Chapter 689 [ 511 words ] Chapter 689: Her training as an agent had given her a near-photographic memory. She absorbed the information at a startling rate, but the sheer volume of it was overwhelming. The hours ticked by. Her eyelids grew heavy. She pinched the soft flesh of her

Chapter 688 [ 516 words ] Chapter 688: “Beatrice’s vitals are rock-solid,” she explained, her finger tracing a line on the chart. “We’ll be moving her to the general recovery ward by tomorrow afternoon, maybe the day after at the latest.” The implication was immediate and devastating. “Which means,” Dr.

Chapter 687 [ 485 words ] Chapter 687: “Corporal,” Dr. Reed said, her voice dripping with a formal, mocking politeness. “Visiting hours are over. It’s time for you to return to your barracks.” Getting caught by a senior officer trying to flirt was the stuff of nightmares. A deep, horrified

Chapter 686 [ 504 words ] Chapter 686: At precisely 2200 hours, she heard them. Footsteps in the hall. Military boots, trying and failing to be quiet, their sound a little too eager, a little too rushed. She looked up. Corporal Evan Riley was standing in the doorway. He was

Chapter 685 [ 507 words ] Chapter 685: Caroline took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and marched directly toward Instructor Sharpe, who was making notes on a clipboard in the shade of a supply tent. She snapped to attention, her salute crisp and perfect. “Ma’am, permission to speak, ma’am.”

Chapter 684 [ 501 words ] Chapter 684: Inside, Doodles sat, his tail giving a tentative thump-thump-thump against the plastic. He looked up at Dr. Reed with wide, innocent brown eyes. The air in the room solidified. Caroline closed her eyes, bracing for the inevitable. She had broken at least

Chapter 683 [ 537 words ] Chapter 683: He dressed quickly, adjusting the black tactical jacket around the rigid outline of the medical brace rather than trying to hide it. He paused, looking down at her, a small, curled shape under the thin blanket. In sleep, the tension was gone

Chapter 682 [ 491 words ] Chapter 682: Caroline looked away first. Her forearm throbbed from wrist to elbow, each pulse sharp enough to make her fingers curl. Beneath that, a deeper ache lingered along her ribs and side from the impact earlier, a dull, punishing reminder that her body

Chapter 681 [ 536 words ] Chapter 681: “I can’t train you with my hands right now,” he continued, the admission torn from him like a curse. “That does not mean another man gets to put his hands on you. Bell can be the body when the lesson requires contact.

Chapter 680 [ 494 words ] Chapter 680: She tucked it. “Better.” The single word should not have warmed her. It did anyway. “Now imagine someone grabs you from behind,” he said. “Not a gentleman. Not a training partner. Someone bigger. Someone who means to drag you somewhere dark. What

Chapter 679 [ 536 words ] Chapter 679: He did not reach for her. He couldn’t. The heavy brace still locked his right arm against his torso, and his splinted left hand remained rigid at his side, useless for anything that required force. The restraint only made him look more

Chapter 678 [ 501 words ] Chapter 678: Caroline watched him, a knot of real fear tightening in her stomach. She had seen him angry, seen him jealous, seen him possessive. She had never seen him like this. This was a quiet, cold rage that promised utter annihilation. He raised

Chapter 677 [ 535 words ] Chapter 677: There was no movement of his hands, no impossible sweep of strong arms around her body. The brace still held his right arm trapped against his torso, and his splinted left hand remained rigid at his side. But he did not need

Chapter 676 [ 473 words ] Chapter 676: He leaned in slightly, close enough that his breath brushed the curve of her cheek. “Since I’m not, you’ll have to use your imagination.” It was the most blatant, outrageous, and effective line she had ever heard. The clinical lesson had devolved

Chapter 675 [ 473 words ] Chapter 675: “Your reflexes,” he said, his voice a low, thoughtful murmur. “They’re faster than I expected. Almost… instinctive.” A jolt of cold fear shot through her. She had been too good. In the split second she was falling, her body had automatically tried

Chapter 674 [ 496 words ] Chapter 674: He studied her with a cold, devastated focus, as if he were rearranging every memory he had of her and finding hidden blades in all of them. “You didn’t learn that at Washington General,” he said. “You didn’t learn it in nursing

Chapter 673 [ 452 words ] Chapter 673: Caroline forced a thin smile. “Maybe I’m just a fast learner.” Jarrod’s eyes narrowed. “No. Fast learners make new mistakes.” His voice dropped. “You keep correcting old ones.” The words landed like a blade sliding between ribs. She had to move the

Chapter 672 [ 534 words ] Chapter 672: Before she could answer, he gave the narrow space between Beatrix’s hospital bed and the far wall a brief, assessing look. He did not move behind her. He did not touch her throat. He did not try to demonstrate a hold his

Chapter 671 [ 496 words ] Chapter 671: This was worse than being touched. This was dangerous in a different way. If he watched too closely, if she reacted too correctly, if her body answered before her mind could stop it, he would see everything. “Jarrod,” she said carefully, “it’s

Chapter 670 [ 481 words ] Chapter 670: His mouth left hers, trailing a line of hot, open-mouthed kisses down her jaw, to the wildly fluttering pulse at the base of her throat. He bit down gently, a possessive, claiming mark. A low, needy sound was torn from her throat.