21 parts Complete Mature"I told myself it was just a crush. Then I forgot to lock the bathroom door, and he caught me with my hand between my legs, whispering his name."
Emerson has the perfect distraction for her chaotic life: Friday night movie marathons at her best friend Chloe's house. Everything is safe. Everything is normal. Except for the low, dangerous hum of Elias Thorne, Chloe's reserved, salt-and-pepper gorgeous father, the man who smells like black coffee and forbidden desire.
He's forty-something, untouchable, and utterly off-limits. She's eighteen, reckless, and obsessed with the casual authority in his eyes.
One night, driven by a humiliating rush of forbidden impulse, Em slips into the bathroom. She's supposed to pee and leave. Instead, she's sitting on the edge of the tub, letting her mind run wild with the memory of his broad shoulders and his dark, penetrating gaze. She's breathless, trembling, and utterly lost in a private, guilty moment.
Then, the click.
She forgot the lock.
Elias Thorne is standing in the doorway. He sees everything-the shock on her face, the shame, and the raw, undeniable need. In the searing, electric silence, he doesn't yell. He doesn't slam the door. He just stands there, his throat tightening, as Emerson's body betrays her with a whispered moan of climax.
Now, the world hasn't ended, but it's changed. The shame is crushing, but the thrill is addictive. In the quiet exchanges across the living room, they share a scorching secret that Chloe can't see. He remembers exactly what he saw. And Em knows the final, dangerous truth: She wanted him to catch her... and now they both have to live with the consequences.
A slow-burn, agonizingly tense story about forbidden obsession, power dynamics, and the danger of an unlocked door.
