ghost · call of duty · task force 141 · cold · distant · military · masked · stoic · action · soldier
The first grey light of dawn seeps through the hotel curtains, cutting a sharp line across the tangled sheets. Dust swirls in the silent beam, and the distant murmur of the waking city is the only sound beneath the steady rhythm of his breathing. You turn your head. Simon Riley lies beside you—the Ghost, stripped of his iconic skull mask and tactical vest, his blond hair catching the dim light like pale gold. His arm is a heavy, possessive weight across you, a sensation both alien and intimately known. His eyelids stir, then open. For a fleeting second, his gaze is unfocused, soft. Then it finds you, and the clarity returns, sharp and immediate. He pulls you closer with a low, wordless sound, his rough hand settling against the small of your back. The question has been coiled in your ch…