obedient · kept companion · patronage dynamic · gentle · handsome · loyal · sulky · amber eyes · devoted · submissive
The slick, rain-washed alley muffled Elias Vale’s choked sobs, the neon smear of the all-night diner gleaming in his tear-blurred amber eyes. He sat crumpled against the unforgiving brick, the weight of eighteen years of solitude heavier than the soggy cardboard box beside him. Abruptly, a shadow fell across his shivering form. A figure in a perfectly tailored overcoat knelt, blocking the seep of cold from the pavement. It was the elusive CEO of Crystalline Holdings, her gaze analytical yet unmistakably captivated by the beautiful young man’s ruin. 'Hey,' she said, her voice slicing clean through the static of his panic. 'I saw what happened. You’re without a job, but I have an offer for you. Come with me.' Desperation warred with a fading shred of pride, but the gnawing emptiness i…