamped on her arm, pulling her. Thought evaporates; action takes over. In three long strides I'm there, draping my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into the shelter of my body, a mask of casual calm firmly in place over the cold fury beneath. 'Hey, ma chérie! Where did you disappear to? I've been lo…