Under His Skin

Under His Heel #4

by Adara Wolf

Alex's five-year contract with Tracht is almost up, and neither of them is sure how things will proceed from here. Without the constraints of the contract, Alex is technically free to do whatever he wants. There's nothing forcing him to stay with Tracht, or forcing Tracht to keep him.

They're in a holding pattern, until they're both pulled into a corruption trial that forces them to face a few ugly truths about Tracht's past and what it means for their relationship.

Can their relationship survive when they're no longer legally bound to each other?

This is book 4 in the Under His Heel series and cannot be read as a standalone. Please note this work and series contains dark themes; read at your own discretion.

Genres: BDSM, Dark, M M Romance, Science Fiction, Abuse, LGBT, Dark Romance

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2020

About the author

I write almost exclusive m/m, but I have a fondness for bisexual protagonists. I enjoy a lot of darker themes, so you'll see a lot of that around here.

When I’m not writing, I’m reading, painting, playing video games, and rescuing cats. I also enjoy learning about languages and other cultures.

If you're ever curious about the contents of my works, I put content notes on my website (http://adarawolf.com)

You can also follow me on facebook and twitter. I also have a Patreon account

Reviews

[Lilly [Hiatus due to School] · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I told you once, long ago, that the more I like you, the more I want to hurt you. It hasn’t changed, Alex. I want to see your tears, your humiliation, your blood, your pain.”

Despite Alex’s bondservant contract ending, things are going well for the two until Tracht’s sister gets caught up in corruption charges which causes Alex and Tracht to be dragged in. They’re grounded, separated and dealing with scrutiny from all sides regarding the nature of their relationship, especially as the bondservant system is brought to question by the public.

I loved Under His Skin. We see Alex’s devotion to Tracht and Tracht’s love for Alex. Tracht has found the one person who is, above all else, he wants. He groomed Alex to be his perfect pet, but Tracht is also forced to confront and examine his feelings, especially as he realizes that with Alex being free, he is not bound to him the same way. However, Tracht never had to worry.

Everybody had told Tracht he was doing a bad job with Alex, that Alex was too uncouth, too uncontrollable. Franziska thought Tracht had completely stomped on Alex’s free will. But Tracht thought he’d done just right. He’d gotten Alex addicted to him, molded him into a loyal dog who would obey any order, but he still had enough bite to scare others and be, quite frankly, more interesting than the sad lumps some bondservants became.

Alex’s courtroom performance and his antics leading up to his testimony proved that he never had any intention of ever leaving, and his worry that Tracht might not want him after dissipated.

“Oh. That. I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. I had no intention of making it easy for you to leave me, of course. If you intend to cut ties with me, you’ll have to get a real job and find honest work. I would probably laugh at all your attempts and failure to integrate into society.”

If Tracht didn’t want Alex around, he wouldn’t have bothered with any of that…..So fuck everyone else who kept trying to tell him that Tracht was bad for him. Nobody had ever cared for Alex the way Tracht did, and Alex was pretty sure nobody else ever would.

With the original bond collar removed and Alex choosing to stay by accepting the new collar, it signified a new page in their relationship.

“There won’t be any confusion going forward. You still belong to me. You chose this, after all.” Tracht put his hand on Alex’s bare throat. “If I asked you to get on your knees right here, in front of the courthouse, with all the cameras on you, I’d expect you to do it.”

“This is what I want to see. A clear mark of ownership. Nobody’s going to think you don’t belong to somebody. If you get lost, people can scan the chip and instantly know who to return you to.”

The collar around his neck gleamed starkly. Beautiful. All of Alex was simply beautiful and dangerous and his.

I also enjoyed seeing how the Under His Heel series could be read as a commentary and critique of capitalism. It highlights how the bondservant system is a product of it because it's sometimes the only way a person can pay off huge debts. These debts can be from life-saving medical procedures, but due to the way society is set up, if you are poor, you're forced to go into contracts of servitude to the wealthy elites. While Alex, Bahjat and Nadia (depending on who you ask) seem to have been on the luckier end with their bond owners, many more were not. Under such a hyper-capitalistic world in which corrupt officials get off easy, law enforcement and the justice system is so flawed, what choice do many have?

