Chapter 8

The door shut behind them. The sound echoed through the hallway clean, final.

Elara didn’t move. She leaned against the wall, one heel hooked slightly behind the other, arms loosely crossed like she hadn’t just been singled out.

Like she wasn’t waiting.

Her skirt sat perfectly against her thighs, dark fabric sharp against her skin, heels still on unchanged from earlier. Polished. Intentional.

She always looked put together.

Even when she wasn’t.

“Are you going to say something,” Elara asked lightly, “or just stand there staring?”

Viv didn’t answer. She moved instead.
Crossing the room with quiet precision, setting her gloves down one finger at a time on the table. Her sleeves were rolled neatly to her forearms, button-down crisp, slacks tailored perfectly. Every line of her looked controlled.

Deliberate.

Elara watched her.

Her smile didn’t fade but it sharpened. Fuck, she always looked good.

“You broke structure,” Viv said.

Elara exhaled softly.

“I visited our pet for 5 minutes”.”

Viv looked at her. Fully. “And you did it alone.”

Elara pushed off the wall, heels clicking softly against the floor as she took a step forward. “She was starving,” she said. “You would’ve fed her anyway. You were busy all day with work.”

“That wasn’t your decision.” The words landed clean.

Elara’s jaw tightened slightly. “She’s not like the others,” she said.

Silence.

Viv stepped closer. “That’s exactly why you don’t improvise.”

Elara tilted her head, something sharper creeping into her expression. “I made her interesting.”

Viv stopped in front of her. Close enough that the space between them felt intentional.

“She already was,” Viv said quietly.

A pause.

“You made her unstable.”

Elara smiled. “So fix it.”

Viv didn’t move. “Turn around.”

Elara blinked. “…seriously?”

Viv didn’t repeat herself.

That was enough.

Elara held her gaze for a second longer. Testing. Then, She turned.

Slowly.

Her skirt shifted slightly with the movement, fabric brushing her thighs as she faced the table. “Hands on the table,” Viv said.

Elara let out a quiet breath through her nose, but she obeyed.

Her palms flattened against the surface, posture still elegant even in compliance back straight, chin slightly lifted.

Viv stepped in behind her. Close. Too close. The air shifted. “You forget,” Viv said, voice low, controlled, “this isn’t new for us.”

A pause.

“We’ve done this before.”

Elara’s fingers flexed slightly against the table. “Not with her,” she said.

“No,” Viv agreed. “And that’s exactly why you follow structure.”

Silence.

Elara shifted, just slightly.

Viv’s hand came down, firm against her wrist, pressing it flat against the table. Viv used her other hand to trail up the back of Elara’s bare thigh, just underneath her skirt.

Painfully slow.

She slid her hand in between her legs. Viv felt the heat coming from her core. She rubbed her fingers up and down her slit, earning a slight moan and a shuffle from Elara.

“Stay still.”

Elara went rigid.

Viv leaned in just enough that her presence felt unavoidable. “You don’t get attached early,” she said. “You don’t interfere. You don’t decide you know better.”

Each word measured. Precise.

Elara’s breath slowed. “I wasn’t—”

The first strike came without warning. Sharp. Clean. Elara’s breath caught. She let out a slight yelp, preparing herself for the next.

Viv didn’t pause long.

Another.

“You were being naughty, clearly I need to teach you again,” Viv said calmly. The impact wasn’t chaotic.

It was controlled.

Deliberate.

Each one spaced just enough to make it worse.

Elara’s grip tightened against the table, fingers pressing into the surface. Her composure slipped. Just slightly.

Not breaking.

But bending.

Viv watched it happen.

“You don’t get distracted,” she continued.

Another strike.

“You don’t indulge curiosity.”

Another.

Elara’s shoulders tensed now, breath no longer perfectly even.

“You wait.”

The final one landed harder. Elara cried out, gripping onto the side of the table.

Viv stepped back. The absence of contact felt just as intentional.

Elara stayed where she was for a moment. Hands still flat. Back straight. Holding it together. Then slowly, she pushed herself upright.

Turned.

Her expression had changed.

Less amused.

More focused.

But not broken.

Never broken.

That’s what Viv loved about her. She could never break her. Viv met her gaze. “Look at me,” she said.

Elara did. Held it. Something unspoken passed between them.

“You’re distracted,” Viv said. “I’m interested,” Elara replied.

Viv tilted her head slightly. “That’s the problem.”

Silence.

Viv stepped closer again. Close enough now that their space disappeared. “You don’t get to want things out of order,” Viv said quietly.

Elara’s breath hitched, just slightly. Viv noticed. Of course she did. “Then don’t make her interesting,” Elara said, softer now.

That was the wrong thing to say.

Viv’s gaze sharpened. “She already is,” she said. “And you’re going to learn patience.”

Their faces were close now. Too close. The tension shifted.

Not soft.

Not gentle.

Something sharper.

Heavier.

Controlled.

Viv held her gaze for one second longer, then stepped back. Just like that. Distance restored.

“Next time,” she said, turning slightly, “you follow structure.”

Elara rolled her shoulders once, releasing tension slowly. “Fine,” she muttered, but it lacked its usual bite. Even she knew when to quit.

Viv picked up her gloves. “And Elara—”

Elara looked up.

“Don’t make me repeat this, It will hurt even more.”

Silence.

Elara held her gaze. A small smile returned.

Fainter.

More dangerous.

“You won’t have to.” But something in her eyes said she might. Elara couldn’t help it, she loved to tease Viv once in a while. She loved when Viv got rough to her compared to her normal softness.

It made her hot and needy. Elara pressed her thighs together hopefully to subside the throbbing heat she felt in between them.

And Viv saw that too, then she left.