Beneath the Surface

Episode 3 – Cross the Line Episode

Episode 3 – Cross the Line

Helen knew it was reckless. Dangerous. Stupid.

But there was something about the way Felix Blackwood looked at her that made it impossible to ignore.

All day, she had felt the weight of his gaze, piercing through her defenses. In meetings, across the office, when she passed his glass-walled corner, the tension between them thickened, an unspoken challenge crackling in the air.

And now, as she stood in his office long after hours, that tension had turned into something else.

Something volatile.

The city skyline stretched behind him, the glow of the buildings casting long shadows across his desk. The office was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioning, but it felt deafening in the space between them.

Felix sat at the edge of his desk, sleeves rolled up, top buttons undone, his dark eyes locked onto hers like a predator sizing up his prey. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, but the way he was looking at her was already unraveling her from the inside out.

"You should be careful, Helen." His voice was quiet, controlled, but there was a warning beneath it.

She tilted her chin, pretending composure. "Of what?"

Felix took a slow step forward. "You don’t know what you're playing with."

Heat curled low in her stomach. She should walk away. Now.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she stood her ground, even as he closed the distance between them, even as the air between them thickened to something unbearable.

His eyes dropped, tracing the line of her throat, lingering at the exposed collarbone peeking through her silk blouse. Helen's breath hitched when he reached out, his fingers grazing her wrist—barely a touch, but enough to set her skin on fire.

"Say the word, and I’ll stop," he murmured, voice lower now, rougher.

She should.

She didn’t.

Her silence was an answer.

And Felix wasn’t a man who hesitated.

In the next second, he had her pinned against the wall, his body pressing into hers, the heat of him searing through the thin layers between them. His breath was hot against her skin, his hands sliding to her waist, gripping just enough to remind her who was in control.

"I knew you’d be trouble," he murmured against her neck.

Helen shuddered, because so did she.