Originally written as a fanfic by me elsewhere. Characters are not my own.
~
Lieutenant Mason was always a little sullen, like a storm was forever brewing behind his dark lashes and a war-hardened gaze. He was the kind of man who carried his burdens like a second skin, buried deep down beneath the surface scars. You saw him often-you were often rostered on to his wing of the clinic. Each time, he'd reveal just enough about the past to make your heart ache for what he kept hidden. Tales of desert heat, blistering sun and empty silence between bursts of gunfire. And when he was in a pleasant mood, he'd ask you questions about your career, or if you were having a good day.
But he never talked about how he ended up in a wheelchair. Never about why he needed constant blood tests, nerve scans, or why he clenched his jaw when you touched certain parts of his back in routine examinations. You didn't ask, he didn't tell. Things could be just as they were.
Today was like any other. You were taking his bloods, keeping your voice light and professional, steady by design. Small talk, pleasantries,
'you're looking well's'
, and asking him to butt out his cigarette whilst you were in the examination room. He sat in his chair, broad shoulders almost concealed under a soft, dark, half-buttoned shirt, sleeves pushed up just enough to squeeze the breadth of his forearms. A tank top clinging beneath, showing just enough of the hair on his chest to draw your eyes and make your fingers twitch with a ridiculous, sinful urge to feel. The veins on his arms. The dark line of his throat. It all pulled at you. You shook your head, trying to ignore it.
You bent over to grab the cuff off of your tray, eyes trained on him in your peripheral vision. That's when you caught it. His eyes dropped, clear as day, to the dip in your neckline. Bold. Lazy.
Wanting.
You could feel his gaze settle there, hot and unashamed. Attention that you hadn't asked for, but was certainly welcome.
You should've called him out. Asked him to stop. Anything.
You didn't.
Instead, you let a small smile play at your lips as you turned back to him, pretending you didn't feel the heat rising to your cheeks.
"Blood pressure first," you murmured politey, looping the cuff around his thick bicep.
Let him look,
you thought.
Let him want.
He deserved something that felt good, for once. And maybe, just maybe, you wanted to be the one to give that to him. To be the thing that helped him forget about the ghosts that kept him awake at night.
"You look nice today," he said suddenly, voice low, velvet.
You glanced up at him, eyes locking onto his blue ones, arching a brow. "I look the same every day. It's kind of the uniform."
He tilted his head, that flirtatious, almost-smile that revealed itself only when you teased him tugging at his lips. "Yeah, maybe, you always look good in white. But today... you look
really
pretty, darling. Do something different to your hair?"
The word
darling
curled in your stomach like smoke. Uninvited. Unapologetic. Your eyes drifted to anywhere but your patient. "I got it cut yesterday," you said steadily.
You turned back to your tray of supplies to cover the sudden heat on your cheeks, but you could feel him still watching. Eyes dragging slowly across your form like he wished he could his tongue.
"I need to draw some blood," you said, voice a little too steady. You reached for his arm, flipping it over so the softer side of his forearm was faced upward. The moment your fingers touched his skin, the room seemed to hold its breath. He was warm. Solid. Still. But his pulse jumped beneath your touch.
You looked up without meaning to.
His face was
just there
--closer than it should've been. His eyes weren't just staring at you. They were
hungry
. Focused. His scent filled your nose: tobacco and gunpowder, undercut by that minty cologne he always wore. That same scent you'd caught faintly every time he left the room, but now it filled your lungs, heavy and masculine and far too intimate. It hit you low in your belly. A soft, tight, traitorous flutter.
You swallowed. "This okay, Mason?"
He nodded slowly. His eyes flicked to your lips.
Then to your neck.
Then back up.
You should've stepped away. You should've said something.
Anything!
But a part of you knew that the tension had been winding tight between you for months now, and you'd be lying if you said you wouldn't jump if the opportunity presented itself. It felt like a dam about to burst. Your body was tuned to every small movement he made.
His hand reached up, slow, deliberate, fingers brushing the white fabric of your collar. He didn't pull yet, he just rested them there, waiting. Asking in silence.
When you didn't move, when your breath caught in your throat,
when you didn't push him away-
he took that as an answer.
He tugged. Just enough. And you let him.
Then he kissed you. Hot, wet, unguarded, open-mouthed. His lips were demanding, his stubble scraping deliciously against your skin as his fingers fisted the fabric near your collarbone. Your knees nearly gave way at the sudden heat of the moment, at the months of tension snapping all at once like a taut bowstring.
It wasn't sweet. It was needy.
But you kissed him back like it had been
your
idea all along.
Suddenly he moved, urgently pulling you into his lap, hands gripping your waist with raw need. You barely had time to let out a gasp before you were tugged down against him, hips anchored to his. The strength in those big arms caught you off guard, but you didn't fight it. You let him guide you, let yourself melt into his body like he needed you as badly as air.