Falling For My Ex's Dad (Clarissa and Gabriel)

Clairessa's POV

I could barely breathe-let alone think-as I raced up the stairs.

Every nerve in my body burned, tingling and buzzing from the way Gabriel had pinned me to the wall like I was his.

For a moment... I let him.

No I wanted him.

His heat, his scent, the weight of his body pressed against mine... I'd imagined it a hundred times, maybe more.

And now that it had actually happened, I hated how much of him still clung to me.

My skin still burned where his fingers had wrapped around my wrist.

My lips tingled from the force of his kisses-brutal, hungry, and impossibly tender.

God, I hated myself for not stopping it.

I should've screamed. Slapped him. Anything. But I didn't. I couldn't.

Instead, the moment he touched me,

I moaned his name. Told him how much I missed him.

And I meant every word.

That's what killed me the most-

How easily I forgot every reason I had to stay away.

And the worst part?

I still wanted him to make love to me.

To make me come-again and again—in his arms.

Hell.noveldrama

I shouldn't want this.

I needed a distraction.

I needed to cool down, to get away from him before the war in my head spiraled

into something I couldn't undo.

I reached my room, shoved the door open-then froze.

No. What...?

My room wasn't my room.

It looked the same-but it wasn't.

Something was off.

The bed was perfectly made-untouched.

But the books I'd left on the side table were gone.

My skincare products on the dresser, the few things I'd started to rebuild with— gone too.

Panic twisted in my chest. I rushed to the closet and threw the doors open.

I didn't have much after the fire, but the clothes I'd managed to buy the ones I'd carefully picked out-were gone. Cleared from the hangers.

Like I'd never even been here.

I turned in a slow circle, heart pounding, breath quickening.

"Where the hell are my things?"

My thoughts spiraled, crashing into one name.

Gabriel.

He had to be the one who did this.

Why? So I'd crawl back? Beg at his feet?

Was this his twisted way of punishing me for pushing him away?

He could've just told me to leave. I knew Jess would've taken me in without hesitation.

But her place was small, already cramped with her own things.

I didn't want to be a burden.

And Gabriel's place-despite everything was closer to Storms Innovations. Which was much more convenient for me.

That's why I stayed-just until I sorted myself out. And leave when I finally secured my own apartment, maybe in a month or so.

But this?

This was the last straw.

Without holding back, channeling every ounce of fury I felt—I stormed toward Gabriel's room.

My bare feet slapped against the cold floor, fists clenched tight at my sides.

I didn't care if this was his home.

I didn't care if I woke the entire damn house.

He was going to hear it from me.

I shoved his bedroom door open, ready to spit fire.

Ready to rip into him.

Ready to tear his smug little empire down from the inside.

But everywhere was quiet.

No Gabriel in sight.

Which was strange-considering we'd just been together moments ago.

I stepped in fully, scanning the expansive room.

Then I heard the low drizzle of water. Soft at first, then louder, coming from the bathroom area.

My heart kicked in my chest. I knew that sound. I knew exactly what it meant. He was taking a shower.

The rational part of me-the part still clinging to pride-screamed for me to walk away.

To slam the door, return to my empty room, and deal with everything in the morning.

But my body betrayed me.

Again.

I stepped closer.

"Just one glance," I told myself, already knowing it was a lie.

Shame crept down my neck as I tiptoed toward the bathroom, fully aware I was

about to cross a line I couldn't uncross.

The door was open. Steam poured out, filling the air with heat and the dark, musky scent of his cologne-familiar in a way that made my chest ache.

I paused.

Leave.

A voice barked in my head.

But I didn't.

Instead, I lingered in the doorway, angling myself just enough to catch a glimpse -first through the mirror's reflection, then through the fogged glass of the shower stall.

That's when I saw him.

Gabriel.

Naked.

His back was to me, hair dark and wet, clinging to the nape of his neck.

His arms—those thick biceps—tensed with every slow shift. His skin glistened,

slick and golden under the light.

Broad shoulders flexed as he

moved, the ridges of his spine

trailing to that impossible V at

his lower back-the one I'd tried so

hard not to imagine.

Water streamed down long, strong legs, tracing the curve of his perfectly sculpted

ass and down over powerful thighs.

One hand braced against the wall. The other-

A shiver shot down my spine.

Oh my God.

The other was wrapped around his cock.

He was big. Thick. Veined.

Right there, under the water, in the privacy of his shower, he was stroking himself

—long, rough pumps that made his entire body tense.

His head tipped back, throat exposed, lips parted, a deep groan rumbling from

somewhere dark inside him.

My breath hitched.

My legs locked in place. I couldn't move. Couldn't look away.

His hand barely wrapped around the full girth of him. With each pump he

grder-his strokes Pump

more urgent, more despera

His hips flexed. Muscles strained.

And then-

"Claire..."

He said my name.

My knees nearly gave out.

He groaned it like it hurt. Like it burned on the way out.

My name-raw and wrecked in his throat-was a sound feral, broken, and aching.

My body reacted before my mind could catch up.

Heat rushed between my legs-slick, shameless.

My nipples tightened beneath my dress, straining against the thin fabric.

I pressed my thighs together, desperate to ease the throb building there.

But it only made it worse.

My thoughts spiraled-

Back to the nights I'd been under him.

The way he'd pin me down and murmur how much he missed the taste of my

skin.

That same hand now wrapped around himself had once gripped my hips, keeping

me in place as he drove into me without mercy.

Addictive.

Possessive.

And now-he was chasing pleasure like a man drowning in it.

Unaware I was just feet away, aroused and breathless, clinging to the doorway

like it was the only thing keeping me upright.

This was wrong.

So, so wrong.

But it was also the most erotic, most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

And God help me I wanted more.

My lips parted, wet.

Heartbeat thundering in my ears.

He was beautiful. Savage. Unfiltered.

And I had never wanted him more than I did right then.

I couldn't take it anymore.

My hand slipped beneath the hem of my gown—

Straight to the heat between my thighs.

I was soaked. Drenched.

Two fingers found my swollen clit, and I stroked.

Slow at first. Then faster.

The memory hit me hard-

The way he used to bury himself so deep I forgot how to breathe.

I rubbed faster, chasing that same rhythm.

I could feel him inside me, just from watching.

The stretch. The fullness.

The drag of him slamming into me-soft at first, then brutal.

Again. And again. And again.

He was pumping harder now.

His jaw clenched, chest rising and falling in frantic bursts.

His breath, sharp. Broken.

"...Claire..."

Another groan-raw and low.

And that was it.

That sound my name, falling from his lips like a plea-unleashed something wild

inside me.

I felt it in my bones, the way he wanted me.

A feral, forbidden thrill tore through me.

He was thinking of me.

Coming for me.

I pressed harder, teetering on the edge, his voice echoing in my head-dark,

commanding, impossible to resist.

Don't stop...

My thighs trembled as I matched his rhythm, eyes locked on his

reflection on the way his muscles strained, on the way his strokes grew frantic, on the way his head fell back as he snarled-

"I'm coming-fuck-Claire-"

And I came with him.

My hand flew to my mouth, trying to smother the cry clawing up my throat.

But the orgasm ripped through me-vicious, sudden, blinding.

A moan slipped out-soft, broken, involuntary.

I bit down on my lip, desperate to hold it in.

Too late.

His head snapped forward.

And then-

His eyes-dark, dazed, still filled with lust-met mine in the mirror.

Oh my God.

Time stopped.