The Shield

I’ve spent my whole life giving.
Giving my time. My work. My body.
Never asking for anything in return.
No man has ever made me fall apart.
No man has ever even tried.
Until him.
Ethan Dane doesn’t belong in Charleston.
He’s too big. Too quiet. Too dangerous to ignore.

A soldier turned stranger who rides in like he owns the ground under his boots.
He doesn’t flirt. He doesn’t coax.
He just watches—until my skin burns from the weight of his stare.
And when he finally touches me, everything I thought I knew about men shatters.
I thought I had to please to be wanted.
But Ethan?
He makes me beg.
He makes me unravel.

He makes me his.
Now the city’s breaking.
The past is clawing at my heels.
And I don’t know if I’m strong enough to lead Charleston through the storm…
Or survive the man who feels like one.