Reid Ellis serves the colonel under a discipline no regulation permits. Every night the office door locks after review documents are sorted.
Colonel Ronan corrects Reid's posture with measured strikes across the desk. Reid yields to each command without protest. The colonel claims him in the quiet that follows. The bond tightens with every evening. The colonel's old injury gives his gait a measured pace that Reid has learned to read. A rival officer watches for any sign that could expose them. Discovery would end their careers before the midsummer review. Reid stays anyway, driven by a need he will not name. The colonel locks the outer door at midnight and orders him to remain exactly where he stands.
