I don’t think desire announces itself with fireworks. It’s quieter, meaner than that. It sneaks in when you’re not paying attention like the way I started noticing the veins in his forearms when he lifted a beer to his lips. My dad’s best friend. 47-year-old man, tired eyes, a mouth that looks like it forgot how to smile for no reason. He was married, later got divorced god knows why, he’s the kind of man who looks like he’s lived too much life, and maybe that’s what pulls me in. I hate that I want him. Not because of the age gap, not even because of Dad. It’s because I don’t think he wants me at all. And that burns worse than anything.

He wasn’t supposed to look at me like that. Not with those dark, sharp eyes that lingered on my lips like he was imagining how they’d taste. He was my dad’s best friend off-limits, twice my age, and the last man I should ever want. Well that’s a lie.

It was late at night, but here I was standing in the kitchen, with him. His white shirt sleeves rolled up, veins flexing as he gripped a beer bottle, I couldn’t stop staring, it felt like a sin even staring at this old man. My pulse hammered in my ears. And when his gaze dipped down my body and dragged back up slowly, as if he was going to eat me deliberately I swear the air between us turned into something unholy. “You shouldn’t stay up late, good girls sleep early,” he said, voice low and rough like gravel. It wasn’t just an observation. It was a warning. Or maybe… an invitation. I gazed at him with my big, brown eyes.

“Well I never said I’m a good girl, did I?” I said in a low voice as I took a moment to admire his pretty face. “Ha.” He let out a deep chuckle, the sound rumbling in his chest. Making me slightly amused at his deep voice, I was flushed, warm, like something inside me was calling out for him. He tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing like he was sizing me up, like I was a challenge he wanted to break.

“Careful,” he said, his voice low, dark. “You don’t know what you’re doing.” I took a slow step closer, my bare feet silent against the kitchen’s wooden floor, “Maybe I do,” I murmured, letting my gaze flicker over his forearms, his throat, the faint line of his chest where his shirt gaped open. My body felt too hot, too tight, like every nerve was buzzing for him. His jaw flexed, his knuckles whitening on the bottle. “You’re a fucking tease,” he muttered, his voice like gravel scraping against steel. That did it. In a flash, he slammed the beer bottle on the counter, his hand gripping my waist, dragging me into him.

The roughness of his touch sent heat tearing through me. I gasped, but he didn’t hesitate his mouth was on mine, devouring, claiming. His kiss wasn’t sweet. It was hungry, desperate, his teeth grazing my lower lip before his tongue slipped between my lips, demanding. I moaned into him, my hands clawing at his shirt, tugging him closer, needing more. His other hand slid up my thigh, slow but firm, fingers digging into my skin just enough to make me whimper. “Fuck,” he growled against my mouth, “you’re playing a dangerous game, little girl.”

“I can’t help it,” I whispered, trembling but shameless. His lips crashed back onto mine, harder this time, and the kiss turned messy, heat pooling low in my stomach as his tongue tangled with mine, rough and fast, like he was tasting every inch of me he’d been forbidden to touch. When he pulled back, just enough to let us breathe, his thumb traced my swollen lip. “You have no idea how bad I want to ruin you right here,” he said, his voice sharp with desire.

His hands slid down my waist, gripping my hips so hard it made me gasp. “If you don’t tell me to stop right now…” he whispered, his voice rough and dark, vibrating against my skin.

I didn’t say a word. I couldn’t. My lips parted, but no sound came out — only a sharp breath as he suddenly grabbed me and lifted me onto the cold kitchen counter like I weighed nothing, his body pressing between my thighs.

His eyes burned into mine, his mouth a hair’s breadth from mine. “Last chance, sweetheart,” he growled. “Tell me to stop…”

But I didn’t. And then….

🍒🔥Hiii angels Like where this is going? Unlock Chapter 2 for more heat, things are about to get filthy!

-k-