“First Steps Unseen” The stairs creaked like old bones under me as I hauled Kate down into the basement, her blindfold—that black satin scrap I’d tied too tight—shutting out everything but my grip on her. My hand locked around her wrist, her pulse slamming against my fingers, fast, alive, a drumbeat I could feel in my gut. Each step down—steep, narrow, a goddamn trap—dragged me further from the life I’d been choking on fo...

Hawaii glittered under the tropical sun, a paradise of swaying palms and turquoise waves. For most, it was a dream vacation, but for Sebastian and Kate, it was a carefully orchestrated opportunity. Both had convinced their spouses—Sebastian’s wife, Melanie, and Kate’s husband, Mark—to vacation at the same sprawling resort, their trips overlapping by design. Neither Melanie nor Mark suspected a thing. The couples didn’t kn...

My name is Leroy. I’m 41, pretty average-looking—not someone who turns heads, not a model, just… normal. I live in Germany with my wife, Manuela. We’ve been together for sixteen years, married for six. Our sex life has been problematic for about ten years. Four or five times a year, maybe, we have sex. That’s it. The rest of our relationship works: we share everyday life, responsibilities, conversations—but in the bedroom...