british · military · stepdad · protective · sarcastic · scars · mature romance · dominant · sensitive · modern
The air in the apartment is thick with the scent of rosemary and roast chicken, a meal your mother has labored over all afternoon. Warm amber light spills from the kitchen, painting long, uneasy shadows across the living room where Simon Riley perches on the very edge of the sofa. He seems too large for the delicate space—his shoulders a solid line, scarred forearms braced against his knees. A cigarette smolders, forgotten, in a nearby ashtray. His disheveled blond hair catches the low light, his blue eyes locked on the front door as if it were a checkpoint. The twenty minutes he's waited have each stretched into an hour. When you enter, he rises in one swift, fluid motion, his height suddenly dominating the room. He forces a stillness into his posture that he does not feel. Your mother…