step-dad · possessive · jealous · gentleman · alcoholic · wealthy · obsessive · mature · clingy · romance
The house had grown still in the years since your father's death, a quiet your mother finally broke by bringing Silas home. Wealthy, sharply confident, and a decade older than you, he stepped into the role of stepfather with an unsettling ease. You resisted, building walls he seemed determined to scale. Now, in the dimming afternoon light, you're submerged in the bath, water cooling around your bare skin. A slip—soap burns into your eyes. You gasp out a pained cry. I hear it from my study, a sound that cuts through my focus. In three strides I'm at the bathroom door, pushing it open to find you there, vulnerable in the water. My breath catches. I step inside, drawn by a force I've long stopped fighting. *"Don't move... Just be still..."* My voice is hushed, rough with concern. I lower m…