(Forbidden Steps)- Story 4 - Dinner

Ava hadn’t planned on staying longer than an hour.

She told herself that the entire drive over. Go in, smile through dinner, hand over the documents her mother had forgotten at her apartment, and leave before the whole thing became more awkward than it already was. Her mother had only been married to Dominic Kane for three months. Three months was not long enough for Ava to feel comfortable sitting across from her new stepfather at a dinner table like they were some kind of family.

They weren’t.

She parked in the wide driveway and stared up at the house for a moment. It was large, modern, and carefully maintained, the kind of place that looked more like a statement than a home. Ava adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, walked up the steps, and rang the doorbell.

Dominic opened the door himself.

She had seen him a few times before at the wedding and once during a brief visit, but standing this close still felt different. He was taller than she remembered, broad-shouldered, with dark hair that was slightly silver at the temples and the kind of controlled presence that made a room feel smaller. He was thirty-nine. She was twenty-two. The difference felt sharper when he looked directly at her.

“Ava,” he said. His voice was calm, low, and measured. “Come in.”

She stepped inside. The house smelled faintly of something expensive and clean. “Where’s my mom?”

“Upstairs. She’ll be down in a minute.” He closed the door behind her and took her bag without asking, setting it on a side table. “You’re early.”

“Traffic was lighter than I expected.”

Dominic’s eyes moved over her face, then lower, taking in her jeans and simple top with quiet attention. There was nothing obvious or crude about the way he looked at her, but it still made her skin feel too warm.

“Drink?” he asked.

“Water’s fine.”

He nodded and walked toward the kitchen. Ava followed after a moment, because standing alone in the entryway felt worse. The kitchen was open and polished, all clean lines and dark counters. Dominic filled a glass and handed it to her. When her fingers brushed his, neither of them commented on it.

“How’s school?” he asked.

“It’s fine. Busy.”

“And the internship?”

She looked at him over the glass. “My mom told you about that?”

“She did.”

“It’s going well enough.”

Dominic leaned back against the counter, watching her with that same steady attention. He didn’t fill the silence the way most people did. He just let it sit there until it started to feel intentional.

“You don’t like coming here,” he said eventually.

Ava raised an eyebrow. “That’s direct.”

“I prefer direct.”

“Fine. It’s still weird. My mother married you three months ago, and now I’m supposed to sit at the table and make small talk with my stepfather like this is normal.”

“It doesn’t have to be normal,” Dominic said. “It just has to be honest.”

Before she could answer, her mother’s voice carried down the stairs. A moment later she appeared, smiling, and the tension in the room shifted into something more polished and superficial. Dinner was served soon after. Ava sat across from Dominic and tried to focus on her mother’s stories instead of the way her stepfather’s eyes kept finding hers over the rim of his glass.

He didn’t speak much. When he did, it was precise and quiet. Every now and then his knee brushed hers under the table. The first time she thought it was an accident. The second time she knew it wasn’t. She didn’t move her leg away.

After dinner her mother went to take a call. The moment she left the room, the air changed.

Ava stood and carried her plate toward the kitchen. Dominic followed with his own. They set them down near the sink, and for a moment neither of them spoke.

“You’re staring,” Ava said.

“You’re difficult not to look at.”

She turned to face him fully. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re married to my mother. You’re my stepfather.”

Dominic stepped closer. Not enough to touch her, but enough that she had to tilt her head back to keep his gaze. “I’m aware of who I’m married to. I’m also aware of the way you’ve been watching me all evening.”

Ava’s pulse kicked harder. “You’re imagining things.”

“Am I?”

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. The touch was light, but it sent a clear spark down her spine. She should have stepped back. She didn’t.

“This is a bad idea,” she said quietly.

“Most worthwhile things are.”

Dominic’s hand settled against the side of her neck, his thumb resting just below her jaw. He waited a second, giving her the chance to stop him. When she didn’t, he leaned down and kissed her.

