Seduction

When the train left without me, I thought the night was lost. Then I saw him at the other end of the platform, motionless, looking at me as if he’d always been waiting.

The paper robe barely covered me. When his hot hands slid down my back, I knew that session wasn’t going to end the way I’d imagined.

Three hours under the sun, drenched in sweat, and from beneath the tree he saw something on the terrace that left him breathless: they knew he was watching.

I left home in a sweater that showed everything, wearing nothing underneath. My boyfriend walked behind me as strangers’ eyes roamed over me.

—You don’t have to believe you can —he whispered in her ear—. I do. Your only job tonight is to surrender and let your body obey.

I served him tea to help him relax, but I knew work wasn’t the only thing making him tense. That night, I decided to do something about it.

I put on my shortest miniskirt just to see if I could make him nervous. I never imagined that night he’d show up again, this time inside my head.

The steam erased faces and names. All that remained was the heat, his gaze fixed on mine, and the certainty that neither of us would stop.

She got up from the table, turned around, and looked at me in a way that left no room for doubt. I followed without thinking, my heart pounding against my chest.

I placed my hands on the cold wall, took a deep breath, and understood that on the other side someone was waiting for the invisible permission to start touching me.

We’d spent years brushing our hands against each other without saying a word. That night, in my dim living room, looks were no longer enough—and none of us wanted to pretend anymore.

He ordered me to spread my legs and put my hands behind my neck. What he thought was a routine pat-down was really the start of my game.

I saw her among hundreds of people and knew I was going to look for her. What happened next, by the sea, was the most vivid dream I’ve ever had.

For a year she dreamed of the day she could return every deceit. On Día de Muertos, an obsidian amulet gave her exactly that.

She grabbed my arm in the middle of the street and whispered that if I let her go, she might disappear. I had no idea how far that night would go or what price I’d pay for following her.

When I walked into the café and recognized him, I knew that photo session wouldn’t stay just a photo session. His gaze had already undressed me before I said a word.

I left the sheer babydoll hanging where he’d see it, planned every move, and waited to see how far the guy in 4B would dare go.

I thought it was the receptionist coming back for something she’d forgotten. It was her, with that smile that never meant anything innocent, and the lock turning behind her.

It was two in the morning, we were alone on the 25th floor, and her back was stiff. What started as a favor ended up becoming something else.

He only had to come too close for the heat we had denied for months to give us both away. That night there was no way to keep pretending.