Bedside Manner After Hours

Reid Grier waits in the locked exam room, stethoscope dangling from his fingers as Honora Pendleton steps inside after hours. The rivalry that defined their days now shifts under the weight of his measured commands and the clinical tools he deploys to strip her defenses.

She yields to the cold press of the diaphragm against her flushed skin even as her voice remains sharp, her fingers brushing the scar on his arm in a silent challenge. Every assessment risks their careers and the independence both have fought to protect, yet the pull of his authority grows impossible to resist.

When he directs her next response with that low, authoritative tone, the threshold between professional rivals and something far more intimate hangs in the balance.