It was past midnight at the old Scout Regiment headquarters, that stone fortress emanating the scent of history and forgotten blood. Humidity seeped through the cold walls, but inside Commander Levi Ackerman's office, the atmosphere was boiling in a way that had nothing to do with the weather.
"Elina" stood in the center of the room, feeling her heartbeat echoing in her ears like a war drum. She had been summoned for an "emergency report," but she knew, and he knew, that reports were nothing but a flimsy excuse to break the barriers that military discipline had built over months.
Levi did not look at her upon her entry. He sat behind his massive wooden desk, flipping through some papers with a deadly coldness, while the light of a single candle cast sharp shadows on his features, which were carved as if from rock. His coal-black hair covered part of his gray eyes, which held a storm of suppressed emotions.
"Close the door, Elina," he said in a low, resonant voice, carrying an authoritative tone that made the body tremble before the soul. "With the key."
She executed the order in silence, and the click of the lock was like an announcement of severing the connection with the outside world. In that moment, she was no longer a soldier under his command, and he was no longer the Humanity's Strongest; they became just a man and a woman united by a secret that had burned their hearts for long nights.
She stepped toward him slowly, her military boots making a faint sound on the wooden floor. When she reached the desk, Levi put the pen down and raised his head. His gaze was not reproaching her for the delay; rather, it was devouring her. His eyes were scanning her body, exhausted from training and starving for a single touch from him.
"Do you think you can continue this game?" he asked as he rose slowly, his overwhelming presence beginning to fill the place to the point that she felt suffocated. "Those looks you throw at me on the training grounds in front of the soldiers... do you think I am blind?"
"I am doing nothing, Commander," she whispered, trying to maintain a mask of coldness, but her rapid breaths were exposing her.
Levi bypassed the desk with confident steps until he was directly in front of her. He left no distance between them for even light to pass. He was radiating heat, and the scent of strong soap mixed with the smell of tea and leather was numbing her senses. He raised his hand, and with his rough fingers that were accustomed to gripping blades, he touched her chin and lifted it upward.
"Liar," he growled quietly as he leaned toward her ear, and she felt his lips brush against her earlobe with a lightness that sent a violent shiver through her entire body. "You are burning from the inside just as I am. The difference is that I have stopped resisting."
In a sudden and swift movement, he wrapped his strong arm around her waist and pulled her to him with a force that made her chest collide with his hard chest. Elina gasped softly, but she did not retreat. Instead, she placed her hands on his shoulders, clinging to his shirt as if she were drowning. In that moment, everything collapsed. Levi leaned in to press his lips against hers in a kiss that was a mixture of extreme violence and hungry passion. It was not a soft romantic kiss, but a struggle—an attempt to extract all the pain and repression they had lived through in silence.
Levi pushed her slowly toward the stone wall, his body pressing against hers with all his strength. His hands were moving boldly and quickly, exploring the curves of her body beneath the heavy military uniform. Clothes no longer mattered, nor ranks, nor the Titans beyond the walls. There was only this feverish friction and this insatiable desire.
"Levi..." she called his name in a breathless voice as she felt his hand sneaking to unbutton her shirt. "What if Erwin comes? What if..."
"To hell with everyone," he said as he buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent deeply as if he were an addict who had finally found his dose. "Tonight, you are mine. There is no Commander, and there is no soldier. Only me and you, and this darkness that shields us."
They moved slowly, their steps faltering with desire, toward the large bed in the corner of the room. Levi was kissing every inch of her exposed skin with a boldness she hadn't imagined from a man of his discipline. His touches carried absolute possession, as if he were placing his mark on her forever, announcing to the universe that this woman belonged to Levi Ackerman alone.
When she lay on the cold silk sheets, Levi was over her, watching her with eyes full of dark desire and deep spiritual need. "Elina," he whispered as he locked his fingers with hers and pressed them above her head. "Do not think this is just a passing night. You have tied your fate to the fate of a man condemned to death every day... are you ready for this price?"
She did not answer with words, but pulled him to her to kiss him again, confirming to him that she was ready for the whole world to burn, as long as she would burn in his hands.
As the last candle in the room melted away, the whispers and turbulent breaths were the only audible language, announcing the beginning of a forbidden love story that would change the course of fate in the Scout Regiment, and would be the first step in a 50-chapter journey full of betrayal, sacrifice, and romance that knows no boundaries.