Chapter 69. Secluded Wing

Chapter 69: Chapter 69. Secluded Wing

Chapter 69. Secluded Wing

Words hung in the air, leaving both of them frozen in the heavy silence.

Don leaned back against the edge of the bed, his hand planted behind him for support. Rosa was pressing into him, so close he could feel every single contour of her body. Her hips pushed against his aching groin—a mounting tension he had been struggling to control moments earlier. Her chest rested against his, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Wide, dark brown eyes stared up at him, brimming with intensity and anticipation.

He swallowed hard, his eyelids fluttering as he fought the sudden rush. God help me, he thought. This girl was truly seeking to awaken the beast.

He chuckled, though there was no humor in it. Avoiding her gaze, his hands tightened around the arms locked around his neck.

"Okay, so... um, I don’t think this is appropriate," he stammered.

Rosa only held him tighter, pressing herself closer against him. A soft groan escaped his lips. He tilted his head aside, desperately trying to control the raging heat flooding his veins despite her persistence.

He stared at her in disbelief. There was no way she had any idea what she was doing to him. If she knew, she would have pulled away immediately.

"Please," she murmured. "Tell me what’s going on."

"Do you even know what you’re doing?" he asked, his eyelids fluttering uncontrollably.

She nodded quickly. "Yes, I know what I’m doing."

"What are you doing?"

"I’m trying to do everything in my power to get answers from you."

Don chuckled in disbelief, turning his head away again. "No, you don’t know what you’re doing," he said, shaking his head.

"Of course I do!" she snapped, arguing back.

He frowned at her, overwhelmed. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, trying to force himself to calm down. Calm down, he told himself. Just breathe.

He opened his eyes and looked back at her. "Okay, fine. Why? Why do you want to know? What... what is going on with you?"

He was still struggling to contain the heat making every hormone in his body rage with intense fire.

"I just wanted a simple explanation," she continued, leaning even closer, leaving him in a daze. "I just... I don’t know what that song meant to me. It was weird. Right from when I was in the room, it felt too—"

"Too what?" he interrupted, scrutinizing her deeply, suspiciously.

She met his gaze. "It felt too familiar. Like I’ve heard it somewhere before. And at the same time, it kept bringing up this weird feeling—this strange emotion I can’t explain. It felt so overwhelming. I felt breathless..."

She trailed off, looking to the side as if searching for the right words.

Don raised an eyebrow, sitting back and watching her breathlessly. "And what?"

She closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath. "A lot has been going on with me," she said.

He frowned. "A lot?"

"Really a lot," she continued. "I’ve been having these experiences that have been driving me crazy. Things that aren’t normal. Weird things like—"

"What things?" he interrupted, going straight to the point. "Stop speaking in parables."

"Why are you snapping at me?" she asked, looking back at him. "I’m the one under pressure here!"

His eyelids fluttered as he caught the genuine vulnerability in her face. He exhaled and turned his head away.

Why shouldn’t I react? He thought. I am under intense pressure here, too you this clueless little temptress!!!

"Okay, if you want to talk, we can talk," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "But can you at least get away from me? Sit down beside me. That would be better, right?"

Rosa shifted, leaning more heavily against him, biting her lip. "No," she said quickly.

He blinked at her in disbelief. "Why?"

"If I leave you, you’ll just use the chance to walk away without answering me."

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He scoffed and turned his head, completely exasperated.

This girl is going to kill me, he thought, a sudden, hysterical laugh bubbling up deep in his chest.

He looked back up at her, but before he could speak, she placed her index finger against his lips, shushing him. He blinked, stunned.

"I’m not done talking yet," she said quickly.

He remained frozen, staring at her.

"And there’s something else," she added. "I’ve been having these gaps in my memory. Most of them happened during a few experiences with you."

His frown deepened. "What experiences?"

Her face flushed bright red. Slowly pulling her finger away from his lips, she looked away. "I don’t know... like today, when I came to get my luggage. When you..."

"You mean when I touched you?" he interrupted.

She blinked and looked back at him. The flush had spread across her face, her neck, and up to her hairline.

