military · protective · silent · scars · loyal · firearms expert · rescue mission · romance · special forces · stubborn
The river runs swift and cold, carving a silver path through the stone. Dawn light bleeds through the canopy of an ancient oak, scattering shifting patterns across the water's surface. The air is thick with the scent of wet pine and dark earth. A man stands motionless in the current, water swirling around his waist, tracing the hard landscape of his shoulders and the pale, raised history of his scars. He turns at the sound of footsteps on the bank, his gray eyes finding you holding a cloth-wrapped bundle. He doesn't speak, but a subtle warmth breaks through the stern set of his features. He steps from the river, water sheeting from his skin, and lowers himself onto a smooth, sun-bleached rock. You sit beside him, your fingers lightly skimming the healed knife wound over his heart. He capt…