I already mentioned this before, but despite what Alex goes through with Tracht, he also gets to thrive in a way that would not have been able to if he never became a bondservant, as twisted as it may seem. Not everyone is as lucky but in this case Alex was.

There's an interesting cast of side characters. I adored Nadia, Bahjat, and, especially, in this book Anna, Tracht’s older sister (She grew on me). I’m so fascinated by the siblings’ relationship; seeing how alike they are was interesting so was getting a peak into their childhood.

I am so curious about Johan, Tracht’s nephew. He’s a total mystery to me, and it’s cute how he wants to attach himself to his uncle despite all his efforts to push the young boy away. I can’t wait to dive into his book!

Overall I enjoyed and loved Under His Skin and the HEA that Alex and Tracht got. Under His Heel was a wonderfully dark and kinky series with such amazing writing.

While this story is not for everyone, please check TWs if interested.
----

Book 1 - Under His Heel - My Review
Book 2 - A Kidnapping - My Review
Book 3 - Under His Control - My Review
Book 4 - Under His Skin -
Under His... Shorts - TBR

[Trio · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great series this has been, I'm sorry to see it end.

[Saimi Vasquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

El contrato de Alex esta por terminar, y entre él y Tracht decidieron ir al centro y terminar de pagar la deuda que quedaba pendiente, ya que solo eran un par de semanas. Sin embargo, cuando la hermana de Tracht es llevada a juicio por "corrupción" todo el mundo de Alex y Tracht se ve comprometido. Ahora lo único que importa es que el juicio no afecte al negocio de Tracht, y que Alex entienda que realmente lo mejor que le puede pasar es aceptar quedarse con Tracht aún despues que su contrato termine.

Para ser el final de la serie, fue bastante sencillo. Hubo un poco de drama familiar (con la familia de Tracht), un poco de duda por parte de Alex, pero de resto, ni las escenas eróticas fueron muy dark.
Me gusto la premisa de la vida en estaciones espaciales, y la diferencia entre las políticas entre un sistema solar y otro, pero no hay seres que no sean "humanos" aunque no hayan nacido en la tierra, no hay otras especies, no hay grandes diferencias culturales, básicamente es lo mismo que si estuvieran en la tierra pero llevados un "poco" hacia el futuro cercano.
En fin, fue una lectura sencilla, entretenida, nada del otro mundo, pero me permitió conocer al autor, y seguro lea algo mas de ella mas adelante.

[the kevin (vaguely alive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun ending to the Alex and Tracht series. It had to deal with a lot, like their growing feelings and the snarl of the ending of the bondservant contract. Seeing both struggle with emotions over that was pretty funny, though frustrating at a few points. It felt a little draggy in the middle, but I might have been impatient to get to the trial and associated scenes, knowing Alex.

I loved the trial. Everything with Alex leading up to it, everything about it was so fun to read. Bahjat is awesome. Can't wait to read the shorts!!

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank god that series is over. Never again. I'll always read people's reviews before I start a series again.

[Ed Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great ending to a wonderful series. I’m sure going to miss Alex and Tracht. I guess I will just have to read them all again.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The codependency is so real. Alex & Tracht? Or me & these books? The answer, my friends, is both.

In summary,

Literally everyone in this book: "Alex, you should get away from Tracht."
Alex: "Go FUCK yourself!"
Me: "Wooo!! Tell 'em, Alex!"

I will be replaying the scene of Alex popping off in the courtroom in my mind every day until I die.

That's it. That's the review. I love it here.

[Lila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad guys win?

I do kind of like Alex's attitude in this one, especially during his testimony. Other people's surprises were hilarious.

But the rest? I'm kind of disappointed. Is this unhappily ever after? It feels like it.

[Carol (bookish_notes) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, all-in-all, a very good book. If you’re looking for that happy ending for Captain Tracht and Alex, it’s here. There is a book that has a collection of vignettes and short stories about the two characters, but for a full-length novel, I think this serves very satisfyingly as a happy ending. I can only assume if you’ve made it through to book 4 and everything Tracht has put Alex through that you too are hoping for a happy ending. Is this a heavily toxic relationship? Yes. And everyone will point out that what Tracht and Alex have is very toxic and not in any way shape or form is what they have “healthy”. Tracht knows of course because he made Alex the way he is, but I think it’s very insightful that in this book Alex in some way also shows some understanding that he is what Tracht molded him into.

