INICIAR SESIÓN°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・ “So are you going to start talking?” Mia’s voice cut through the quiet of the kitchen like a perfectly aimed dart. I froze with my hand halfway to the fridge door, the cool air wafting out and doing nothing to calm the sudden heat in my cheeks. I sighed, long and defeated, letting the door swing shut. I’d been stupidly grateful when I woke up and realized I had no classes today—blissful, delusional hope that I could hide in the mansion, maybe spend the day curled up with Gage if he wasn’t buried in work, and avoid the inevitable Mia interrogation at least until tomorrow. But Mia Ramirez doesn’t do “later.” She does “now,” preferably with relentless eye contact. She was perched on one of the high stools at the kitchen island, legs swinging, arms crossed, looking entirely too pleased with herself. Her curls were pulled into a messy bun, and she wore an oversized university hoodie that probably belonged to whatever guy she was casually seeing this week. I’d been wearing
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・ I don’t remember falling asleep. One moment Gage was still moving inside me, slow and deep, whispering my name like a prayer against my ear, and the next everything went soft and dark, my body giving out under the weight of too much pleasure, too much emotion, and too much literally everything. Before I knew it, I was passed out in his arms, boneless and floating, the world reduced to the steady thump of his heartbeat under my cheek. When I woke, the room was quiet, and the clock on the nightstand glowed 2:17 a.m. I tried to stand up but my muscles felt tender and sore, skin sensitive, and the faint ache between my thighs a constant reminder of how thoroughly he’d taken me. I shifted under the sheet and realized I was clean. Really clean. There was no stickiness, or lingering sweat. He must have bathed me while I was out, or at least wiped me down with the same gentle care he’d shown during aftercare last night. “That’s sweet,” I muttered under my breath, my g
I could feel his pulse racing against my lips, the heat of his skin, the faint taste of salt when I pressed an open-mouthed kiss there. He didn’t slow, didn’t pause… just climbed the stairs with steady strides, one arm banded under my ass, the other splayed across my bare back. I was completely naked, clothes abandoned somewhere downstairs. He kicked his bedroom door shut behind us, the click loud in the quiet house. He lowered me slowly onto the mattress, following me down until his weight pinned me gently, his mouth finding mine again. This kiss was different from downstairs, it was more slower, deeper, and less frantic but no less hungry. His tongue stroked mine lazily, like he had all the time in the world now that we were here. I arched up into him, hands sliding under his shirt to feel the heat of his back, the flex of muscle as he held himself over me. “You’re still dressed,” I whispered against his lips, tugging at his shirt. He pulled back just enough to smirk. “Fix i
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・ The drive home was quiet, but not the awkward kind. Gage’s hand stayed on my thigh the entire time, thumb tracing slow, absent patterns through my jeans. Every once in a while he’d squeeze lightly, a silent reminder that he was thinking about me. I stared out the window, watching the city give way to the winding roads leading to the mansion, my mind spinning with the way his touch grounded me even as it set me on fire. When we pulled through the gates, the house loomed ahead. Gage parked in the circular drive and came around to open my door before I could even unbuckle. His hand enveloped mine as he helped me out, fingers lacing tightly, like he didn’t want to let go even for a second. The front door opened into the hallway and high ceilings. I heard the distant clatter of dishes in the kitchen—the housekeeper was still here. But Gage didn’t care. The second the door clicked shut behind us, he moved. One arm slid around my waist, the other under my knees, and he lif
I laughed it off, but it came out strained. “You’re delusional. It’s nothing like that. Just… drop it, okay?” She pouted but relented, looping her arm back through mine. “Fine, fine. Seems like you still don’t want to talk about him but whenever you’re ready, I want details. Best friend privileges.” We grabbed our coffees, mine black and strong, to chase away the fog in my head and found a bench under a maple tree, its leaves a riot of red and gold. Mia launched into a story about her latest Tinder disaster, but my mind wandered back to my phone, still burning a hole in my bag. Mia nudged me. “Earth to Thea. You’re spacing again.” “Sorry,” I said, forcing a smile. “Just tired.” “Uh-huh. Tired from all that ‘research’?” She air-quoted, grinning wickedly. I rolled my eyes, then my phone buzzed in my bag, a soft vibration that cut straight through Mia’s teasing. I fished it out on instinct, heart already picking up speed before I even saw the name on the screen. Mr. Gage. The m
THEA WILSON°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・The lecture hall buzzed with the low hum of half-hearted attention—professor droning on about macroeconomic theories, students scribbling notes or scrolling through their phones under desks. I sat in the back row, as usual, with Mia next to me, her notebook open but her pen idle as she whispered commentary on the guy’s haircut three rows ahead. My own laptop was open to a blank Word doc, but my phone was the real culprit, hidden in my lap, screen tilted just enough so only I could see it.I’d been scrolling for the last ten minutes, ever since the professor started on supply curves. It started innocently enough—a quick Google search after last night’s memories kept replaying in my head like a forbidden highlight reel. Gage’s hands on my wrists, the way he’d cuffed me, the commanding edge in his voice when he told me what to do. So here I was, deep in a rabbit hole of articles: “BDSM for Beginners,” “What is Dominance and Submission?,” “Safe Words and Aftercar







