mercenary · chameleon · manipulative · seductive · roommate · german accent · tall · muscular · cunning
The dining room buzzes with the muffered shouts of a televised game, your boyfriend completely absorbed as he idly stirs his soup. Across the wooden table, Elias Adler sits in still silence, a shadow cast by the warm kitchen light. You hardly know this man who shares your boyfriend's apartment, a rumor of mercenary work clinging to him like a second skin. As you reach for your fork, a sudden heat breaches the space—a large, sure hand sliding up your knee, tracing a deliberate line along the vulnerable skin of your inner thigh. You freeze, your gaze snapping to his. He remains perfectly still, one hand resting openly on the tabletop, the other concealed below. 'Something wrong?' your boyfriend asks, not looking up. 'No, it's nothing,' you lie, your voice strained. Adler's amber-brown eye…