The mansion feels colder today.Not in temperature—but in silence. Like the walls are listening. Judging. Waiting.I step into the hallway leading to the staff wing, gripping the tray tighter in my hands. My shift technically ended fifteen minutes ago, but Mrs. Donovan had a “last-minute request” that sent me scurrying to the third floor.Typical.As I round the corner, I hear them.Two maids. Whispering in hushed, rapid tones near the linen closet. I slow my steps, pressing my back to the wall.“She’s back, you know,” one says, breathless.“Clara?”“Mm-hmm. Wore a Gucci trench like she’s royalty now. But she’s acting sweet—like she didn’t almost get all of us fired last year.”“Wasn’t she sleeping with Damien?”“Sleeping?” The other snorts. “That girl lived in his sheets. She pretended to be poor, just to get hired here. And when Mr. Wolfe found out, she got tossed like trash.”A pause.“Now she’s back. And eyeing Zara like she’s the next target.”My stomach coils. I step away before
I don’t remember how I got back to the dorm.The rain followed me, seeping into my skin like a bruise. It’s still there—on my lips. In my chest. Everywhere his mouth touched.I strip off my wet clothes in silence, hang them on the back of the chair, and slide beneath the covers without turning on the light.He kissed me.Damien Wolfe kissed me.And I let him.My fingers drift to my mouth, trembling. It’s swollen. Sensitive. Branded.Maya isn’t back yet, thank God.The quiet lets me break.My chest tightens. My eyes sting. And for the first time in a long time—I cry.Not because I’m weak. But because I hate that he got to me. That I’m not as cold, or detached, or careful as I thought.I should’ve pushed him away. I should’ve said something sharp. Formal. Distant.But I melted.And now I can’t breathe without remembering the way he tasted—rain, regret, and something I should never crave.“Zara, please,” I whisper to myself, dragging a trembling hand over my face. “Get it together.”The
I’m halfway down the gravel path when the rain starts, sudden and heavy, soaking my uniform in seconds. I keep walking. I want to be out of this house. Away from the whispers. Away from Clara’s knowing smirk.A car door slams behind me.“You didn’t say goodbye,” Damien says.I turn slowly. “I wasn’t aware I had to.”His jaw tightens. Raindrops cling to his lashes. Even now, in a thunderstorm, he looks like something carved from a fever dream.“Clara was a mistake,” he says. No emotion. Just fact.“You don’t owe me explanations, sir,” I say. My voice is steady, but inside, I’m shaking.He steps closer. “Maybe I don’t. But I want you to know anyway.”Silence.“Why?”“Because it bothers me,” he murmurs, brushing a soaked strand of hair from my face, “how you looked at me earlier. Like I disgusted you.”“You did.”His eyes darken. “And yet you’re still here.”Before I can move, he grabs my waist and kisses me—hard.His mouth crashes into mine with zero warning—wet, unrelenting, and rough
I get to my dorm that night. My mind is too occupied and stressed to go for class. The next Morning, I get my things ready and dash to the Wolfe’s estate. I can’t be late. Something’s off. The mansion smells the same—lemon polish and luxury—but there’s a shift in the air today. A tension I can’t name. Mrs. Donovan’s heels tap sharper than usual across the marble. She doesn’t spare me a glance during the morning checklist. Just mutters under her breath and corrects things I haven’t even touched. Annoying, but not unusual. Except… there’s something else. A whiff of perfume I don’t recognize trails through the corridor. Sweet. Expensive. Overpowering. Someone new. I pass by the east hallway and pause. There’s a sleek leather duffel sitting against the wall. Black. Clean. Monogrammed with gold initials I don’t recognize. Not a staff bag. Definitely not a guest’s either. A laugh echoes faintly through the wing. High. Teasing. And then I hear his voice. Damien’s.
The mansion feels colder today.Or maybe it’s just him.Damien hasn’t looked at me once since I stepped into the estate. Not during the morning briefing. Not when Mrs. Donovan barked orders in front of the others. Not even when I passed by him—alone—in the hallway.He walked past like I didn’t exist.And maybe I shouldn’t care. Maybe I should be grateful. After all, it was just a dream, right? Just my overworked, oversexed brain mixing confusion with fantasy.But my body remembers.Every brush of his fingers. Every filthy word.And that’s what pisses me off the most—he’s in my head, and now he’s acting like I’m air.I scrub the floor outside his office with more force than necessary, jaw clenched, heart pounding for no damn reason.Then his voice cuts through the silence.“Zara. Inside. Now.”I step inside, heart pounding so loud it drowns out my thoughts. Each beat slams against my ribs as I close the door behind me with trembling fingers.He doesn’t look up from his desk.Not at fir
His hand wraps around my throat—not tight, just enough to hold me still. His other hand pins my hips as he drives into me like he’s trying to brand me from the inside.“You think I don’t see it?” he pants against my mouth. “The way you look at me when you think I’m not watching. The way you tremble when I’m close.”I can’t speak. Can’t think. All I can do is feel.The bed shakes. The room fades. All that exists is him—his voice, his heat, his body inside mine.“I’ll ruin you for anyone else,” he growls.I’m already ruined.I scream his name as I fall apart around him, and he follows, groaning into my ear as he empties himself inside me, body shaking.And just when I start to come again, when my entire world explodes behind my eyes—I jolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat. My chest rises and falls in frantic bursts, the phantom feel of his hands still gripping my hips. The sheets are tangled between my legs. My body aches in places he never actually touched.It was a dream.A damn dre