I returned to my room, my body still burning with a restless, unfamiliar energy. The rush of adrenaline and the lingering sweetness of his touch made every nerve feel alive. It seemed to me that he had brought me right to the edge—only to stop on purpose.
He was playing with me.
I ran a bath, replaying every moment, every touch in my mind—while at the same time trying to forbid myself from thinking about him at all.
Nights in this house were never the same. There was something about being here, isolated, cut off from everything else, that made every feeling sharper, more intense. There was nothing to distract me—only my thoughts, circling endlessly around what was happening between us.
I couldn’t fall asleep.
Eventually, I went downstairs to the kitchen—and found Master Alex there. He
