4.

Eva

I couldn’t sleep. Not after that.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face, his image. Dominic’s. 

I felt his breath at my ear and his hands tracing my thighs, and the way he whispered like he’d imagined me doing things I never dared admit. The way he stopped.

God, the way he stopped. I'm still confused. Why did he stop?

I should’ve been relieved. I should’ve been running from the house, disgusted or ashamed or something. But I wasn’t. I was restless, full of something I didn’t have a name for, something I knew wasn't right but I wanted more.  

I lay awake in my bedroom, staring at the ceiling as the moonlight pooled through the curtains. My thighs pressed together involuntarily, recalling how close he’d gotten. How close I was to letting go.

I bit my lip, angry and aching. Why did he leave me like that? I was right there. I would’ve let him. Hell, I *wanted* him to.

I turned to the wall, my breath high.

It wasn’t just about lust at least not anymore. It was about how he made me feel—seen, desired, *real*. Not like the discarded girl who’d been cheated on. Not like the quiet best friend everyone thought they knew. 

I rolled over again, very frustrated.

For a long time all I heard was the sound of snow dropping on my window. Slow, but steady.

Then I heard voices through the hallway. I tiptoed closer to the door and cracked it open just slightly. Dominic's study light was off. He wasn’t pacing like I thought he’d be. Silence had returned.

Though I'm sure I had a sound.

But from further down, soft laughter echoed. Muffled voices. Chloe.

I followed it.

The hallway narrowed into the guest wing, where Chloe has given Blaise a large bedroom for the holidays. I paused near the door, which was slightly ajar. My heart pounded. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I just—

Then I heard a moan. Soft, Feminine. Familiar.

I froze.

Again? Today again? Jealousy burnt more.

It was Chloe. Her laugh turned breathy. Then a low male groan followed. Blaise.

I backed away slowly, my chest tightening. They were...together. Right now.

My breath hitched.

They hadn’t even noticed me. And I wasn’t supposed to care. But I did. Not because of Blaise. I didn’t want him—not really. But the idea of them wrapped in each other, tangled in something I couldn’t have, left me burning.  

Why was it hard for me? Was my body different?

Why did she get to have that? That closeness. That release.

And why the hell did Blaise sound like *that* when he touched her?

He made that notice again. I bit my lower lip in jealousy.

I stood by the door still watching. 

He pushed her to her knees. His cock standing mighty before him. Though I'm sure Dominic's own is bigger and better. 

He shove it into her mouth, and she sucked them while stroking it slowly.

Blaise moved back and forth, pulling and pushing it deep into her mouth.

She knelt there sucking it. Moaning sharply. 

Then his release cane, it poured on the bed spread, and partly on her face. Then she giggled.

I wished it were I, ohh..how much I would have liked the bed clean of that release.

I wanted Dominic to release into my mouth so I could lick my tongue out.

He pushed her on the bed. Laying on top her. Then he shoves his dick into her and she gave a loud shout. 

Blaiseee!!! ..He pulled, and pushed in again. He held her hips moving it in his rhythm of push and pull. 

I hurried back to my room, shut the door, and sat on the edge of the bed. My hands trembled. I didn't know if I was angry or just...envious.

I wanted to feel that. I wanted to know what it meant to be craved and claimed without hesitation. Not almost and certainly not paused. Not denied.

I thought of Dominic again. His voice. His touch. The way he stopped, right when I was about to lose myself.

It felt cruel.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror across the room. My lips were parted my eyes looked glassy. I looked...different. Totally different…Like someone I didn’t recognize but was beginning to understand.

I didn’t want to be the good girl anymore and I didn’t want to sit quietly while everyone else lived.

I climbed under the sheets, heart racing.

Tomorrow will come. And I wouldn’t look away this time.

*** 

The morning air was crisp and biting when I stepped out of bed. The window was covered in snow, from last night. I had barely slept. Not properly though. I’d tossed and turned with the sheets tangled between my thighs. My body still humming from what had almost happened.

Almost. I guess

He had touched me. 

Dominic Callahan. 

Chloe’s father….My best friend's father.

He’d whispered into my ear and traced fire across my thighs. He'd pulled up my dress, and nearly... God.

Then he left.

Just walked away without a word.

Could this man be less mysterious?

And now here I was, standing barefoot in this massive countryside bedroom, feeling like I was going insane.

Ohh, actually I'm going insane.

I hadn’t dared to look at myself in the mirror….not yet. Scared from what I saw the last I did. I was scared I’d see guilt smeared across my cheeks, or worse the desire still glowing in my eyes.

But it was there and I could feel it. Shameful and stubborn thing.

I walked to the window. The garden was covered in snow which I barely saw from the dew. The early sunlight kissing the leaves. Somewhere downstairs, the staff were beginning to stir. Breakfast would be served soon. I should shower…I guess, dress and pretend I hadn’t melted into a man nearly twice my age last night.

But the echo of his voice still clung to me.

"How many times have you fucked yourself screaming my name?"

My thighs clenched at the memory. Twitching every time I remembered.

I let out a shaky breath, trying to center myself. This wasn't me. I didn’t chase older men though I've always had a crush on this one. But if truth be told I'd fantasized about Chloe’s dad but a long time ago.

Dominic wasn’t just anyone. He was... different. Powerful and very much….Controlled. And last night, for the first time…I saw the real man behind that control and he’d seen something in me too.

Or had he?

Because he stopped.

And the way he left me…without a word—it left me cold. Like I was a mistake he couldn’t afford.

I showered quickly, scrubbing myself clean even though his touch lingered deeper than skin. When I came downstairs, Chloe was already at the breakfast table, flipping through her phone and sipping orange juice.

“Morning,” she said, without looking up.

“Morning,” I managed.

Dominic wasn’t there. A wave of disappointment and relief hit me at once.

“You didn’t come up last night,” she added, eyeing me now. 

 “I was just... thinking. Just couldn't sleep,” I replied.

“It's not like you'd let me share your man if you saw me last night,” I murmured to my self.

She hummed, unconvinced, but let it go. 

A few minutes later, Blaise walked in. Hair messy and lips slightly red.

I stiffened. He leaned down to kiss Chloe on the lips, a little too long for breakfast. She giggled and touched his face.

Wasn't it enough already?

But something about it made my chest tighten.

He was hers.

Just like Dominic wasn’t mine.

I looked away and sipped my coffee, pretending not to care. But I did. And I hated that I did.

A familiar air filled the room. I knew I didn't need to turn. 

I used my side eye to watch him, he took a seat at the far end of the table.

Dominic Callahan. 

My heart skipped.

Later, Lydia joined. We had breakfast.

***

Later that afternoon, I wandered the halls alone. Chloe and Blaise had disappeared somewhere. I guessed what they were doing. I hated myself for imagining it.

Her luck, I muttered out loud.

A thought crossed my mind. Should I pick up my physics textbook? But then I wouldn't concentrate.

I ended up outside, under the bare trees. I letting the winter wind bite at my skin. I needed to cool off. My body was at war with itself. A war that threatened to pull me apart.

That night, I saw Dominic again but very brief. At dinner. 

He didn’t look at me. Not once. 

Or maybe that's what I thought.

But I felt him as I always did.

I wondered if he regretted it. If he hated himself for touching me. 

I've always known him to be brutal and disciplined.

Or worse... if he’d already forgotten.

But I hadn’t.

I couldn’t.

I still ached for him. And it scared me.

Because I know this thing between us wasn’t over…at least not yet.