ALICIA
Damien’s question hung in the air like perfume that refused to fade.
“Do you feel something for me?”
My heart skipped, not because I didn’t expect it, but because I did. I had led him here, hadn’t I? Every glance, every pause, every line I fed him… all meant to bring us to this moment.
Still, it pressed against my chest.
I lowered my gaze and let silence bloom between us.
Then, quietly, I nodded. “Yes.”
I kept my voice soft…. almost wounded. I let the word tremble on my lips like it cost me something. I didn’t look at him, not right away. I kept my face tilted down, my fingers brushing against one another.
When I did lift my eyes, the shock on his face was everything I expected.
His brows furrowed slightly, his mouth parted, caught between disbelief and something dangerously close to hope. He looked like a man trying to hold onto reason while standing at the edge of a cliff.
I turned my back to him, pretending to shield myself from his stare. Not too dramatic. Just enough to look shy. Small.
Let him believe I was overwhelmed by my own confession.
I heard the quiet shift of his feet behind me. Then I felt him….. close.
His hands gently turned me to face him. I let him, and I looked up.
His eyes searched mine, hungry for truth, for permission, or perhaps something he couldn’t name. I gave him nothing. Just silence and breath.
Then he cupped my face, and I didn’t move.
His thumb brushed my cheek.
He lowered his head and kissed me.
Slowly. Like he wasn’t sure if I’d kiss him back.
But I did.
I melted just enough for him to feel it.
When he pulled away, I held his gaze for a second too long.
9:53 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 20
E55 vouchers
Then, as if the thought had just bloomed in my mind, I tilted my head and said, “Would you like to come in… for a glass of wine?”
He hesitated.
I softened my voice. “You could think of it as… goodbye. I’m moving to another branch tomorrow. We may not see each other again.”
That did it.
He nodded.
I turned toward the door, my movements deliberate. I didn’t rush. I let the moment stretch between us like thread.
As I stepped inside, the warmth of the room washed over me, and I felt his presence at my back.
My lips curled into a small, satisfied smile.
But it vanished the second he closed the door behind us.
Inside the house, I turned the lights down a little and motioned toward the couch.
“Make yourself comfortable,” I said gently.
He looked around slowly, taking it in like he hadn’t expected this version of me.
“It’s warm,” he said after a moment. “Simple. Beautiful.”
I smiled, soft but measured. “Thank you.”
He didn’t know I’d torn it apart the moment he and Jeff dropped me off. I’d scrubbed everything–floors, shelves, energy.
I’d swapped out the photos in the hallway, taken down every trace of Diana’s face from the corkboard by the kitchen. Her smile, her perfect little family portraits… all gone. I shoved them deep into a box beneath the floorboard in my bedroom closet. Somewhere even he wouldn’t accidentally stumble across.
He didn’t need to see them. Not tonight.
I walked to the cabinet, took out two glass cups, and poured the wine. His eyes followed me the whole way.
When I handed him a glass, he took it without a word and drank. I sat across from him, folding one leg beneath me, pretending to relax.
“So,” he said, glass halfway to his lips. “You live here alone?”
I nodded. “Yes,”
“No boyfriends?” he asked. “Fiancés?”
9:53 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 20
I laughed softly. “No. I’m single.”
“Family?”
His voice shifted on that word. Softer. Curious.
I paused, twirled the stem of my glass between my fingers.
“I’m alone,” I said simply. “I lost everyone a long time ago.”
He didn’t speak right away.
The silence stretched, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was… listening.
(75)
55 vouchers
I got up and walked to the window, the glass cool beneath my palm as I looked out at the skyline, glittering and disinterested. My voice came quieter this time, almost without trying.
“I’m all alone. I have no one.”
It wasn’t the performance that caught me off guard–it was the truth of it. I had said it like a line, but the words sat heavy once they left my mouth.
For a while, there was only silence.
Then his voice came from behind me.
“You have me.”
I closed my eyes.
It was supposed to be a line. Something he said to soothe, to draw me closer. But it cracked something in me.
For a moment, I wasn’t Cia Jones, the woman with a plan. I was just… a girl standing in front of a window, remembering her granny and the tiny hand she never got to hold–her baby who never made it home from that cold, stinking prison.
I felt the tears slip before I could stop them.
He was behind me in seconds. Gently, he took the glass from my hand and placed both our drinks on the
table.
Then he turned to me.
His hands cradled my face, his thumbs wiping the tears that kept falling even though I told myself they were part of the act.
I looked up at him, but I didn’t speak.
He pulled me into his chest.
I let him.
9:53 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 20
His warmth pressed into mine, and for one reckless second, I wanted it to mean something.
“About what you said earlier,” he murmured. “I feel the same way, Cia.”
1255 vouchers
I should have felt triumphant. I should have checked that off my list–confirmation, confession, control.
But all I could feel was how steady his heartbeat was under my ear. How unshaken he sounded. How close his
breath was to mine.
Of course I knew he had feelings for me. I’d guessed that since the night I let myself pretend to be drunk and fell into his arms. His eyes betrayed him long before his lips ever did.
I pulled back and looked at him.
This time, I touched his face. My fingers moved slowly, tracing the edge of his jaw.
Then I rose onto my toes and kissed him–softly at first, like I was afraid of him vanishing.
His mouth met mine, and I let the taste of him fill me. Something warm stirred inside my chest, and I told myself it was just the wine.
Just the plan.
But my hands wouldn’t stop trembling.