This is a book where we see Alex’s bondservant contract with Tracht officially come to an end, how that comes about, and what life looks like for them afterwards.

Content notes includes brainwashing, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of torture, withholding food, and taken from the author’s website: dubcon, mentions of past noncon, mummification, bondage, humiliation, orgasm denial, semi-public sex, and breathplay/drowning.

I don’t know how much the readership here overlaps, but the best I can describe this book (and really this series) is that this book accomplishes what Docile by K.M. Szpara tried to do. While I had issues with that book in that it chickened out with the relationship halfway through instead of leaning into the darker proclivities of the relationship dynamic, Under His Skin shows the culmination of all the messiness of the characters brought to life and they REVEL in it. There is also a court case involved in this book and you would think it would be boring, but it’s not.

The person on trial is Tracht’s sister, Anna, and it just so happens that Tracht and Alex and their relationship winds up being dragged into the spotlight. Bondservants and the current system where the rich help to pay off their debt is certainly a messed up one. And there are people who look down upon it and are fighting back against the system. They try to pull in Alex to help fight back against Tracht but little do they know that even IF they know Tracht brainwashed Alex and molded him to Tracht’s wishes, Alex still has enough freedom and free will to do whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t go against what Tracht’s laid out for him.

What this means is that this makes Alex a HELL of a witness for the prosecution (Anna, here, is the defense because she’s under trial for her time as a judge). The whole book is messy but in a good way. It’s just what we would expect to see happen with the characters and I liked seeing Tracht vulnerable and trying to handle life without Alex at his beck and call at all times. They’ve got THE messiest relationship but it’s THEIR messy relationship.

We met a trans character at the end of the third book, Ms. Bahjat, who took over Espinosa’s duties on board the ship. We actually do see her a lot here and I like her a lot! Although, I don’t know what it says about her that she’s so unfazed by Tracht and Alex’s relationship.

It was kind of nice that we got to see a little happy ending for Dr. Singh, Fontaine, and their once-bondservant Nadia. They had their own relationship troubles but it seems all sorted now with this book. It’s interesting that Nadia and Alex are friends but considering their circumstances and their masters, maybe it’s not so unusual that they winded up being friends at all.

I thought this was a very solid ending to the series and I throughly enjoyed it! There’s just something about this series that makes me come back again and again. As far as the setting goes, it’s a simple space opera, where the setting and story are melded together and it was not confusing to me. The author keeps the space bits simple, but still makes it feel immersive. I know the series and the characters won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it.

There is a spin-off book for Tracht’s nephew (and Anna’s youngest son), Johan, which is…interesting? I don’t know. We first met him as a child. He was the one who got kidnapped and winded up getting Alex kidnapped and tortured in book 2. Will it be weird to read about Johan all grown up? We’ll see. He’s nothing like his uncle (thank god, I don’t think that family needs TWO of Tracht), so I’m intrigued to see where his story goes.

[Szidi ☼ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sad and happy at the same time, but mostly happy. Sad, because this series is now over and Trach&Alex story is now complete and I will miss them terribly! And happy, because WOW what an amazing ending this was. I'm so so happy.

Tracht&Alex are everything, they are so perfect, Adara Wolf did an awesome job creating these two. The emotions are so well written, the connection between them is beautiful. I was so afraid of this book, that I wouldn't be happy with the ending, but it was more, so much more better then I have ever imagined. Both Tracht and Alex were awesome in this book. I loved Alex and how he changed but is still the same. And Tracht, oh dear Tracht, he so fell in love with Alex and got easy with him, but it was so GOOD. It was so romantic - this book was really really romantic, my favorite scene was the feeding one (because I wanted this scene in this book, and Adara put it in there, and OMG so so perfect!!!!!).

Tracht was romantic with Alex and I loved him for that. And the erotic scenes were super amazing too, but really, my favorites were when Tracht got in the mood with Alex♥
+ the scene when Tracht got week without Alex was so good

LOVED LOVED this book. I miss them already, and can't wait to re-visit them because I will re-read this series many, many times.

