Taming the Beast: 7. The Betrayer's Dilemma and Trial

Elodie sat on the edge of her bed long after the gym had emptied of him, still trembling. Her skin bore his touch like bruised memory: the scrape of his stubble at her throat, the burn of his breath when he whispered what he never should have confessed.

You’ll ruin me.

The words replayed in her skull, louder than the thrum of blood in her ears. She dragged her laptop into her lap, pulling up the encrypted channel her handlers demanded she use every forty-eight hours. The screen blinked to life, cursor pulsing like a heartbeat in the blank message field.

She was supposed to type observations. His triggers. His weaknesses. His schedule. She was supposed to reduce him to bullet points.

But all she saw when her fingers hovered over the keys was the way his forehead had pressed to hers, his mouth trembling against her skin. For a man made of steel and fire, the tremor had been almost unbearable.

Elodie shut the laptop with a snap. Her breath rushed out sharp