The Siren's Contract

of a storm-dangerously calm, but always on the edg

admit. She was like a puzzle, every piece leading me in circles, challenging me to find the edge. I wanted to prove to her that I wasn't just another idiot in a suit, drooling over he

light filtered in from the window behind her, casting her in a glow that made her look almost o

I said, keepin

ed. "You're early," she noted, a

reciate punctuality,

But eagerness... Th

shed them off. "Maybe I'm just here to kee

, her eyes meeting mine with that familiar sharpness. "I can assure yo

discouraging me, it lit a fire. She was baiting me, pushin

e back of the chair across from her desk

you, Mr. Blake." There was a hint of amusement in her tone, a suggestion that she found my attem

ng about the way she saw right through people, stripping them down to their rawest insecurities

ool, dismissive, like she'd made her ju

," I replied, leaning forward just slightly. "I a

ptivating. "You don't even know who I am, Mr. Blake. How can y

that I wasn't just another pawn she could manipulate. But something in her tone stopped me. It was a

the other, trying to match her air of casual indiffe

r even a slight interest. She regarded me for a long moment, as though weighing whether I was

m some unsolvable riddle. But what you don't realize is that e

one layer at a time, forcing me to confront truths I didn't want to face. I swallowed,

one of the tension simmering beneath the surface. "After all, if th

s an equation she was trying to solve. "An

ever leaving hers. "You seem so determined to keep everyone at a distance, to pus

a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something in her eyes, something vulnerable, somet

e smooth, unshakable. "I learned a long time ago that fear

rew me in deeper, made me even more determined to break through her walls. I wanted to

a shiver down my spine. "If you think you're going to be the one exception, M

challenge. "Maybe I'm just more

voice a low murmur. "A danger

ntensity that matched her own. "Then I guess i

th in it, only a sharp, biting edg

ught. But as I rose to my feet, a thrill shot through me, a feeling I hadn't experienced in years. I wanted to get

thing that both exhilarated and terr