The Ache Before I didn’t go looking for this. Not consciously. Not until I was already there, standing in the doorway of it. Breathless. Wet. Shaking. Desperate. Not for sex. But for someone to take me out of my fucking head for once. I’ve always been in charge. Class president. Single mom. High-level tech exec. The breadwinner, the planner, the handyman, the healer. Always carrying the weight. Always in control. And yet,...

I climbed into bed like it was Christmas Eve every night that week and came for him exactly as instructed. Hard. Obeying his assignments like a good girl, fingers soaked and trembling while I read his filthy stories and listened to his voice telling me when I was allowed to let go. But the night before my trip… that night hit different. Because now he knew. He had me figured out. He knew me, knew what I was starting to ac...

I parked at the end of the street 20 minutes early so I wouldn’t be late, hands sweating on the wheel as I tried to breathe steady. What the fuck am I doing? Who even am I? I almost texted to back out, but I wanted whatever came next, more than I wanted anything rational. At exactly 8 pm, I pulled up in front of his place and got out of my car, clutching my bag to my chest like it held the rest of my life. He opened the d...