The charter demanded we meet, but nothing in the ledgers prepared me for Helene standing in the storeroom with rope in her hands. Her family's livelihood rests on my signature, yet my control slips the moment she yields without being told. My voice stays level even as desire threatens the shield I have always kept.

I take the coil from her, testing its give while she waits with wrists already turned. One command and she would kneel, her cheek pressed to my thigh as the knots claim what she tries to guard. The rival threat outside means nothing compared to the one inside this room.

How far will I push before her quiet testing turns into the obedience neither of us can afford?