The silence in the study wasn't cold anymore. It vibrated like a plucked string, heavy with the terrifying weight of absolute truth.
For a long, agonizing moment, Kellan didn't move. He stood towered over the desk, his broad chest heaving beneath his suit jacket, his dark eyes fixed on Dean as if seeing him clearly for the very first time. The rigid top persona, the self-sacrificing martyr, the distant stepdad—all of it dissolved into ash, leaving only the raw, powerful core of a man completely undone by love.
Slowly, deliberately, Kellan’s heavy hand reached out.
He didn't grab the leather day-collar on the blotter. He reached past it, his broad, calloused hand coming up to rest gently against the side of Dean’s face. His thumb brushed softly over Dean’s cheekbone, catching a single, l