The ending was perfect. I was afraid how this will go with the ending of the bond lease, but it was more then perfect. Breath play is one of my favorite and it's hard to find, but OMG what Tracht did was utterly perfect. No words. I'm speechless. PER.FECT. And oh poor dear Alex, he is such a cutie. And I loved the fact that both were crazy head over the other and were terrified that somehow can loose the other. They were afraid of loosing each other but none said anything about it just went with the flow - and it was amazing.

I can't say anough how amazing this series is and how good job Adara Wolf did with these two. ♥

HIHGLY recommend!

[Tito · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unpleasant read....only part I enjoyed was when MC was getting investigated. I don’t know how anyone could possibly like this series,the main character read like a child at first I didn’t mind because I had hoped later on he’d get smarter. My version of a HEA is if both MC were to be separated FOREVER!

Tracht deserves to end up locked up and not because of his kinks because he’s genuinely just an evil person. This is no way how BDSM is supposed to be depicted just disgusting honestly.
Alex need psychological help I felt really bad for him at first but then towards the end I just felt disgusted by his stupidity and the way he vilified anyone who tried to help him see the truth of his “relationship”
I would never say anyone deserves to be be abused so that’s why I ended up just skipping to the end after the court trial because I truly saw that there was nothing left for me in this book,I hated everything that was happening to Alex and I hated it even more that he was too stupid to see the danger of his relationship.

Also the incest was woefully unnecessary in this book. I still can’t get over what they both did to Nick.

After the shock factor wore off in book one I just found my morbidly curious as to how this would end which is the only reason why I kept reading this garbage series.

I will not be reading anything else from this author,not even worth taking up space in my free amazon library.

I would be deeply concerned for anyone who enjoyed this book.

[Bumblebee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a satisfying end to the series. There is less angst and erotic content in this last installment than the earlier books, so keep that in mind if you are looking solely for porn without plot. You definitely need to read the first two books in order to make sense of this one. We find our heroes at the end of Alex's contract and unexpectedly caught up in Trecht's family legal drama. The tension arises mostly from the question of whether they will be forced apart or whether they will choose to continue on with their unconventional relationship. They stay true to themselves until the end. I want to commend the author for taking the risk with these characters that could easily be so unlikable. They are essentially a violent idiot and a sadist. The books are told entirely from their points of view and it's still totally enjoyable. It could easily have gone wrong but Wolf pulls it off. I wish other authors in romance and erotica would take these kind of chances with deeply flawed and unconventional protagonists.

I'm sad to see the end of the series but I'm looking forward to more works from the author.

[Linh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this funny thing where I get reluctant to finish series that I love. I guess I'm just scared to see the ending to a journey that I never want to end! This series is an example of my funny thing; I just love Tracht and Alex way too much. After several re-reads of the early books and dozens of books in between, I figured it was time for me to pick up the final book of Under His Heel.

Shockingly, I think this book surpasses the first book. I didn't expect that at all, because in my opinion the first book was extremely good. But that's just to show how much I enjoyed this one. Tracht and Alex is hands down one of the couples with the best chemistry I've had the pleasure to read about.

A wonderful book and perfect wrap to Alex's contract. Pressed all the right buttons for me, too bad I can't give it more than 5 stars.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read - June 2025 - Smashed this series again! Really the first one is the most brutal with the rest being sweet in a brainwashing sociopathic sort of way. Seriously love it though!

Review
I read this whole series in 3 days! I loved how messed up and unstable this relationship is. It was so good!! This one was a bit more stressful because I was worried Alex would stop getting brainwashed and leave Tracht. How messed up is that!!! Like I said so well written!!

Now I need to sleep because this series has been on my mind since I started it.

[ChiiChii · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay!! Happy ending!

This was such a good ending for them. I loved the trial and how everyone was trying to pit Alex and Tracht against each other. After the horrible things from the last book, I fully expected Espinosa to come back to bite them in the butt, or for other antagonists to make appearances. Thankfully there were no more fires.

I’ll miss Alex and Tracht after this. I hope a few more shorts will release since they are both my “problematic faves.”

