Bound by Sin: My Stepbrother’s Obsession のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

SageThe water was warm, too warm, like it was holding me captive. My limbs floated in the tub, my hair plastered to my neck and shoulders, the steam curling around me in lazy tendrils. I had thought a bath would make me feel better, calm my mind after breakfast, after Andre, after Ella. But peace was a liar, and it never showed up when I needed it most.I was just sinking into the illusion of quiet when the door moved. A shift in the air. The scent of him, sharp, clean, unmistakably Andre. My chest tightened instantly.“Sage.”I nearly screamed. My head whipped up and I froze, eyes wide. There he was, standing in the doorway, his silhouette framed by the light from the hall. My heart thumped like a drum, my stomach twisting and turning with the kind of panic and desire that never played fair.“What the hell, Andre?” I barked, my voice higher than I wanted. “I told you to leave!”He didn’t move. He just watched me, calm, contained, like a predator assessing its territory. There was

AndreI walked down the hallway, each step heavy with a tension I couldn’t release, my body betraying me at every turn. My pulse pounded in my ears, and my chest felt like it had been shoved into a vice. I could still see her, Sage standing there, towel wrapped tightly around her, that defiant, challenging look in her eyes.God, she was insufferable. She had this way of daring me without saying a word, of making me want things I swore I would never want, and the worst part? It worked. Every fiber of me screamed to step back into that room, to cross every boundary I had set, to forget the rules, the consequences, the world outside that hallway.But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I swallowed hard, trying to force my pulse to slow, trying to force reason back into my veins. My hands flexed at my sides, muscles tight, as if clenching them could wring the desire out of me. It didn’t work. Not even close.Her standing up to me like that, daring me it was intoxicating. It lit something inside me

SageBy the time Andre pulls me through the club doors, I’m already shaking.Not from the cold. Not from the alcohol.From him.His hand is wrapped tight around mine, like he’s afraid I’ll vanish if he loosens his grip even a little. The bass fades behind us, the noise collapsing into nothing, until the night feels too quiet and my own breathing is embarrassingly loud in my ears.We don’t speak to each other, we don't need to. Every unsaid thing between us is wound so tight it feels like it might snap.The streetlights blur as we walk, his stride purposeful, urgent. I keep glancing at him, trying to read his face. His jaw is clenched, lips parted like he is breathing through something holding back, bracing himself. The look in his eyes is dark, conflicted, almost desperate, and it makes my stomach flip.When we reach the car, he opens the door for me, his hand landing at my waist, fingers spreading like he needs to feel that I’m real. The touch sends heat racing through me, my breath

SageI wake up slowly the next morning. This is the best I have slept for ages nows, the sunlight streaming through the hotel curtains harsh against my skin. My eyes flutter open, and for a moment, I let myself savor the warmth, the remnants of last night’s closeness, the memory of Andre curled against me. But the warmth isn’t enough to fill the sudden emptiness. I sit up, my heart thudding against my ribs, only to realize he is not here.Not a trace. The bed is cold where his body pressed against mine, the sheets tangled and empty. My chest tightens instantly, and I blink rapidly, trying to convince myself this isn’t happening, that he isn’t gone. But he is. He left.My mind races, replaying last night in painful, vivid detail. The way he had looked at me, the way he had held me, the way everything between us had shifted in the span of a few hours. It had been the best night of my life. The best night. And now it feels like a cruel trick.I bury my face in the pillow for a moment, t

SageI thought I had started to find a fragile balance in my life. Three weeks had passed since that night at the hotel, since discovering that my body had been forever changed, and I was slowly, painfully, coming to terms with it. Each day was a new battle, holding my stomach steady against nausea, keeping my mind from spiraling into panic, trying not to imagine Andre with Ella, trying not to cry in the middle of the day for a life that wasn’t supposed to exist yet.Maya had been my anchor through it all. She didn’t just drag me to the hospital she stayed with me afterward, listening to me when I sobbed, helping me through grocery runs, making me laugh when laughter felt impossible. And she had been helping me plan what I would do when the time came to tell Andre.I hadn’t decided yet exactly how, or when. I needed the courage, the right moment, the right words. But I knew it had to happen eventually. It was my reality now, and Andre deserved to know.So when I heard the knock on my