Chapter 8
Seraphina feels her heart pounding violently in her chest as she walks down the hotel hallway.
It’s two in the morning, and every step she takes feels like yet another betrayal, but also the only way to keep from falling apart.
The door to Nerissa’s room appears before her like a refuge.
She knocks with her knuckles, holding her breath, and when the door opens, the world shrinks to the figure of the surgeon standing in the dim light.
“It’s two in the morning,” Nerissa says, her voice hoarse with sleep. Then she crosses her arms and blocks her path with her body. “Go home. I’m not going to be your emergency exit tonight.”
Seraphina stands still under the weight of that gaze, trembling not just from the cold. She thinks of Elliot, of the children, of the perfect life she has built with such effort and that now feels like a suffocating prison.
“I can’t,” she replies, her voice breaking into a fierce whisper. She takes a step forward, invading Nerissa’s space without asking permission. “I can’t go back to that bed, Nerissa. I can’t pretend for another minute.”
Nerissa’s eyes harden. Seraphina senses the inner struggle in her clenched jaw, in the way her fingers dig into her own arms. She knows Nerissa is fed up: fed up with the midnight calls, with being the safe haven she turns to when the weight of her marriage becomes unbearable.
And yet, there she is, broken and stripped of all her armor.
“You’re selfish,” Nerissa murmurs, lowering her voice so as not to attract anyone else’s attention.
“You come here when it suits you, you fall apart in my arms, and then you go back to your perfect life as if I didn’t exist. What do you want from me, Seraphina?
For me to remind you that you’re alive?”
Seraphina feels the tears burning in her eyes, but she doesn’t let them fall. Instead of answering with words, she closes the distance between them. Her cold hands cradle Nerissa’s face, and she kisses her.
Nerissa lets out a muffled moan against her mouth and quickly places her hands on Seraphina’s shoulders, intending to push her away, but the gesture weakens almost instantly.
Seraphina feels the surgeon’s body tremble against hers, her resistance cracking, and soon Nerissa wraps her arms around her and pulls her with almost violent force into the room.
The coat falls to the floor. Seraphina barely registers the movement as Nerissa pushes her against the white sheets of the bed.
She feels Nerissa’s hands sliding over her body, firm and expert, undressing her with a slowness that feels torturous.
The contrast between the cold fabric and the scorching heat of Nerissa’s skin draws a ragged sigh from her.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Nerissa hisses against her ear, her lips brushing her earlobe. “Now go ahead and tell me you want me away from you.”
Seraphina arches her back, seeking more contact. Their eyes meet in the dim light, and what she sees in Nerissa’s is a dark fire, barely contained.
“No…” she pleads. “You… do whatever you want, but don’t stop.”
Nerissa smiles, a slow curve of her lips that promises as much pleasure as it does torment.
She positions herself between Seraphina’s parted legs, and her fingers close firmly around the headmistress’s slender wrists, immobilizing her effortlessly.
Her other hand slowly trails down her body, tracing paths of fire that leave her skin tingling in its wake.
Seraphina arches her neck as Nerissa’s lips scatter kisses there, offering herself without shame, while her breathing grows erratic and ragged.
She feels Nerissa’s skilled fingers glide along her sides, tracing the curve of her waist, descending to her hips, and slipping expertly until every piece of clothing disappears.
Seraphina feels completely exposed under that gaze and, at the same time, more alive and desired than she has felt in years. When Nerissa’s fingers finally brush against her wet folds, gently parting her swollen lips, a loud, broken moan escapes her throat.
Nerissa instantly silences it with a deep, possessive kiss, sliding her tongue in at the same rhythm as her finger slowly sinks into her.
“After all the time you made me wait, it seems you’re the one who was more eager…” Nerissa whispers to her.
Seraphina can’t respond. She can only feel. Nerissa moves inside her, exploring every fold, every sensitive spot. She slides in a second finger, stretching her, filling her, and begins to move in a slow, deep rhythm.
The friction is exquisite, almost unbearable.
Seraphina spreads her legs wider, opening herself completely, and tangles the fingers of one hand—now free—in Nerissa’s hair as Nerissa lowers her head to kiss and bite her abdomen.
Nerissa’s tongue traces lines of fire across her skin, descending dangerously close to where her fingers continue to penetrate her.
The pleasure builds in slow, torturous waves. Nerissa controls every second, slowing the movement of her fingers every time Seraphina comes dangerously close to the edge of orgasm.
“Nerissa… please…” Seraphina gasps, her hips moving against her will.
“Not yet,” Nerissa whispers against her belly, biting the skin just above her hipbone. “I want to hear you beg a little longer.”
She pulls her fingers out almost completely, leaving only her fingertips brushing against her soaking wet entrance, and rubs her swollen clit.
Seraphina moans in frustration, feeling her own sex throb, feeling the wetness slide down her thighs.
Nerissa thrusts her two fingers back inside her, deeper this time, and her mouth captures her pussy to devour it mercilessly.
Seraphina arches her back, her heels digging into the mattress. She feels the heat building in her lower abdomen, the frantic throbbing in her clit, the unbearable pressure that grows and grows.
“Like that… let yourself go. Come in my mouth,” Nerissa growls, pulling away for a second before licking her again.
The orgasm hits Seraphina and she arches her back, squirting into the surgeon’s mouth. A hoarse, guttural scream escapes her throat as she utters Nerissa’s name like a desperate prayer.
When the spasms finally begin to subside, Nerissa withdraws her fingers, drawing a final tremulous moan from Seraphina as she gives her one last lick with her tongue. A final lick that, in reality… marks the beginning of a new power play.
Nerissa licks devotedly, gathering every drop of her pleasure, gently sucking on the swollen clit and penetrating her again with her tongue.
“Fuck… it’s… too much…” Seraphina sobs, tangling her fingers in Nerissa’s hair, unsure whether she wants to push her away or pull her closer.
But Nerissa is relentless, and when she reaches a second orgasm, Seraphina screams uncontrollably, her body convulsing as she cums hard against Nerissa’s mouth, flooding her with her pleasure.
Only then does Nerissa climb up her body, covering her with her warmth, and wrap her arms around her.
Seraphina collapses against her chest, trembling, exhausted, and with her mind blank, still feeling the echoes of her orgasms pulsing between her legs.
In that moment, wrapped in Nerissa’s arms, there is only the shared beating of their hearts and the terrifying certainty that she has never felt so exposed, so possessed… or so alive.
Seraphina buries her face in the surgeon’s neck, inhaling her scent. Her body still vibrates with the remnants of pleasure, but darker thoughts begin to seep into her mind. Yet, in this moment, wrapped in Nerissa’s warmth, she can feel nothing but relief. A fragile and dangerous peace.
“Stay tonight,” Nerissa whispers against her mouth.
Seraphina closes her eyes, knowing that tomorrow she will have to face the consequences, but right now, she just wants to stay alive in her arms.
Tomorrow will be another day. Tonight, she belongs to Nerissa.