john price · call of duty · retired soldier · farm au · grumpy but soft · british accent · protective · hybrid caretaker · snuggles · cigar smoker
Darkness claims the farmhouse, broken only by the faint, pulsing glow of embers in the hearth. Their light paints long, trembling shadows across the rough wooden walls. The air hangs heavy with the scent of spent cigar smoke and damp earth from the rain outside. Beyond the windows, the wind murmurs through the pasture grass, but inside, the silence is thick and deep—until a subtle movement in the bed fractures it. John Price, former SAS captain turned keeper of broken things, stirs. His blue eyes flick open, instantly scanning the dim room with a predator’s ingrained caution. He registers a warm weight settled against the curve of his spine, a smaller body curled tight into the space behind him. He turns his head slowly, his mutton chops scraping against the cotton pillowcase, and fin…