I wake up slowly and feeling wonderful. Leopold starts to kiss my neck while I stretch my arms lazily. A smile appears on my face with the sensation of his lips against my skin. “Good morning,” he whispers to my ear.His hands start to go down my belly provoking a frisson of arousal in me. This is how every morning should be. “Good morning,” I say as I turn my body to face him. Neither of us are wearing any clothes, so I feel his skin directly against mine. Leopold kisses me and I respond enthusiastically. I put my legs around him, totally awake and ready to make love to him again. All of a sudden, the doorbell rings and Baxter starts to bark frenetically outside our

The Matrons have decided to give us a break from the kitchen, these last few days we have improved our culinary skills by a lot and we deserve a change of scene. We are practically ready for Bearer's Day, we don’t need to practice baking pastries anymore. Since we have been eating a lot of sugary treats lately, the Matrons decided that we should do some type of physical activity. They take us jogging and after that we do pilates. Everyone feels way better once we are done, even the Matrons look happier. Instead of taking us to the cafeteria for lunch, they decide to have a picnic at the central garden, everyone is delighted with the idea except for Eliza who walks slouching and has a swollen lip. It is obvious that her outburst from the other day got her in trouble, I don’t know who hit her if it was her partner or Mother Addison but someone did. The rest of the class pretends not to notice her wound, but I can’t look the other way, my blood boils just l

(Leopold’s P.O.V.)I take a deep breath and I aim at the target through the rear sight. This is easy, I’m a professional and I can hit a target under any circumstance. I hold my breath and shoot. I missed… yet again. I lean my head back and groan, frustrated. “That was… unexpected,” mutters Jareth standing next to me. “You are not yourself today, Commander. Didn’t you sleep well last night?” “Why don’t you mind your own business, boy?” I reply annoyed. I put the gun down. It’s been enough for today, clearly, I’m unable to focus. I gesture to Jareth so he takes over and keeps an eye on the rest of the Unit at the shooting range. I head to my office

(Jareth P.O.V.) I walk to the bar and gesture the bartender to ask him for another beer. I want to go talk to that cute blonde by the entrance door, I just need to summon up some courage. She is really good looking, so I have to ace my game. “Look who is here!” Anthony exclaims. My eyes leave the blonde girl for a moment, behind her I see Commander Mortensen walking towards a table and taking a seat. He looks upset, maybe something bad happened to him, although he is usually an ill-tempered man, so this is probably just a regular Wednesday for him. “I’m going to keep my dear Leopold company,” Sabrina says as she gets up with a sensual move.&n

I feel a pang of anguish the moment I spot Leopold’s car parked in front of the house. I am not sure what to expect from him, yesterday he has infuriated but then he convinced Mother Addison to take me back, I don’t know if this means he is not mad anymore, I have no idea what is going on in his head. I go in the house uncertain about how to act in front of him. The house is silent, the light in the dining room is on but there is no one there. I notice the back door is open and I hear Baxter barking in the garden. I walk there and I stand under the doorframe, Leopold is playing with his dog outside. I watch them in silence, it takes Baxter a few seconds to realize I’m here. The moment his round eyes notice me he runs towards me enthusiastically carrying his ball in his snout, he is inviting me to join the game. I pat him on the head.