Page 10 of Forbidden Knots

I turned Chiara once again, making her kneel in front of me just before I shoved myself inside her mouth. I leaned my head back, closing my eyes.

I was ready to come, and as I reached the edge, I held her head, thrusting deeper inside her as she gagged and gasped. After I filled her throat, I held her mouth closed, making her swallow.

"Good girl," I said to her, but I didn't even look her in the eye. I was watching Storm.

The intensity of my desire for Storm hadn't diminished; it had only grown stronger. I knew I couldn’t keep living like this, trapped between obsession and reality. I needed to find a way to bridge the gap, to make Storm mine, to turn the fantasy into reality. But for now, all I could do was wait and watch, hoping that one day, she would come to me willingly.

SIX

Storm

Isat on the bed, the rain slowly falling, my eyes locked with the stranger next door as hemade loveto a girl I recognized from the beach earlier.

My breath quickened as I saw him looking at me, staring right through me. Outside my bedroom, I could hear loud knocks, like cabinets closing with such force that their only outcome was to break. My heart raced. My fingers moved to my lips, nails biting into them in distress.

I sat on the bed, my face buried in my knees as I watched him enjoy himself, my body shaking in fear.

This time, I didn't want to watch him because I thought he was the most handsome man I had ever seen. This time, I wanted him to watch me because I thought Shadow would come back. Someone was in this house haunting me. Something was going on, and I was too afraid to open the door and check if my grandma was okay.

Goosebumps still covered my skin from Shadow’s touch. He was so cold and dark, and I knew my mind was playing tricks,or maybe Sophie was right, and this house was the one haunting me.

Is he real? Is Shadow real?

I can't talk to my grandma. I can't tell her there was a stranger inside my bedroom. I can't worry her. I'm even embarrassed to admit that I was naked in front of a stranger and that I wanted both to see me like this. To take me. To make me feel something. But I did feel something. Fear.

I was afraid. Alone. All alone.

All eyes are on me.

Even when I close my eyes, I knowsomeoneis watching me.

All. The. Time. Always watching.

I placed my hands over my ears, shutting my eyes and screaming. The noise stopped. He stopped watching me.

Was it all just a bad dream? What is going on with me?

Wrapped in my robe, I tightened the knot around my waist and walked toward the door, leaning against it first to hear if anything was still out there. No one was there. It was silent.

Naively, I placed my hand on the door handle and unlocked it. As I turned my head up, I was face-to-face with my grandma.

"Rose,Rose, Rose," she repeated, her eyes lost in mine. I could see my reflection in them.

"Grandma," I whispered, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"Rose, you came back!" she whispered, her smile widening, making her crooked teeth stand out.

"Rose,Rose, Rose," she repeated, her eyes darker than they were before, her hands lifting towards my neck.

"You are scaring me," I whispered, but her hands tightened around my neck.

"Rose,Rose, Rose," her voice now a pitch higher, "you ran away," she cried, letting me go. Suddenly she stepped back, and I stepped back as well, my hand on my neck, trying to gasp for air.

She screamed, "He is coming, he is coming," and started to walk faster until she reached the cabinet in the kitchen.

Looking at me, she began opening and closing the cabinet door repeatedly, louder, and louder.

"Rose, Rose, Rose," she chanted, closing the door so hard that I noticed the walls starting to crack behind her.

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