Isla Vale meets Father Kenneth Jagger on the rain-slicked church porch with her chin lifted, yet the parish debt already pulls her toward surrender. His broad frame and measured stare promise the correction her guarded heart has never allowed, each silent moment tightening the hold of his clerical authority over her future.
He orders her to the vestry table where heavy ledgers lie open, her skirts lifted and his palm hovering. The birthmark at her throat catches the lamplight as defiance wars with the need to yield, and the first measured strike waits in the air between them.
How far will his discipline reach before her independence breaks?
