Sienna Thorne's research tower was a fortress of logic, shielded by advanced rune circuits designed to repel chaos—including, presumably, the chaotic power Kael Varis now emitted.
Kael found her in the central laboratory, a circular space choked with glowing vials, shimmering holographic charts, and the cold, metallic scent of refined mana. Sienna wore her usual white-and-gold researcher's coat, her blonde hair precisely clipped, attempting to convey absolute scientific detachment.
"You're late, Varis. Your new Core's instability is already disrupting the local spatial grid by 0.04 percent," Sienna stated, her voice tight and entirely focused on a console. She did not look at him.
Kael moved closer, and the effect was immediate and pronounced. As he crossed the threshold, a small, intricate device on her desk crackled violently and shut down. Sienna flinched, her composure flickering.
"The instability is part of the package, Thorne," Kael replied, his voice deeper and more resonant than he remembered. He used a tone of casual dominance that he never would have dared before. "Lysandra wants the Affinity Amplifier Crystal to stabilize it. I believe you have the authorization code for the vault."
Sienna finally turned, her eyes—usually sharp with critical analysis—now wide, struggling to mask a sudden, consuming heat. Her hands clenched, white-knuckled, around a data slate.
"You think you can waltz in here and demand resources?" she challenged, but the defiance felt brittle. She took a sharp, shallow breath, desperately trying to maintain her intellectual guard. "The Crystal is critical to my research on… mana transference. I cannot simply hand it over to a variable like you."
"I'm not asking, Sienna," Kael murmured, taking another step. The atmosphere in the lab was growing thick, the air crackling as his Core's magnetic aura saturated the sterile environment. A blush, foreign to her usually pale skin, crept up her neck.
"The price, Varis. Everything has a price," Sienna managed, her lips trembling slightly as she fought her own body's response. "I need comprehensive, invasive, private data on your Core's transformation. No simple readings. I require direct, sustained exposure to your mana, in a controlled environment, for no less than twenty hours over the next three days."
She was attempting to use her research as a legitimate excuse to legally trap him into proximity. It was the only way she could rationalize her overwhelming desire to have him close, to touch the source of his irresistible power.
Kael walked right up to her desk, leaning in until the only thing she could focus on was the intense, newly sculpted line of his jaw and the dangerous promise in his eyes.
"Twenty hours, then," Kael agreed, his voice a smooth, low rumble. "But I take the Crystal now, and if your 'research' attempts to involve anything that restricts me, the bargain is off. And you lose your chance at the Core."
He let the promise of his exclusive proximity hang in the air like a drug. Sienna's logical mind screamed warnings, but her body had already made the decision. A sheen of moisture appeared on her brow, and her eyes were fixed on his mouth. She nodded, slowly, almost involuntarily.
With a shaky hand, she punched the complex authorization code into a console and printed the transfer receipt. Her gaze never left his face as he took the paper.
"Don't keep me waiting, Kael," she whispered, the cold scientist utterly defeated by the obsessive woman. "I need to know everything about your Core."
We now have Kael securing the Affinity Amplifier Crystal and locking in a dangerous, private commitment with the controlling intellectual, Sienna.