chapter 4

The study door handle turned with agonizing slowness, the brass clicking softly under Sophia’s fingers. Rain had eased to a steady drizzle outside the tall windows, but inside the room the air felt thicker than the storm clouds—heavy with the scent of sex, spilled scotch, and Damien’s cologne clinging to my skin. I was still spread open on the edge of his massive mahogany desk, thighs trembling, his hot release painting my stomach and breasts in glistening streaks. My tank top was shoved up under my arms, sleep shorts tangled around one ankle, and Damien’s thick cock rested heavy and half-hard against my slick folds, a single shallow rock away from sliding back inside me.

Sophia’s voice came again, clearer now, right on the other side of the wood. “Dad? Ava? I swear I heard something fall… and voices. Is everything okay?”

Damien’s body went rigid against mine, every muscle coiled like a predator mid-strike. His dark bourbon eyes locked onto mine with ferocious intensity. Silver threaded through his black hair caught the low desk-lamp glow, and the sharp line of his jaw flexed as he fought for control. One big hand stayed clamped over my mouth, the other gripping my hip so hard I knew fingerprints would bloom there by morning. He was still notched at my entrance—teasing, threatening—his warmth pulsing against my oversensitive flesh.

He leaned in until his lips brushed the shell of my ear, voice a bare whisper of pure sin. “Not one sound, little girl. Not even a breath. Or I swear I’ll pull this door open and let my daughter see exactly how her best friend looks covered in her daddy’s cum.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. Terror and a dark, shameful thrill twisted together low in my belly. I nodded frantically against his palm, eyes wide. Damien’s gaze softened for the briefest second—something almost tender flickering beneath the dominance—before hardening again.

He raised his voice just enough to carry, calm and commanding as always. “Everything’s fine, Soph. Ava spilled a glass while we were talking. She’s helping me clean up. Go back to bed—you have an early flight.”

A pause. The handle stopped turning but didn’t release. I could picture Sophia on the other side: pajama shorts and oversized tee, blonde hair messy from sleep, the trusting expression she always wore when it came to her father and me. The girl who had shared every secret with me since we were kids. The girl whose world would shatter if she stepped inside right now.

“Okay…” Sophia sounded uncertain, but the handle finally clicked back into place. “Night, then. Love you both.”

Her footsteps retreated once more down the long marble hallway, fading toward the east wing. The moment they disappeared, Damien exhaled a harsh breath and removed his hand from my mouth. But he didn’t pull away. Instead he rocked forward, sliding another inch inside me, slow and deliberate, stretching me again with that delicious burn.

“Fuck,” he growled, forehead dropping to mine. “You’re going to be the death of me, Ava. So tight… still fluttering around me like you want more even after I marked you.”

I gasped, hands fisting in his half-unbuttoned dress shirt. The fabric was damp with sweat, clinging to the hard ridges of his chest. “Damien… we almost—”

“I know.” His hips rolled deeper, burying himself fully this time. A low moan escaped me before I could stop it. He swallowed the sound with a bruising kiss, tongue claiming my mouth the way his body claimed mine. The desk creaked under us as he started moving again—deeper strokes now, unhurried but relentless, each thrust pushing me closer to another shattering peak.

The study felt smaller, more intimate in the aftermath of near-discovery. Bookshelves lined with rare first editions towered around us, their leather spines gleaming. The massive fireplace sat cold and dark opposite the windows, but the embers of our own fire burned hotter than any flame. Outside, the cliffs dropped sharply to the restless Puget Sound, waves still crashing against the rocks in rhythmic fury. The Blackwood estate sprawled like a sleeping giant—private gym, infinity pool glowing faintly in the distance, helipad on the roof—all of it a testament to the empire Damien had built with ruthless precision.

And here I was, the girl who had grown up running through these halls as an honorary daughter, now bent over his desk and taking every thick inch of him like I belonged there.

