A forbidden professional-boundary obsession becomes a dark gay romance built on control, desire, and unraveling restraint.

He was supposed to fix him. Instead, they broke each other open.

Dr. Adrian Hale doesn’t do messy

As a forensic psychologist, he's built his reputation on clinical detachment and perfect objectivity. Violent offenders sit across from him seeking leniency, and he sees through every manipulation, every lie, every performance.

His evaluations are flawless. His control is absolute.

Until the day Jax Emerson is assigned to his case.

Charged with arson for torching a building that housed a predator the justice system refused to touch, Jax doesn't play the remorse game. He doesn't want to be fixed.

He wants to know why Adrian, with his expensive suits and cold professionalism, understands the appeal of violence better than he'll ever admit.

What starts as a psychological evaluation becomes something far more dangerous.

Jax sees the damage Adrian has spent years hiding. Adrian recognizes the darkness in Jax that mirrors his own. The sessions stop being about rehabilitation and become about excavation, digging into wounds neither should expose.

When the boundary between therapist and patient finally breaks, they're left with an impossible choice.

Walk away and survive with their lives intact.

Or burn together and discover what rises from the ashes.

***

For readers who crave psychologically complex romance where the tension is as mental as it is physical.

If you love morally gray characters who challenge each other's darkness, forbidden relationships that destroy and rebuild, and high-heat scenes that emerge from genuine emotional connection, this story will consume you. Perfect for fans of intense power dynamics, obsessive love, and protagonists who are as damaged as they are devoted.

• Explicit on-page scenes
• Professional boundary relationship theme
• References to past abuse/grooming
• Arson
• Incarceration
• Power dynamics
• Morally gray characters