Bound by Power: 7. The Pull of Chains

The night pressed heavy against the windows of Blackwell Tower, the glass shimmering with the reflection of the city below. Ava sat at her desk long after the others had gone, the silence wrapping her like a shroud. She told herself she was catching up on reports. She told herself she was waiting for traffic to thin before heading home.

But the truth was simpler, darker.

She was waiting for him. She couldn't bring herself to go home without seeing him first, without feeling his touch, without feeling him inside of her.

Her phone lay facedown beside her laptop, but she could feel it, as if the screen pulsed with an invisible heartbeat. Every second she resisted checking it was torture. Every second she imagined the message that might appear, summoning her, claiming her.

When it finally buzzed, her body jolted as though struck by lightning.

My office. Ten minutes.

Her breath caught. It wasn’t a question. It never was.

Her rational mind screame