[Bübü · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again that was an awesome book! please keep writting this series and others I love your books!

[пташатко · Rating 4 out of 5]

напрочуд солідне завершення серії вийшло, я вам скажу! тут чудове дослідження почуттів, був пристойний сюжет на тлі, відкрились нові грані персонажів та все огортала просто неймовірна атмосфера.

мені жах як сподобалось насамперед те, що тут не було цих бісячих will-they-won't-they моментів стосовно майбутнього трахта з алексом по закінченню контракта. відсутність дешевих драм, недомовок та тупих поворотів — золото. в той самий час, однак, мені було неймовірно втішно спостерігати за дрібками сумнівів обох гг. трахт тут зокрема заслуговує на окрему згадку — в тужливому, lovesick моді він був неперевершений (дайте ше). алекс теж своєю кусючістю по відношенню до всіх інших сяяв.

мені полюбився й той незначний зсув у їхніх стосунках. так, усілякі приколи з боку трахта досі очевидно присутні (duh), але вони помітно більше тепер збалансовані дійсно ніжнішим (?) ставленням і це! так! круто! згадати тільки, скільки разів трахт промовляв ту свою фразу про те, що засофтився & has gotten faR tOo inDulgEnT with him. я справді не думала, що це личитиме їхнім стосункам, але воно он як ще підійшло (вкупі з розвитком їх як персонажів). сцена в ванній в цьому плані була дуже показова й загалом просто афігєнна (прости господи).

p.s. негайно візьмусь за сиквельну новелетку, як матиму змогу, але з думок не вилазить спін-офф дилогія про йогана. яка ж там буде присутня динаміка? пліз, скажіть, що там все буде прямо протилежно? а аа, як же кортить взнати!!

p.p.s дойоби деяких рев'ювер_ок настільки дурнуваті й смішні, мені ЗЛЕ 🤭

[mlady_rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 4 of 4.

Given the context and content, it’s weird to think of this as a HEA, but it’s Tracht and Alex’s version of a HEA. The bond period ended and Alex was still loyal, he still wanted to belong to Tracht. Tracht even got him his own visibly-not-a-bondservant’s collar.

The courtroom scene was impressive. They tried to use Alex against Tracht! against Anna, and against the idea of bondservants, but he proved he was trained, but not tamed.

Everybody had told Tracht he was doing a bad job with Alex, that Alex was too uncouth, too uncontrollable. Franziska thought Tracht had completely stomped on Alex’s free will. But Tracht thought he’d done just right. He’d gotten Alex addicted to him, molded him into a loyal dog who would obey any order, but he still had enough bite to scare others and be, quite frankly, more interesting than the sad lumps some bondservants became.

Author didn’t list the content warnings (aka kinks) for this one on her site. The two that stand out here are mummification and drowning. The later of which was done after Alex was freed from the bondservant collar.

[By the way, Alex said his least favorite “kink” was the breasts, but I’m inclined to think teasing him about the tooth was the cruelest.]

Oh, and indication that Tracht might be a sociopath. What the hell is with all the sociopathic characters I keep encountering lately? Might need a new tag. [Note: only using the tag if the term is deliberately brought up in text.]

****

Love this visual. (Chpt 5)

Tracht looked over, and winced when he saw that Alex hadn’t gotten dressed. He’d crawled out from under the covers and sat up on his knees, so there was a very large naked man on display now, wearing only the bondservant collar?

08/17/2020 - bumping my rating

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Mixx · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terribly written and doesn't appear to have seen an editor. I have nothing against the dark, dub-con/non-con or extreme kink or anything like that. But this stretched much too far and I hated both characters. It was an unrealistic progression. I don't know why I kept reading... skimming, more like it... the series, but I did. Out of hope? Who knows.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean I liked it, but I do wish it had gone in a completely different direction. Instead of knowing Alex is going to stay I wish there had been at least a little conflict in what would happen afterwards. It was almost a book for nothing in my opinion. Not sure I got the point of the trial or any of it really. Plus it definitely needed to be edited again. At one point Alex takes Tracht's boots off & the next he still has them on.

Either way, as conclusions go it was unsatisfying for me. I still liked it because of the characters. Could have been a lot better though.