His lips devoured mine with a hunger that made my knees weaken. The taste of him, the scent of his skin–it was overwhelming. His hands roamed my body like he was searching for something he’d lost a long time ago. I didn’t stop him.
I didn’t plan to.
His fingers slid beneath the edge of my robe, parting the fabric.
When he pulled it open and saw that I had nothing on underneath, he froze.
A soft gasp escaped his lips.
His eyes didn’t just look at me–they consumed me. His gaze darkened, jaw clenched, his chest rising with slow, heavy breaths like he was struggling to hold back a beast inside him.
Then, he lifted me. No hesitation.
He carried me in his arms like I weighed nothing and strode toward the bedroom. I clung to him, heart thudding, telling myself it was all part of the plan.
But the moment he laid me down on the bed and his mouth returned to mine, everything blurred.
He kissed down my neck, trailing heat across my skin.
Lower.
9:53 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 20
55 vouchers
His breath brushed over my breasts before his tongue circled my nipple, sucking hard until my back arched. A moan tore out of me, unexpected and needy. I was soaked–already. It startled me, how badly I wanted him. How my body betrayed the control I thought I had.
He didn’t speak.
Neither did I.
He rose up and dropped his pants and briefs to the floor, and that was when I saw his cock.
Full, hard and pulsing
My lips parted. My body burned.
I was panting, legs trembling without him even touching me yet.
He came between my thighs, groaning as he rubbed his cock along my folds, dragging it up and down, teasing me. The friction made me whimper.
Then…. he pushed in.
All the way.
A sharp gasp broke from my throat. His cock filled me so deeply I thought I’d lose my mind.
His lips crashed into mine as he began to move, slowly at first, every thrust deliberate, grinding into me until my pussy walls clenched hard around him. The rhythm sent waves through my body–sharp, sweet waves
that built too fast.
My fingers clutched his shoulders, nails digging into his skin.
And then–images. Flashes.
That night.
Years ago.
The night I was drugged and fucked by a stranger in a hotel room. A memory I buried, locked away, but now -why was it clawing back to the surface?
His scent.
His weight on me.
The sound of his groan.
Was it Damien? No. It couldn’t be. I couldn’t recall that man’s face. But there was something–something familiar. His groans. His movements. The way he held me. It was messing with my head.
I tried to push the thought away.
Chapter 20
But his cock slammed deeper.
Harder.
I panted. My moans rose louder, rawer. My legs wrapped around his waist without thinking. His pace grew wild, rough. I didn’t ask him to stop. I didn’t want him to.
I cried out when the orgasm tore through me–fast, violent, completely out of my control. My whole body shook beneath him, my head thrown back, vision hazy as pleasure drowned me.
He grunted, his thrusts turning desperate, sloppy, until his hips jerked one last time and he spilled inside me with a groan that sounded like pain and bliss tangled together.
He collapsed on top of me, both of us soaked in sweat, skin sticking to skin.
And I lay there beneath him, dazed.
I had meant to manipulate him. To use sex as a leash. But instead…
I enjoyed it.
More than I wanted to admit.
And that scared the hell out of me.
He held me for a long time afterward.
His breath was still heavy against my skin. His arms wrapped around my body like he was afraid to let go, his chest rising and falling, slow and steady, like he’d found peace in me.
For a moment, I almost let myself believe in it.
Almost.
But then I remembered who I was. Why I started all of this.
I shifted, gently untangling myself from him. He didn’t stop me. Just watched with eyes that made it harder to
breathe.
I covered my body with the sheets, slowly.
Then I turned back to him.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly, not meeting his eyes. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. I lost control.”
He sat up, frowning slightly, like he wanted to understand, maybe even fight me on it.
But I didn’t let him.
“I won’t bother you again,” I went on. “I’ll be moving to the new branch tomorrow. Like we agreed.”
Chapter 20
He opened his mouth, but I raised my hand slightly.
“Please,” I whispered. “Let me finish.”
I took a breath, felt it tremble in my chest.
55 vouchers
“You’re in a relationship. You have a fiancéé and I don’t want to ruin that for you. I would never forgive myself
if I did.”
My voice cracked, just a little.
“I’ll keep my feelings to myself from now on. You don’t have to worry. What happened tonight…” I paused, choosing my words. “It’ll stay here. With me.”
His brows drew together. He reached for me, but then, his phone buzzed.
We both glanced toward the pile of clothes on the floor.
He hesitated, then bent to retrieve it. His voice was quiet when he answered.
“Hey, buddy.”
I heard Jeff’s tiny voice even from where I sat. I could hear the longing in it.
“Dad, where are you? I can’t sleep. I want you to read for me.”
Damien’s face changed. Guilt crept in slowly, soft but sharp.
Then Jeff added, “Mom’s at the house.”
I already suspected it.
Damien looked at me, eyes searching for something he didn’t know how to ask.
I smiled.
“It’s okay,” I said gently. “Please… go back to your family.”
He hesitated again, then stood and began dressing, every movement slower than the last. When he was done, he looked at me for a long time. Like he wanted to say something–anything.
I just smiled again.
“Goodnight, Damien.”
He stepped closer and kissed my cheek, his lips lingering for a second longer than they needed to.
“Goodnight, Cia.”
I watched him walk to the door. He didn’t look back.
9:53 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 20
But I did.
475
55 vouchers
I stood by the window, eyes following his silhouette until he got into his car and disappeared down the street. The night had gotten colder, or maybe it was just me.
Still, I smiled.
Faintly.
“To keep him wrapped around your finger,” I whispered to myself. “Just a little while longer.”
But even as I said it…
My chest ached.
