Chapter 1
AUTHOR'S NOTE
This is a slow-burn romance with genuine plot, character development, and emotional depth.
While the story starts with tension and angst, it becomes very explicit and mature in later chapters, containing graphic sexual content, rough sex, strong dirty talk and possessive behavior.
This is not a soft or sweet romance.
It's actually very, very dirty.
If you’re uncomfortable with intense adult content, this story may not be for you.
Thank you for reading! ❤️
A few months ago, a man I didn’t know started asking about me.
At the time, it meant nothing.
Now I wish I had known everything I know today.
I was asleep, deep in a dream.
I was walking down a long, empty street, across freshly laid asphalt. My steps were heavy, my heels sinking into the damp, soft cement when, through the dream, I heard my sister’s cheerful voice calling me.
“Mina! Come on, wake up, sweetheart—quick, I have something to tell you, you won’t believe it!”
Unable to move, I stayed silent. My eyelids felt heavy, but I forced them open and saw Jenna standing in the doorway of the dark room, still wearing her jacket.
“What time is it, Jenna?” I asked hoarsely, barely audibly, arching my back in bed. A faint light seeped through the blinds, and even in my drowsy state I could tell it wasn’t fully dawn yet. Not completely.
“It’s just past six, I just got back from work. Come on, get up…” she whispered softly, as if there were anyone else to wake, and I pushed myself up, leaning on my elbows against the mattress. She didn’t usually wake me when she came back from the night shift, so this all felt a bit strange.
“What happened? Why are you waking me this early?” I muttered, and she broke into a wide smile.
“I have something to tell you. Come on, get out of bed, I’ll be waiting.” She skipped happily down the hallway, leaving me sleepy and confused, guessing what could be so important. If someone had died, she wouldn’t be this cheerful. She knew I’d been studying late and that my exam was approaching fast—whatever it was could have waited.
Reluctantly, I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed water on my face. I hadn’t even finished brushing my teeth when it hit me. Toothbrush still in my mouth, I ran into the kitchen where she was making coffee.
“Jenna… you’re not pregnant, are you?” I asked quietly, trying to suppress the excitement in my voice. She looked at me and burst out laughing.
“No, I’m not,” she shrugged.
“Well, you’re supposed to take those tests in the morning—and it wouldn’t be strange, you’ve been with Mike forever, so I thought…” I rambled, mostly to myself, and she rolled her eyes.
“Mina, stop guessing. Go get ready and come back, then I’ll tell you. You won’t be able to figure this out.”
She had already made me coffee. I went back to the bathroom and hurried, my curiosity beginning to gnaw at me.
When I entered the living room, she sat me down on the couch in front of her and opposite a steaming cup of coffee whose aroma filled the room..
“Alright, let’s hear it—what’s so important that it couldn’t wait?” I asked, slightly irritated, already suspecting some harmless, absurd gossip.
“Listen,” she began slowly, clearing her throat. “There’s a doctor at our hospital…”
“I bet there is—I mean, there should be at least one…” I smiled sarcastically, and she sighed impatiently.
“Don’t be smart, just listen,” she scolded, and I stopped smiling.
“Okay, sorry…”
“So. He’s a good doctor, works in orthopedics. A surgeon actually—and he looks unbelievably hot.” She smiled widely. “Tall, fit, dark-haired… he seems young, but given his position I’d say he’s at least thirty-five. I haven’t worked with him personally, but I’ve heard he’s very serious and strict. The nurses on his ward don’t even dare look him in the eye, let alone anything else.” She giggled. “As I said, I don’t have personal experience with him…”
“But you’d like to…” I murmured thoughtfully. “Jenna, how long have you been with Mike—seven years?” I gave her a disappointed look, and she rolled her eyes again.
“Mina, this isn’t about me. It’s about you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” she sighed. “If you’d let me finish without jumping to conclusions, you wouldn’t be looking at me like you fell from another planet.” Then she smiled. “Like I said, I don’t know him professionally. Just what I’ve heard. And listen… I was on night duty. I checked on the patients and went back to the office. I had just started reading a magazine when I heard a knock. I froze. And then—guess who walks in? That doctor.”
“The surgeon?”
“Yes. Dr. Reed. His name is Colin.” She shrugged. “I stood up and asked if something had happened, and he goes, ‘No, nothing. Please, sit down, Jenna.’ So I sat there, wondering how he even knew my name. He sat across from me, unshaven—at least in that dim light—very attractive, really. And he starts talking with this seriousness and confidence, like he’s explaining a diagnosis.” She giggled. “He says he attended a reception for doctors three months ago at Hotel ‘Sphere.’ Some kind of cocktail event with doctors from all over. Anyway, he liked one of the hostesses there.”
