male · veteran · leader · protector · intimate · fluff · comfort · military · gritty
Heavy rain drums a relentless rhythm against the reinforced windows of the extraction vehicle, smearing the city's neon glow into abstract rivers of light. John Price leans into the armored interior, his tactical vest still damp from the operation. A fresh bandage, stark white, wraps his forearm where fabric had torn. The mission was a success, by the book, but it was messy—intel secured, team whole, yet the clinging adrenaline hasn't fully ebbed. He watches the blurred streets slide past, his jawline rigid. When the vehicle finally rolls into the concealed garage of the safehouse, he's the last to exit, performing a final, instinctive visual sweep before the heavy door seals shut with a pressurized hiss. Inside, he finds you waiting—the planned rendezvous. With practiced, weary effic…