Chapter 5: Force Multiplier

Chapter Five: Force Multiplier

The door exploded inward.

Not dramatically no splintering wood or cinematic crash. Just a sharp hydraulic hiss and a clean breach that told Ronan everything he needed to know about the men on the other side.

Professionals.

Ronan fired once.

The first intruder went down before he crossed the threshold, the shot precise and final. Ronan pivoted immediately, dragging the door half-closed as return fire sparked against reinforced steel.

“Down,” Ronan ordered.

Elliot obeyed instantly, dropping behind the chair as Ronan repositioned, movements brutal and efficient. There was no hesitation in him now—no restraint wasted on doubt. This was the man Ronan had been before contracts, before rules, before he’d decided survival didn’t require attachment.

Another intruder pushed the door.

Ronan met him head-on.

The impact was violent and close. Ronan drove the man back into the hall, using the wall as leverage, disarming him with a sharp twist and a knee that took the breath clean out of his lungs. The second shot came point-blank.

Silence followed. Heavy. Absolute.

Ronan scanned, listening for movement, body humming with adrenaline and something far more dangerous beneath it.

Clear.

He sealed the door and turned

and found Elliot on his knees.

Not collapsed. Not unconscious.

Burning.

Heat rolled off him in waves now, uncontained and raw, his scent filling the sealed room like a living thing. His hands were clenched in the fabric of his shirt, breath coming in shallow, uneven pulls.

Ronan’s control strained.

“Ronan,” Elliot said hoarsely. “I can’t”

Ronan crossed the room in two strides and dropped to one knee in front of him. He didn’t touch. Not yet.

“Look at me,” Ronan said.

Elliot’s gaze lifted immediately, locked on him with frightening intensity.

“You’re safe,” Ronan continued. “They’re gone. The threat is neutralized.”

Elliot shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

The words hit Ronan low and hard.

Heat surged again—this time not just Elliot’s. Ronan’s alpha instincts roared, scent pushing against his skin like pressure seeking release. He’d kept it buried for years, disciplined it into silence. But this—this was different.

This was proximity without armor.

“Listen to me,” Ronan said, voice low, grounding. “Your heat is spiking because your body thinks you survived something alone. You didn’t.”

Elliot laughed weakly. “I don’t think my body cares about logic.”

“Bodies don’t,” Ronan agreed. “They care about anchors.”

He hesitated only a fraction of a second before placing his hands on Elliot’s shoulders. Skin to skin this time. Firm. Steady. Intentional.

Elliot gasped.

Ronan leaned in just enough that Elliot could feel the solid weight of him, could register presence without being overwhelmed.

“Stay with me,” Ronan said. “Right here.”

Elliot’s hands came up, fingers curling into Ronan’s shirt like it was instinct instead of choice. His breathing stuttered, then slowly—slowly—began to match Ronan’s.

The heat didn’t vanish.

But it stopped climbing.

Ronan closed his eyes for half a heartbeat, locking down everything that wanted to take more than he was offering.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Elliot whispered, half-pleading.

Ronan opened his eyes. “It means you’re alive.”

Sirens wailed faintly in the distance—security response finally catching up.

Elliot sagged slightly, exhaustion hitting now that the danger had passed. Ronan caught him without thinking, pulling him against his chest, one arm braced solid around his back.

That was when Elliot felt it.

The iron restraint.

The shaking control.

The alpha barely holding himself together.

Ronan realized too late that this this closeness—was worse than the heat.

Because Elliot knew now.

“Ronan,” Elliot murmured. “You’re not as unaffected as you pretend.”

Ronan didn’t answer.

He didn’t pull away either.

And in that suspended moment sirens rising, heat simmering, lines already blurred they both understood:

Whatever this was, it could no longer be contained by contracts or intention.

It had crossed into consequence.