It was slower than she expected. Controlled. His mouth moved over hers with deliberate heat, one hand sliding to the small of her back to pull her closer. Ava’s fingers curled into the front of his shirt as the taste of him and the solid warmth of his body made it hard to think clearly. When he finally pulled back, her breathing had already changed.

“Tell me to stop,” he said quietly.

She looked up at him. Her heart was beating too fast. “I should.”

“But you’re not going to.”

He kissed her again, deeper this time. His hands gripped her hips and lifted her onto the edge of the counter in one smooth motion, stepping between her thighs like he belonged there. Ava’s back met the upper cabinets as his mouth moved to her jaw, then her neck, leaving a trail of heat against her skin.

“Dominic—”

“I know exactly who I am,” he murmured against her throat. “And I know exactly what I’m doing.”

His hands slid under her top, warm palms stroking up her sides before he pulled the fabric over her head and dropped it on the counter. He looked at her for a moment, eyes dark, then lowered his mouth to her breast, sucking slowly through the thin fabric of her bra before pulling the cup down. The heat of his tongue against her bare nipple made her breath stutter. He gave the same attention to the other side until her fingers were tight in his hair.

He unhooked her bra completely and set it aside, then kissed his way down her stomach. When he reached the waistband of her jeans, he looked up at her once before opening them and dragging both jeans and underwear down her legs. Cool air brushed over her bare skin. Dominic pushed her thighs wider and settled between them.

The first slow stroke of his tongue made her hips twitch. He made a low sound of approval and kept going, licking her with focused patience. Long strokes followed by tighter circles around her clit. Every time her breathing changed, he adjusted. Ava’s hands gripped the edge of the counter as pleasure built steadily under his mouth.

He pushed two fingers inside her while he continued licking, curling them against the spot that made her thighs tense. The combination pulled a soft, broken sound from her throat. Dominic hummed against her and worked her with steady intensity until her legs started to tremble.

“Dominic… I’m—”

He didn’t stop. He licked and stroked her until the first orgasm rolled through her in a shaking wave. She cried out softly, her fingers tightening in his hair as her body clenched around his fingers. He worked her through it, then kept going until the sensitivity made her try to shift away. He held her in place and continued until a second climax tore through her harder than the first, leaving her gasping against the cabinets.

Only then did he stand. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes locked on hers as he unbuckled his belt and freed himself. He was already hard, thick and ready. He dragged the head of his cock through her soaked folds, coating himself, before pushing inside in one deep, continuous thrust.

The stretch forced a sharp sound from both of them. Dominic groaned low as he sank all the way in, gripping her hips tightly.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “You feel even better than I imagined.”

He started moving with deep, controlled strokes. Each one filled her completely. Ava’s hands gripped his shoulders as he fucked her with steady intensity, the wet sound of their bodies meeting filling the quiet kitchen. He watched her face the entire time, adjusting his angle until every thrust dragged against the place that made her breath break.

One of his hands slid between them to rub firm circles over her clit. The dual sensation pushed her toward another climax faster than she expected.

“Come for me again,” he said, voice rough. “I want to feel it.”

The pressure built hard and sharp. When the third orgasm hit her, Ava cried out, her body pulsing tightly around him. Dominic kept thrusting through it, drawing every wave out of her until she was trembling. Only then did he bury himself deep and follow her over, groaning low as he emptied himself inside her in thick pulses.

For a long moment afterward, neither of them moved.

Dominic stayed buried in her, forehead resting against hers, both of them breathing hard. When he finally pulled out, he watched as his release started to slip from her before helping her down from the counter with steady hands.

Ava’s legs felt unsteady. She reached for her clothes in silence, pulling them back on while her pulse slowly began to settle. Dominic fixed his own clothes with the same calm he did everything else.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

They both froze for half a second. Then Ava smoothed her hair and picked up her glass of water like nothing had happened. Dominic stepped back to a more appropriate distance just as her mother walked back into the kitchen, still talking about the call she had taken.

Ava barely heard a word of it.

When she finally left the house twenty minutes later, her body was still warm and aching, and her stepfather’s eyes followed her all the way to the door.

She told herself it wouldn’t happen again.

Even then, she already knew she was lying.