Jessica’s POV
“Your body lies better than your mouth.”
Jude’s voice cuts through the haze like cold water.
I blink, breath coming fast, my head resting against Charles’s shoulder.
My body feels heavy and light at the same time, like I am floating and sinking all at once.
Heat still rolls through me in slow waves, thick and cruel.
Charles stiffens beneath me.
“I have her,” he says.
His voice is low.
Tight.
“I know,” Jude replies calmly.
“That’s the problem.”
Charles looks down at me.
His arms are locked around my back and legs, holding me like I might break if he loosens even a little.
His jaw is clenched hard enough to make a vein stand out along his neck.
“Put me down,” I whisper.
My voice sounds weak.
I hate that.
“No,” Charles says at the same time Jude says, “Not yet.”
I groan softly, turning my face into Charles’s chest.
The scent of him wraps around me, deep and heavy, making my heat spike again.
My thighs tighten on instinct.
Charles exhales sharply.
His hold tightens without meaning to.
“That’s enough,” Jude says, stepping closer.
“You’re losing control.”
“I’m fine,” Charles snaps.
“You’re not,” Jude says, cool as ever.
“And neither is she.”
I feel Jude’s fingers brush my wrist, checking my pulse.
His touch is lighter, careful.
It still sends a spark through me, sharp and unexpected.
I flinch.
“See?” Jude murmurs.
“She’s reacting to both of us now.”
Charles growls low in his chest.
The sound vibrates through me.
My body answers it before my mind can stop it.
Heat floods lower, aching, needy.
“Don’t,” I whisper, not sure who I’m talking to.
Jude meets my eyes.
His gaze is steady, sharp, like he sees everything I don’t want him to.
“Jessica, listen to me.”
I try to nod.
My head feels heavy.
“Your heat is rising fast,” he says.
“If we don’t ground you, you’ll spiral.”
“I don’t need help,” I say, even as my fingers curl tighter in Charles’s shirt.
Jude’s mouth tilts slightly.
Not a smile.
Something knowing. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“That’s the lie.”
Charles shifts his stance, muscles bunching under me.
“Tell me what to do.”
Jude doesn’t hesitate.
“Restrain her.”
My breath catches.
“What?”
“Not like that,” Jude says calmly, stepping closer.
“Set her down.
Slowly.”
Charles hesitates.
For half a second.
Then he lowers me to my feet.
My legs buckle the moment my boots touch the ground.
I sway.
Charles’s hands slide to my arms, gripping just above my elbows, holding me upright.
His touch burns.
My skin feels too tight, too aware.
Jude steps behind me.
“Jessica, you’re going to feel trapped for a moment.
Breathe through it.”
“I don’t like this,” I whisper.
“I know,” he says softly.
“That’s why it works.”
Before I can argue, Jude takes my wrists and guides them behind my back.
The move is smooth, controlled.
He doesn’t hurt me.
The restraint is worse because of that.
My breath stutters.
Charles’s eyes darken as he watches my shoulders pull back, my chest lifting with the motion.
His nostrils flare.
“Focus,” Jude warns him.
“I am focused,” Charles snaps.
I feel the heat coil tighter inside me as Jude secures my wrists with a soft restraint band.
Not rope.
Not metal.
Something warm and firm that locks into place.
I test it.
It doesn’t give.
A soft sound slips out of me before I can stop it.
Half frustration.
Half something else.
Charles’s jaw tightens again.
“Jessica,” Jude says gently, stepping into my line of sight.
“Look at me.”
I do.
“Good,” he says.
“Now breathe.”
I try.
My chest rises and falls too fast.
Heat pulses with every beat of my heart.
“You feel out of control,” Jude continues.
Your body is reacting.
That’s all.”
“Feels like more,” I mutter.
“I know.”
Charles steps closer.
Too close.
His heat presses in, thick and heavy, making my knees weaken again.
Jude lifts a hand.
“Stop there.”
Charles freezes.
His hands hover inches from my waist.
“Say it,” Jude says.
Charles growls under his breath.
Then, through clenched teeth, “I’ll hold position.”
My body screams in protest.
My skin feels empty where his hands almost touched.
“See?” Jude murmurs.
“Control.”
I swallow hard.
My pulse thuds in my ears.
Jude moves behind me again, placing a firm hand between my shoulder blades.
“Stand.”
I straighten, forced by the steady pressure.
My back arches slightly without meaning to.
Heat flares sharp and hot.
Charles’s breath hitches.
“That’s enough,” Jude says again, sharper now.
“She’s grounding.”
My body trembles as the heat crests, then slowly eases, like a wave pulling back from shore.
I sag forward, panting.
Charles catches me before I fall.
This time, Jude doesn’t stop him.
Charles’s arms wrap around me from behind, holding me tight against his chest.
My bound wrists press between us.
His breath is hot against my neck.
“Easy,” he murmurs, more to himself than to me.
I lean back without thinking.
My head rests against his shoulder.
My eyes close.
For one dangerous second, everything feels right.
Then Jude speaks.
“This doesn’t mean you’ve won.”
My eyes snap open.
“Won what?” I ask.
Jude meets my gaze.
“The fight with your body.”
My breath catches as he continues, voice calm and certain.
“This was only the first test.”
The restraint around my wrists tightens slightly, responding to my pulse.
“And next time,” Jude adds quietly, “you may not get to choose who loses control.”
The words sink into me just as Charles’s grip tightens, possessive and unyielding.
The door to the training hall slams shut behind us.
And my heat surges again stronger than before.