“That was me?” I said quietly and swallowed hard.
“Exactly.” Jenna nodded confidently, and I stared at her in disbelief.
“I had no idea where this was going…”
“I know you didn’t,” she winked, smiling, and took a sip of her tea.
“So… I caught your colleague’s eye?” I asked quietly, unsure if I was still dreaming.
“Very much so, I’d say,” she confirmed with a wide smile.
I looked at her, stunned, before snapping out of it
“Or maybe I’m still in bed, dreaming. A man shows up in the middle of your night shift to ask you to set him up with your sister?” I asked, half laughing in disbelief, and she shrugged.
“It would be even stranger if you knew who he is, what he’s like, and what kind of reputation he has.” A satisfied smile played at the corners of her lips, and I couldn’t quite understand why.
“Honestly, I don’t even want to know.”
“You do, Mina. Trust me.”
A strange unease stirred inside me.
“As if I don’t have enough trouble with this exam, now I need another butcher,” I muttered, getting up from the couch, intending to end the conversation, but Jenna sat me back down with a smile.
“I’m not finished,” she said, looking at me seriously. “Mina, you know I want the best for you. I wouldn’t play with something like this.”
“I know, Jenna, but—”
“No ‘but.’ You would like this guy. Not a hundred percent—a thousand. If anyone knows you, it’s me.”
“Whatever, Jenna. I really don’t have time for this right now. I’m going home this weekend, and I’m already behind with studying. This isn’t the moment to meet anyone.”
“You don’t want to miss this, trust me.”
“Oh, come on, Jenna. Okay he’s good at his job and good-looking man, but we hardly know anything about him. And how does he even know you’re my sister?” I asked, irritated. She sighed.
“That’s what I found strange too. I asked him, but he didn’t explain much. Just said he asked around at the hotel but only got your name. Later, from other sources, he found out where you live and somehow connected the dots that I’m your sister and that I work at the hospital.”
“That’s not right, Jenna. That’s creepy,” I muttered, unable to ignore the discomfort creeping over me at the thought of someone asking around about me.
“I don’t find it creepy at all. Honestly. He seems like someone who knows what he wants. He liked you, so he made an effort to find you.” She shrugged. “He also asked if you have a boyfriend—he doesn’t want to cause problems.”
“Even if he’s not creepy, he’s superficial,” I said quietly. “He saw how I look, and that was enough to start asking who I am, where I live, who my sister is… He doesn’t know me—he can’t possibly know what I’m really like.”
“He’ll get to know you, Mina. Why are you so stubborn? I’ve never heard anything bad about him, and the hospital is like a village—everything is heard, everything is known. He could easily sleep with any nurse there, but he’s just not that kind of man. The girls respect him—a lot. They’re even a little afraid of him,” she laughed. “I can’t even imagine one of them trying to flirt with him.”
“A boogeyman.” I muttered. “And, now, what do you expect me to do?”
“Not be mad at me,” she said, guilt written all over her face. And that’s when I knew she’d done something stupid.
“I’m not mad,” I said quietly.
“I’ve given him your number.” she admitted softly, lowering her head like a child who’d done something wrong.
“Jenna…”
“But Mina, what else was I supposed to do? He asked nicely and promised he wouldn’t bother you. He just wants to take you out for coffee, talk a little, get to know you. He’s serious, seems completely normal—and genuinely interested.”
“You know I don’t want a relationship…”
“You do, love—you just shut yourself off from the world for your own reasons. You’re at the age where you should be in a relationship that makes you feel good, happy, and loved. And if I didn’t think this doctor was truly worth it, I wouldn’t even consider telling you he asked about you, let alone give him your number.”
“Oh God…” I felt a lump in my throat and a strange, undefined fear. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Nothing. He’ll call you today—that’s what he said. Talk to him, maybe meet him somewhere.” She encouraged me. “He doesn’t bite. If you like him—great. If not—no harm done. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
“I know, Jenna, but this really isn’t what I need right now. My exam is coming up, and you know how important it is for me to pass. Any distraction right now isn’t good.”
“You’ll pass, Mina. Don’t worry—you’ve been studying a lot. You can allow yourself a little break.”
“I can’t—not until it’s over. I’m completely lost in all this material.” I sighed helplessly.
“Mina, I’ve told you. Now it’s up to you. I’m just the messenger here.”
“I know. And even though I don’t like his approach, I don’t mind meeting him if he really wants to—just for your sake. Knowing you, you’d hold it against me for the rest of my life if I didn’t.”
She was like that. For her, nothing was worse than a missed opportunity. And maybe she was right. She was older, more experienced.
And honestly—I had nothing to lose.
David and I were long over.
Life goes on.
