24

Jennifer

With a nervous giggle, I left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to the second floor. I stood in the hallway for a long moment, all while looking at the doors of each of the rooms he’d listed for me to wait in.

Sure, I could go into the guest room and be left alone, but did I really want that? The same went for Bella’s room, but at least I’d be surrounded by her things. I could take comfort in the familiarity of her space. But somehow, that didn’t feel right either. It would be too easy to hide away and avoid facing the uncertainty of what was coming next.

Or… I could go to his bedroom.

The thought of his large, luxurious bedroom made my heart race. It was where he had promised to teach me things, where his presence was undeniable, where the weight of his control was most keenly felt. The bed in the center of the room seemed to loom over me in my mind. His voice echoed in my head, the words he’d spoken earlier still fresh in my thoughts. The power he wielded over me was undeniable. It sent shivers of both excitement and fear through me.

I chewed on the inside of my lip, replaying his words in my head for what felt like the thousandth time.

“You’ll have to make a decision, Jennifer ,” he had said earlier. “I’m not a patient man.”

Fear brewed in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t sure I understood what I was walking into, but the anticipation was unbearable. The vulnerability I’d feel, the sense of being completely out of control—it was overwhelming, but also oddly tempting.

My hand hovered over the doorknob to Bella’s room.

I knew that if I walked in there, my curiosity would eat away at me. I might even find a way to distract myself, to delay whatever was coming next, but something told me that I needed to face this head-on. I had to decide, even if I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.

I could hear the beat of my own heart in my ears, loud and insistent. The uncertainty was paralyzing, and yet, I couldn’t ignore the pull of his presence.

I took a step back from his door, and my hand fell to my side. After a long moment of hesitation, I looked between his bedroom and Bella’s room. Bella’s room, familiar and safe, seemed like the right choice. It was an escape, a place to breathe for a moment and regain some semblance of control.

Distractedly, I busied myself around her room, tidying up and rifling through her closet. I needed something to focus on, anything to get my mind off what I was avoiding. I found myself in the bathroom, the sound of water filling the silence as I stepped into the shower. The warm cascade of water soothed my tense muscles, but it did little to quiet the storm of thoughts in my head.

His words rang in my ears once more.

“I’m going to break you,” he had said.

I tried to steady my breath, to calm the rush of emotions flooding through me. But it was no use. My body responded against my will, as if my mind was already caught in the web he had woven around me.

I pressed my hand against the shower wall, seeking some grounding. It didn’t work. The pull of what was to come, the uncertainty of where this path would lead, consumed me.

And I couldn’t shake the feeling that no matter what I chose, I was already in too deep.

I stepped out of the bathroom, the warm steam still hanging in the air. My skin was freshly scrubbed, and my mind, though I tried to focus on the present, was anything but calm. Thoughts of Vincent lingered—his words, his touch—echoing in the back of my mind like a constant hum that refused to quiet.

The shower had helped. A little. The cool air on my wet skin felt like a much-needed distraction. Yet, no matter how much I tried to shake off the sense of nervous anticipation building in my chest, it remained. The feeling, the pull, to go to his room, to wait for him, was hard to ignore. But at the same time, I couldn’t shake the unease.

What did I really want? Or, maybe more importantly, what did I need?

I reached into Bella’s closet, my hands trembling as I picked out a soft sundress. The fabric was delicate, a pale blue that complemented my skin, but the act of dressing felt like I was preparing for something I wasn’t sure I was ready for. The tension in the air seemed to multiply the longer I thought about what was waiting for me downstairs.

I didn’t want to go to his room. Not really. The thought of his power, his control over the situation, made my stomach churn in both fear and strange excitement. But the more I tried to convince myself to stay away, the harder it became to do so.

In the silence, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Focus, Jennifer . You can’t let yourself be ruled by impulse, by what your body craves. This was bigger than that.

I stepped away from the mirror, running a brush through my damp hair. The reflection staring back at me looked so different than how I felt inside. I was no longer sure who I was or what I was willing to do. Each step I took brought me closer to a decision I hadn’t yet made—and yet, the pull to him felt like a magnet I couldn’t resist.

I walked back toward the door, my fingers brushing against the cool knob. But then something stopped me. I wasn’t sure what it was—fear, shame, or something deeper—but my hand hovered in place, unsure of the next move.

Was I strong enough to resist him? Or would I be consumed by the fire he’d ignited within me?

In the end, I turned away, pacing the room with my thoughts whirling. My heart raced. I wanted to scream, to get out of my own head for just a moment, but every time I tried to breathe deeply, the echo of Vincent ’s words came rushing back. I’m going to break you.

The idea haunted me. To be vulnerable in such a way, to be so utterly at someone else’s mercy—was it what I truly wanted? I couldn’t deny the part of me that had been craving that level of intimacy and control, but then another voice would rise, reminding me of the consequences. The potential loss of myself in the process.

I sat down on the guest room bed, the soft mattress absorbing my weight. My fingers dug into the fabric as I stared at the empty space in front of me. I couldn’t be the person I thought I was. Not with him. Not when everything inside me screamed to run.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I stayed there, in that moment of uncertainty, and for the first time, I realized something important.

I wasn’t ready to surrender—not yet.

My fingers twitched, itching to explore my body, to give myself relief from the need surging through my body. Slowly, I lifted the hem of my dress and brushed my fingers against my inner thighs.

With a heavy sigh, I flopped backwards onto the bed, spreading my legs open wide. I trailed a finger along my slit, and then dipped it inside myself.

I moaned softly, closing my eyes and imagining that it was his thick digit working its way in and out of me. I drew my fingers back and swirled them around my clit.

But it wasn’t enough.

You know what you need to do. You’re just kidding yourself.

Fuck.

I groaned, pulling the hem of my dress down and standing up. My legs were shaking and a sheen of sweat broke out across my brow. I was nervous, and I tentatively took a step toward his bedroom.

Then I heard the staircase creak, so I did what I needed to do.

I sprinted into his bedroom and jumped on his bed. By the time he reached the threshold, my heart was practically pounding so hard that I thought it might burst right out of my chest.

“I had hoped I’d find you waiting for me here, baby girl.”

I needed to understand more. I needed to trust myself before I could trust him.

And maybe, just maybe, that would give me the strength to face whatever came next.