تسجيل الدخولThe walk to the study felt like a march to the gallows. My knees were weak, my thighs sticky. I could feel Julian inside me, a lingering reminder of what we’d just done. I stopped in the downstairs powder room to splash cold water on my face. I looked like hell. My lips were swollen, my eyes glassy. I wet my hair, trying to make it look like sweat from the heat, rather than... exertion. I buttoned my jacket to hide the wrinkled state of my shirt. When I finally entered the study, Julian was already there. He stood by the fireplace, a drink in his hand, looking like he hadn’t just committed a felony ten feet down the hall.
The door creaked open, the sound like a thunderclap in the confined space of the alcove. My father’s silhouette filled the frame, blocking the warm light from the study. I could see the texture of his tweed jacket, the slight greying of his hair at the temples. He was ten feet away. Maybe less. If he turned his head to the right, if he just shifted his gaze slightly, he would see us. He would see me, pants around my ankles, pressed against the wall. He would see Julian, the "perfect groom," standing behind me with his hand clamped over my mouth and his cock buried deep inside my body. "Don't move," Julian whispered,
The storm outside had intensified, the wind howling like a banshee around the stone corners of the Vanderbildt Estate. Inside, the silence was heavier, suffocating.Dinner had ended. My father had retreated to the study to review some documents for the morning, and Seraphina had gone to her room, citing a headache from the wine. That left Julian and me in the grand hallw
The Vanderbildt Estate was exactly as Julian had described: isolated. It sat on a cliff overlooking a churning grey ocean, a sprawling gothic monstrosity of stone and ivy.We arrived on Friday afternoon. The car ride had been agonizing. Seraphina had chattered incessantly about wedding themes, while Julian had sat in the back with us, his hand resting possessively on my knee, hidden from her view by a bag he’d strategically placed.Now, I stood in the center of the East Wing bedroom, unpacking my bag. My hands were shaking."Cozy, right?" Seraphina said from the doorway. She looked like a porcelain doll against the dark wood paneling."Yeah.
Three days passed. Three days of silence. No texts. No late-night visits. No sightings of the black Rolls Royce parked outside my studio.I should have been relieved. I told myself I was. I told myself I could go back to my normal, boring life. I painted. I went for runs. I ignored the knot of tension in my chest that tightened every time I thought of the upcoming trip to the Vanderbildt Estate.It was Thursday night. The storm outside was raging, rain lashing against the windows of my small apartment. I was in bed, reading a book I couldn't focus on, when my phone buzzed.Open your door.My heart lurched. I stared at the screen. It was Ju
The restaurant was intimate, dimly lit, and impossibly expensive. Candles flickered in crystal holders, casting long shadows against the walls. Soft jazz played from a hidden speaker. I sat opposite Julian. Seraphina sat between us, effectively acting as a barrier, a physical representation of the line we weren't supposed to cross. "I’m just so excited about the menu," Seraphina said, buttering a roll. "The caterer suggested a lavender-infused honey glaze for the duck. What do you think, Julian?" Julian took a sip of his wine, his eyes fixed on me over the rim of the glass. "I trust your judgment, Seraphina." "And you, Elia
The salt-laced wind whipped at Min’s hair as he wrestled the key from the lock, the heavy, ornate brass feeling cool and foreign in his palm.He had to use his shoulder to shove the heavy oak door open against the gusts, stumbling into the cavernous silence of the beach house.The door sighed shut
Leo’s head throbbed in time with the windshield wipers, a dull, persistent rhythm that matched the bass-heavy music still vibrating in his bones from the club.He was drunk, but not pleasantly so. It was a sloppy, tired kind of drunk, the kind that left a sour taste in his mouth and a profound sens
The man, Grayson presumably, was older than Eli, maybe late thirties or early forties. His face was all harsh angles and stubble, with deep-set eyes that seemed to miss nothing. He had a strong jaw and a mouth that was set in a firm, unsmiling line. He wasn't conventionally handsome, but he possess
The engine died with a pathetic, expensive-sounding cough, followed by a series of final, shuddering clicks. Eli slammed his palms against the sleek leather of the steering wheel, a curse caught in his throat.Of all the times for his brand-new, top-of-the-line German sedan to decide to have an exis