Damien’s hand slid down to where we were joined, fingers spreading me wider so he could watch himself disappear inside me. “Look at that,” he murmured, voice rough with awe and hunger. “So wet for me. So perfect. I’ve wanted this for years—wanted to ruin you while the whole world slept just down the hall.”

His thumb found my clit again, circling with expert pressure that had my back arching off the desk. Pleasure built fast and sharp, coiling tighter with every powerful thrust. I could feel another orgasm rising, unstoppable, the forbidden rush of almost getting caught making everything more intense.

“Damien… please…” I whimpered, nails digging into his shoulders.

“Come again,” he ordered, hips snapping harder. “Come on my cock while my cum is still drying on your skin. Show me how badly you need your best friend’s daddy to wreck you.”

I shattered for the second time, biting his neck to silence my cry as waves of ecstasy crashed through me. My walls clenched around him rhythmically, pulling him deeper. Damien followed moments later with a guttural groan, burying himself to the hilt and spilling inside me this time—hot, deep pulses that marked me from within.

We stayed locked together, panting, his body a heavy, protective weight over mine. For a long moment the only sounds were our ragged breathing and the soft patter of rain against the glass. Damien’s hand stroked my hair gently, the contrast to his earlier roughness making my chest tighten with something dangerously close to emotion.

“This can’t happen again,” he said quietly, but even as the words left his mouth he was pressing soft kisses along my jaw. “Not while she’s still here. Not until she’s gone tomorrow.”

I nodded, but we both knew it was a lie. The hunger between us had been building for too long. One taste would never be enough.

He finally pulled out slowly, watching with dark satisfaction as his release trickled down my thighs. With surprising tenderness, he grabbed a clean handkerchief from his desk drawer and wiped me clean, then helped me down from the desk on shaky legs. My sleep shorts were ruined, so he shrugged off his dress shirt and draped it over my shoulders instead. It swallowed me, carrying his scent and warmth like a brand.

“Go to your room,” he murmured, cupping my face in both hands. His thumbs traced my lower lip again—the same gesture that had started everything. “Sleep. Tomorrow Sophia leaves for London, and then… we figure this out. No more almosts.”

I rose on my toes and kissed him softly, tasting the lingering scotch on his tongue. “Promise me you won’t regret this.”

His eyes darkened. “The only thing I regret is waiting this long.”

I slipped out of the study on unsteady legs, the oversized shirt brushing my thighs as I crept down the dimly lit hallway. The mansion was silent now, marble floors cool under my bare feet. I passed Sophia’s door, heart clenching at the sliver of light still glowing beneath it. She trusted me. Trusted him. The weight of that trust sat heavy in my stomach even as Damien’s release still warmed me from the inside.

I made it to the guest room I always used—the one with the balcony overlooking the sound—and collapsed onto the king-sized bed. The sheets smelled of fresh lavender, a stark contrast to the scent of sex and sin clinging to my skin. Sleep pulled at me, but my mind raced with images of Damien’s hands, his voice, the dangerous promise in his eyes.

Just as my eyes drifted shut, my phone buzzed on the nightstand. A text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Sleep well, little girl. Dream of me buried inside you. Because tomorrow night, when the house is empty… I’m coming for you. And this time, I won’t stop until you’re screaming my name loud enough for the entire estate to hear.

My core clenched at the words. I saved the contact simply as D.

The phone buzzed again.

D: And Ava… lock your door tonight. Because if I hear you touching yourself thinking about me, I’ll break it down and finish what we started on that desk.

A soft knock sounded on my bedroom door.

Not Damien’s heavy, commanding knock.

Light. Familiar.

Sophia’s voice drifted through the wood, sleepy and warm. “Ava? Can I come in for a second? I can’t sleep… I wanted to talk about London.”

My heart stopped. Damien’s shirt was still draped over my body, his scent all over me, his release still sticky between my thighs. The balcony doors rattled softly in the lingering wind, offering one desperate escape route—but outside was nothing but cliffs and darkness.

I stared at the door handle as it began to turn.