Chapter 19: Shadows at the Door
895 Words
Diana lay in bed with a quiet determination.
The light from the bedside lamp painted soft golden strokes across the cream sheets as she smoothed her palms over her thighs, waiting. Her heart beat steadily beneath her ribs—not fast, not slow, just… expectant.
Mike had just finished brushing his teeth. She heard the familiar squeak of the faucet turning off, then the soft hush of his footsteps approaching. Every movement from the bathroom sent ripples through her thoughts—ripples of doubt, hope, and longing.
Lately, Mike had been distant.
Different.
She couldn’t explain it, not in words. It was in his silence. In the way he sometimes looked through her instead of at her. In the way his lips felt when he kissed her—hesitant, like someone trying to remember how it used to feel.
But tonight, she had made up her mind.
She wouldn't let whatever this was grow between them. She wouldn’t lose him to silence.
Mike stepped into the room, dressed in nothing but loose pajamas. He paused by the edge of the bed, rubbing the back of his neck, eyes heavy with something she couldn’t name.
“Come here,” she whispered, patting the sheets beside her with a soft smile.
He climbed in, lying back beside her with a sigh. For a few moments, they just lay there, back to back, the silence stretching like a tightrope between them.
Diana turned to face him, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. She placed her hand gently on his chest. “I’ve missed you.”
Mike turned his head slightly, meeting her eyes with a faint, half-hearted smile. “I’m just tired. Long week.”
She leaned in closer, her breath brushing his jaw. “Let me help you forget it.”
Her lips found his neck—slow, lingering kisses. Her hand slid down, past his stomach, beneath the sheets. She felt him inhale sharply, his body flinching slightly beneath her touch.
But he didn’t stop her.
Not yet.
She moved on top of him, straddling his hips beneath the covers. The silk of her nightgown slid over his skin like water. Her hair fell in waves around her face as she leaned down and kissed him again—this time with more intent.
“I want you,” she murmured. “I need you.”
Mike’s hands lifted to her thighs but paused again, fingers tensing. His mind was somewhere else. Distant. Like his body was here, but the rest of him wasn’t.
Diana tilted her head. “Mike…?”
And then, his eyes flickered past her.
Toward the door.
And froze.
She didn’t notice. She was kissing along his collarbone now, soft and sweet, trying to stir something back to life between them.
But he saw her.
Karen.
She was standing at the doorway, completely naked.
Her body was bathed in a soft pool of hallway light. Her silhouette was mesmerizing—elegant, confident, dangerous. The curve of her waist, the gentle sway of her hips, the swell of her breasts—all exposed and unapologetic.
Her eyes locked with his.
Unblinking. Intimate. Wicked.
She didn’t say a word.
She didn’t need to.
Her lips parted ever so slightly as her hand moved slowly down the center of her body, her fingers gliding between her thighs with agonizing grace.
Mike's breath caught in his throat. His heart started to race. Every nerve in his body lit up at once.
He felt himself swell beneath Diana, hard and sudden.
She noticed.
Her mouth curved into a pleased smile. “Mmm… there you are,” she whispered, grinding her hips slightly against him. “I’ve missed that.”
But she didn’t see what he saw.
Karen, naked and wild, now lifting one leg against the doorframe, her fingers circling her breast. She was putting on a show—for him. Only him.
Her eyes never left his.
She raised a finger to her lips, motioning for silence. Then she mouthed two words:
“Take her.”
Mike grabbed Diana by the hips, his fingers sinking into her skin. His movements turned urgent. Hungry.
He rolled them over in one motion, now hovering above her.
He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t need to.
He kissed her hard—deep—like a man possessed. Like a man desperate to burn something out of his system.
Karen watched, smirking, as Diana moaned beneath him.
Mike’s thrusts grew stronger. Faster. He buried his face in Diana’s neck, trying to hide the guilt in his eyes. But Karen saw it all.
And as the rhythm built between him and his wife, Karen slowly backed away from the doorway—her mission complete—vanishing into the shadows like the sin she represented.
Diana cried out beneath him, fingers clawing at his back. “Yes, baby. Just like that…”
But Mike wasn’t hearing her.
He was chasing the image of another.
And when he came—hard and fast—it was with Karen’s name threatening to break past his lips.
But he bit it back.
Swallowed it down.
Collapsed beside Diana with shaking breath.
His wife snuggled against him, whispering how much she loved him.
And Mike?
He lay there in silence.
Eyes wide open.
Staring at the ceiling.
And all he could see… was the doorway.
- Writer