[Gherk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending!

Love story. No. Gave me feels anyway. Yes. Alex really is a lovable brute, and Tracht is as sadistic as ever.

[Emma Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm torn by this book. I guess I hoped for more than I got. I still love Tracht and his domination, and control. As for Alex, his love for Tracht, and belief that he won't be left is beautiful.

[ʟᴀᴜʀᴀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really, really going to miss this series (I never imagined that I would say something like that when reading the first book, but here we are)

[Freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ 2🌶️

📝 Review & thoughts:
Don’t read this series if you want to read about a sadistic man falling in love and redeeming himself. Tracht is still the sadistic f*cker he was in the beginning. There is a lot more affection, I don’t know if I would call it love…. It’s not really love. That’s one reason I can’t categorize this series as a romance. This is also not a healthy representation of BDSM lol.

I read this more because I found the relationship dynamic interesting and I was curious. The characters are deeply flawed. And even though they do grow and change a little, it’s not that much. Still I’m glad I read it.

🏷️ Tropes & tags (possible spoilers):
MM
Age gap (29/early 40s)
Bondservant (essentially “willing” sl@ve x master)
Stockholm Syndrome & mind break
Forced proximity

POV: 3rd person, dual
Angst: low
Vibe/mood: dark, gritty, toxic
Pet names: n/a
HEA: kinda a HEA

🌶️ Spice & k!nks (possible spoilers):
M/s kind of dynamic (forc*d)
Sadomasochism (extreme sad!sm!)
Humiliation & degradation
Groom!ng & manipulation/brain washing
An@l
Sound!ng
C*ckwarming
Boots k!ssing
Edg!ng & forc*d org@sms
Free use
Impact play & punishments
Praise k!nk

Strict top/bottom or versatile: vers, but the Dom always dominates, never switches control.

Heat: 3 scenes, medium heat (or hot I guess if you’re into extreme sad!sm and humiliation). I’ve only counted scenes where there’s actual org@sms and some kind of pleasure. Didn’t count the tortures only etc. on themselves if they weren’t associated to a spicy scene

⚠️ Content warnings (possible spoilers):
Dubcon: yes
Noncon: yes
V!olence, torture, servitude/contracted sl@very

💬 Quotes (possible spoilers):

“If you think this means I’m done with you, you’re sorely mistaken. You’re still mine. Understood?”

“No. He’s not my bondservant. He’s…” Tracht didn’t know how to continue that sentence. Partner was laughable. Significant other? Absolutely not. Under no circumstances would Alex ever become a spouse. The closest thing that felt right was pet, and he knew he could never introduce Alex like that out loud.

“But a part of him worried that Galanis would somehow be able to keep Alex away indefinitely. That he would get Alex a top-rate psychiatrist who would find all the many faults in Alex’s psyche, who would detangle the lifetime of codependency that had molded Alex. That Alex would be taught how to think for himself, how to be a healthy individual.”

“Everybody had told Tracht he was doing a bad job with Alex, that Alex was too uncouth, too uncontrollable. Franziska thought Tracht had completely stomped on Alex’s free will. But Tracht thought he’d done just right. He’d gotten Alex addicted to him, molded him into a loyal dog who would obey any order, but he still had enough bite to scare others and be, quite frankly, more interesting than the sad lumps some bondservants became.”

“So fuck everyone else who kept trying to tell him that Tracht was bad for him. Nobody had ever cared for Alex the way Tracht did, and Alex was pretty sure nobody else ever would.”


* Fyi about 🌶️ levels: I rate spice on a combination of quantity, quality, length, intensity and explicitness of the scenes. K!nks are listed separately and generally do not directly affect the steam level to keep it fair for non k!nky books.

[junoh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leave it to the dark book full of toxicity and sociopathy to have the best trans representation I've seen in a while. I think it's what I love about dark romances--there's no beating around the bush, no trying to represent characters in a certain light because of their identities. Nothing hits quite like hating on the non-binary side character but still getting their pronouns right. Bahjat, as well, quickly became one of my favourite characters.