He chuckled in disbelief. "What’s so hard about saying it? You’re not a kid anymore, Rosa. You’re an adult."

She swallowed hard. "It’s inappropriate."

"What’s so inappropriate about two adults experiencing feelings for each other?"

Her jaw dropped. "Feelings?" she exclaimed. "What fucking feelings?"

Don smirked at her.

She shook her head rapidly. "That is not what we’re talking about! Stop trying to avoid the subject!"

She was clearly flustered, trying to deflect, and he could see how much it was riling her up.

"I can’t keep dealing with this," she muttered. "I also saw something when we were playing the piano. It was like a vision. I saw the two of us, and we were doing these weird things... like a commitment or something."

"They were just hallucinations," he said smoothly.

She frowned, searching his face. "Hallucinations? What are you talking about?"

He cleared his throat and shook his head. "You are overthinking things, Rosa, okay? There is nothing to think about. Something weird happened, and you probably just lost yourself. You were exhausted and weak from practicing for so long in the music room, so your brain decided to play tricks on you. I was just playing to relax on the keyboard, and your overwhelmed brain saw what wasn’t supposed to be there. So yeah... mere hallucinations."

She blinked rapidly, scoffing as she shook her head. "No. No, it’s not like that. It can’t be hallucinations! I know what I saw. They felt so real, okay? Like it really happened. Like I was there, and you were there, and we were... we were..."

"We were what?" Don interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

She blinked once, then twice.

"What were we?" he asked again.

He noticed the way she clamped her mouth shut, avoiding his gaze as she looked to the side.

"What are you hiding from me?" he pressed.

She swallowed hard. "Okay, fine! We were... we were kind of intimate," she blurted out.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you even hear yourself?"

She looked back up at him.

"Does that sound normal to you?" he asked.

She ground her teeth together. "But I saw it, and it felt so real!"

"It was all in your head, Rosa," he interrupted.

She froze, staring at him as she folded her lips and closed her eyes in exasperation. "Why does this have to be an argument?"

"It doesn’t have to be," he replied. "Because you were hallucinating, and it’s not real. It’s not something we should be bothering ourselves with right now. Now, can you please let me go?"

The intense heat between his legs was not fading anytime soon. He was at his breaking point, and she wasn’t letting up.

"I know what I saw. It was real!"

"It wasn’t!" he snapped.

Unable to take it anymore, he grabbed her shoulders, trying to push her off him. But she clamped her hands down against his shirt, holding her ground and glaring at him.

"I said it was!" she screamed, her loud shout ringing through the room.

Don froze, staring at her in shock. She is definitely losing it, he thought.

She closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath. "You’re not listening to me," she said, her voice shaking.

"Of course I’m listening to you."

"No, you’re not!" she snapped, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I’m losing my mind here! You’re supposed to be my family. You’re supposed to care about my feelings, about what I’m going through!"

His eyelids fluttered. Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me, he thought.

"I’m telling you what I’m seeing, and you’re just dismissing it," she said softly. "I can’t help it, okay? I just—"

She stopped abruptly.

A loud, piercing alarm suddenly echoed throughout the entire house.

Rosa flinched, and both of them jerked their heads toward the door. Don’s eyes widened, his gaze darting to the wall clock in the far corner of the room.

12:00 AM on the dot.

Holy shit. His pulse spiked instantly. Fuck, I am so screwed.

Taking hold of her shoulders with raw strength, he shoved her back onto the mattress. Rosa landed flat on her back as Don launched himself off the bed with terrifying speed, moving almost like a blur.

She barely had time to register what was happening before he rushed to the door, yanked it open, stepped outside, and slammed it shut behind him with a force that rattled the walls.

Rosa lay frozen on the bed, staring at the closed door in sheer disbelief. What the fuck?

She blinked, then scrambled off the bed. "Mr. Don!" she called out.

She sprinted to the door, pulled it open, and rushed into the hallway after him. Far down the corridor, she caught sight of him running fast—heading deeper into the secluded wing of the house, a restricted area she had never been allowed to visit since she started working there.

Where the fuck was he going?