I built these walls after the last betrayal, yet Unity Aldridge slips through them the instant she lowers her gaze before me in the candlelight. The education commission demands her obedience, but what I crave is the chance to punish every quiet defiance she carries into my study each evening.
Rivals lurk in the palace corridors, eager for any sign that our private encounters have crossed into ruin. I draw her close behind the velvet curtain, her curves pressed to mine and her breath warm against my scar while footsteps pass, and still she yields without protest to the discipline I have withheld.
My hand settles at the small of her back inside the locked study, her skirts untouched, and I know the order I am about to give will leave us both exposed.
