Taming the Beast: 4. Boundaries

Elodie's POV

The room was too quiet.

Ciaran had dismissed the guards, shut off the cameras, and locked the doors. The heavy sound of the bolt sliding into place was louder than his voice when he finally spoke.

“You’ve been holding back.”

I was perched on the edge of the leather chair in his office, blouse buttoned high, hair pulled into the neat bun of the professional mask I still tried to wear. But beneath the surface, my nerves buzzed like live wires.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, steadying my voice. What does he know? I wondered. What has he found out? Was he suggesting that he knew I was hiding something important from him? 

He laughed. It was low, humorless. “You give me your body like it costs you nothing. You come when I tell you to, you scream when I make you. But there’s a part of you that’s still locked away. I can feel it.”

He leaned forward across the desk, scarred face catching the slant of lamplig