Page 45 of Truth

“Yes.”

“You already know I don’t do any type of toilet play. I also have blood play and needles on my list of hard limits. “

She shuddered in my arms when I mentioned needles. There were no marks on her skin from needles, but if it were done by someone with experience, there wouldn’t be. It was a lot like acupuncture, although the needles weren’t always as small. Considering the level of pain Ian preferred, my guess would be they were larger needles rather than smaller.

It took her several minutes to completely relax again in my arms. When she finally did, I glanced up at the clock and realized it was getting late. Her assignment was going to have to wait. It wasn’t ideal, but I didn’t want to get into anything major this late. The day had already been emotional for her, and we’d accomplished a lot.

I helped her up, and we walked hand in hand into my bathroom where I helped her strip. At my prompting, she did the same for me before we entered the large shower.

I kept everything chaste, more because I wanted to give her time to process everything than the lack of want. She glanced down a few times at my erection as if waiting for me to act upon my obvious desire. I pretended not to notice, concentrating on getting us both clean instead.

After drying off, we climbed into my bed together. I hadn’t been lying to her when I said I might never let her sleep in her own bed again. Even though occasionally I’d wake up in the middle of the night and be startled by her presence in my bed, once my conscious mind kicked in I was filled with a sense of contentment seeing her lying there surrounded by my sheets and pillows, completely at peace and trusting.

It was usually those times when I couldn’t resist pulling her into my arms and holding her. She’d woken up more than once, stiff and frightened. The second time it had happened, we’d ended up staying up for more than an hour talking through it. As with everything else that frightened her, she didn’t want to shy away from it, and she’d been embarrassed to have reacted as she had.

Gathering her into my arms, I laid her head on my chest and kissed her forehead. I longed to tell her I loved her. My heart ached with the want to tell her.

Her fingers played absentmindedly with the brown hair below my navel. I sucked in a breath as she dipped a little too low, and grabbed her wrist.

She stilled.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Brianna, but I just want to hold you tonight.”

When I let go of her, she retracted her hand and tucked it up under her chin.

“Sir?”

“Yes, Brianna?”

“I talked to Cal today.”

I closed my eyes, hoping this wasn’t bad news.

“And what did Ross have to say?”

“He... he invited me... us... to a concert.”

“What kind of concert?”

“I... I don’t know. I... I didn’t ask. I should have...”

“Shh. It’s fine.” I soothed, running my fingers through her hair like she enjoyed. “Would you like to go?”

“I don’t know if... what if I can’t...”

Sitting up, I brought her with me. Once we were facing each other, I repeated the question. “Would you like to go?”

“I think... I’d like to try.”

I nodded.

“I’ll call Ross tomorrow and get the details.”

Lying back down, I tucked her into my side and resumed petting her hair. We’d made great progress over the course of the evening. She was getting better at communicating her thoughts and feelings every day, even if sometimes she was unsure of them.

I had no idea what Cal was intending with this concert, although considering Brianna’s birthday was only two weeks away, I hazarded a guess that was the underlying reason. Why he’d picked something so public was beyond me, but I doubted I’d ever understand Ross and his motivations or thinking. Hopefully, after talking to him, I’d have a better idea. If Brianna truly wanted to go, I wanted to attempt to make it a positive experience for her.

Brushing my lips against her hair, I realized she had already fallen asleep. Smiling, I lay back against my pillow and closed my eyes. Tomorrow was another day, but for now, Brianna was safe and happy. I couldn’t ask for anything else.

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