e she closed her eyes, she saw the thousands of photographs in the hidden archive-her life, curated and stolen by the man who

felt tighter this morning, or perhaps it was just the psycho

didn't even look her in the eye. They moved with a mechanical precision that was more terrifying than outright hostility.

waiting," one of th

room or the library, but to a part of the house where the

sensory tank. In the middle sat a reclining chair surrounded by monitors

He was dressed in a black turtleneck and tailored t

, resonant baritone. "You entered the restricted archi

, her voice shaking but her gaze steady. "You

clinging to him. "Education is expensive, Elara. And you are about to learn the most important lesson of all: In this house, your se

d to the c

N

pinned behind her back, his body pressing her into the leather chair. He was strong-terrifyingly so-but his

light. No sound. No touch but what I allow. You will sit in the

allowed her. Then, he placed heavy, noise-canceling h

alone in

llar. she felt the silk of her dress against her skin. Every breath felt like a roar in her own chest. She tried to think of her mother, of the

l weight, crushing the air out of her lungs. She str

tinging with unshed tears. Anyo

felt a vibra

m like a bolt of lightning. Because she couldn't see or hear, the sensation

e silver collar. The fingers were long and steady. Julian. She knew it was

hones wer

e whispered, sounding like it was

oice raw. "Please... take it of

He removed the visor, but the room was still dim,

d anymore; they were burning with a dark, uncontrolled hunger. He looked

. "Because you were the only thing in this world that wasn't for sale. You were the only thing that felt real. I didn't engineer your father's ruin,

r heart pounding so hard she though

at is mine,"

him. She knew he was a monster, a stalker, a man who had stolen her life. But in the silence of the depr

onster," sh

ips ghosting over her ja

to respond. He crushe

devastatingly hot. Elara's mind screamed no, but her body betrayed her, responding to his touch with a fervor that terrified her. She k

as the chair would allow. The kiss tasted of iron and silk, of power and surrender. It was th

ers. For a moment, the Young Master was gone, replaced

she whispered, her

ice a jagged edge. "That'

t let her go; he pulled her out of the chair and again

its cold professionalism, though his hand still trembled slightly as he smoothed her hair. "You will be at my side. Yo

s lips brushing th

n, Elara, the next room won't ha

eaving her standing in the blue-lit room,

learned a lesson today, but it wasn't the one Julian intended. She h

was goin