Page 32 of Truth

His chest vibrated beneath my cheek, and he kissed the top of my head. “Good girl. What number?”

Sucking in a deep breath, and burrowing deeper into the comfort of his arms, I took the time to consider my answer. “Three.”

He hugged me before loosening his grip and pulling me down to the bed to sit on his lap. It was then I noticed he was no longer wearing his towel. Glancing down, I saw it pooled in a heap on the floor.

“Did you have a flashback?”

“I don’t know.” Had it been a flashback? It was different than what had happened before, so I wasn’t sure.

“Take your time and tell me what happened. Remember, slow, deep breaths. There’s no hurry.”

I took a deep breath just like he’d said and leaned into his chest. Opening my eyes, I saw the beautiful green fabric of the dress he’d picked out for me. The dress I was to wear to dinner with his family. I sat up quickly. Or I tried to. Stephan held me in place, not letting me go very far.

“Brianna?”

“Dinner. Your... your family—”

“They’ll wait.”

Looking up at him, I saw that he was completely serious.

“Now relax and tell me what happened. Why did you panic?”

Closing my eyes, I tried to will myself to relax. Stephan pulled me back against him, laying my head on his shoulder. It wasn’t quite the same as his chair, but it was close. I circled my arms around his waist and sighed. “I could hear them.”

“Hear who?”

I swallowed, holding him tighter.

“Shh, sweetheart. You’re fine. You’re safe. Whose voices did you hear?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but the words wouldn’t come. They stuck in my throat, gagging me. I wanted to answer him. I wanted to give him what he asked for, but I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it out.

“Calm down,” he whispered.

It was then I tasted the salty moisture running down my cheeks and realized I was crying. I tucked my head into the crook of his neck as he ran his fingers through my hair. The constant motion soothed me.

We sat there for a long time not saying anything. The only sounds in the room were the steady rhythm of our breathing and the gentle rustling of his hand as it moved through my hair. Slowly, the tension drained away, and I relaxed.

Stephan

I had no idea what happened. One minute she was aroused and on edge in the best way, and the next she was lost in one of her panic attacks. I had been standing behind her, and maybe that had been the problem, but I’d touched her from behind before and she’d been fine. She had trouble when I attempted to spoon her at night—often waking up scared. Never once, however, had she reacted negatively while she was fully awake and aware of her surroundings.

It took a while for her to calm down, but eventually, she did. We were going to be late to Richard and Diane’s, but that was the least of my concerns at the moment. I’d sent my aunt a text. It was the best I could do given the circumstances. I needed to know what had happened and why. Brianna had managed to tell me she’d heard voices. Just getting that much out had been challenging for her.

Her hair was still slightly damp as I ran my fingers through it. I loved touching her hair. It was soft, and the motion seemed to calm her as much as it soothed and relaxed me. We needed to get to the bottom of this, however.

“Do you think you can tell me what happened now?”

Her fingers dug into my back in response.

“Sit up and look at me.”

She retracted her fingers one by one and sat up to face me. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying.

Placing my hands on each side of her face, I leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss. “I want you to keep looking at me and tell me what happened. You are right here. With me. You’re safe. No one is going to hurt you. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

---