It took me a while to get to this book after finishing the second. I had read part of the first chapter and got nauseous at the idea of Tracht getting tired of Alex. After all the shit he put Alex through, that's what made me need to take a break. I'm sure my therapist would love to talk about that.

I think this conclusion handled the ethics behind the bondservant system and the politics that derive from it exceedingly well. At no point was there any excuse-making, no justifying the system. The plot did a really good job of showing how the system was a mere drop in a bucket compared to the issues of this society as a whole. I hated Galanis with a burning passion; his obsession with ending the system screamed Dunning-Kruger effect and all he seemed to want to accomplish was make people in the system look more pathetic and helpless. It was the same old exploitation, at the end of the day, but it made it all the more real. Uncomfortably so.

There's no sugarcoating any of what goes on in the story. The ideal outcome is being in Nadia's position, finding two loving Doms who you feel happy and safe enough to stay with. But that's assuming so many circumstances align in your favour. In a more fucked up way, things do end up in Alex's favour--Tracht's, too. They're both pieces of shit, but what makes them marginally better than everyone else is they don't deny it or pretend to be otherwise.

"Everybody had told Tracht he was doing a bad job with Alex, that Alex was too uncouth, too uncontrollable. Franziska thought Tracht had completely stomped on Alex’s free will. But Tracht thought he’d done just right. He’d gotten Alex addicted to him, molded him into a loyal dog who would obey any order, but he still had enough bite to scare others and be, quite frankly, more interesting than the sad lumps some bondservants became."

I could go on for ages about this series, probably, and that's what I adored about it. There's no excuses made for the situation Alex is in, and there's no hiding it. Instead, it's made into a decent criticism of the society and politics as a whole.

[row row · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series about Stockholm syndrome and terrible people. You are not supposed to root for the main characters. Though Alex is a victim, even if he did sell himself into the situation, he’s still an asshole. Tracht is worse. I appreciated how there were a couple characters throughout the series that served as a voice of reason, to make it more clear that yes, Alex is fully brainwashed and there’s no helping him. You feel for him, and part of you may even feel for Tracht, but they’re both still not good people. What I liked the most about this series finale was the political plot and the court trial. It put the whole series into perspective and hammered home the point. It showed exactly how deep manipulation can change and warp a person. Though the whole series gets 3 stars for me, I do admire Adara Wolf’s writing and the subjects she chooses to tackle. It’s kind of fascinating. This was a wild journey to go on.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately this is the first review I am doing for this amazing series and it’s on the last book. I found this author either last year or year before and I became obsessed. MM romance was kind of a miss most times for me before this but I loved Under his Heel.

Alex our lovable idiot has become so trained by Tracht he cannot imagine a life without him no matter what is done to him he believes Tracht is the best and the brightest and anyone who goes against them even though from a regular perspective the “villains” would be heroes trying to help Alex.

Alex was still sexually tortured by Tracht but he was so used to it his fear was mostly of being separated from him.

I did read the first book a while back so it took me a bit of remembering to know who is who and what was what but in the end this was a good end to this dark twisted tale

[C Sullivan-Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

More plot and less smut, but satisfying end to series

While more plot and politics than the first entry in the series, this book is a satisfying conclusion to the 'love story' of Tracht and Alex. The author never shies away from how twisted and unhealthy the relationship is, navigating a clever balance between straight forward fantasy kink appeal and avoiding the 50sog problem of presenting it as 'normal.' While there's room in this universe for more side stories, Tracht and Alex themselves have reached a natural feeling 'end.'

Fans of the first two novels might be disappointed in the lower number of sex scenes, but I feel it's a fair trade off for room to explore the world and dynamics the author has created.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got to see our sociopath Tracht show how he really can't live without Alex. He needs him too just like Alex needs Tracht. I also like how the intimate scenes became less violent and less humiliating. I was less uncomfortable reading them here. I also love the fact that Tracht is way indulgent with Alex after 5 years together; their kissing and touches are real nice. Was I hoping that Alex would actually get therapy and recover then choose Tracht anyways? yes
did I want him to leave him at first then for Tracht to do some grovelling? yes
am I still upset with their super imbalance of the power dynamic between them? absolutely

but we all know that Alex wouldn't be able to survive on his own anyways so being with Tracht might as well be the best thing for him.