Page 87 of The Woman

“It felt like my chest had been torn in two, and the insides scooped out and ripped to shreds.” His mixed gray eyes roam over my face. “I thought I wouldn’t be seeing you again.”

I go to bury my face in his neck once more, wanting to feel close and have every part of me touching him, but he uses the grip on my hair to stop me.

His gaze is searching as it trails my face as if he’s looking for something, the answer to the question on his mind.

“Go wait for me in one of the bedrooms.”

I stare at him with disbelief, my mouth dropping open.

Did he seriously just tell me to wait for him in a bedroom after all I just went through?

Hurt and angry words sit on the tip of my tongue, and I’m about to spit them out at him and tell him that he can go wait in a bedroom, but then I see it – the sparkle in his eyes, the slightest hint of a smile on his lips. He wanted to get a reaction out of me.

But there was also something else, a moment of vulnerability and relief.

“It’s me,” I whisper, reassuring him. “I’m still me.”

Phoenix’s gaze turns tender as he releases a deep breath and drops his forehead to mine. “Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?”

“No.”

The front door opens and closes again, and Phoenix shifts a little to see who it is. I hear my new friend Harold greet the others in here, and I finally notice Phoenix’s father sitting across the room with another woman next to him, who I assume to be Phoenix’s mother.

My eyes widen in surprise. His mother is a WOUN?

I’ve been informed of his father’s involvement in my being released and what they do to help women like me, and I am extremely grateful to him. My suspicion of him knowing what I was turned out to be accurate. However, what he wanted to do with that information was completely wrong.

“Thank you,” I tell him when his eyes land on me, still finding it odd to be talking to men other than Phoenix.

Phoenix releases my hair and helps me slide down his body until I’m on my feet again, and his arm is around my shoulders. But as if he’s afraid I’ll disappear on him again, he tightens his grip on me and holds me closer.

“Harold phoned me earlier when you and I were talking, Phoenix.” Allard pushes to his feet and pulls the woman beside him along with him. “He informed me he could get Avery out today and was bringing her here. She was the one who said that you knew what she was and had kept it quiet.”

“It took a little longer this time,” Harold adds. “The person who reported her wanted proof that the procedure had been done and she was fixed, so I had to work something out.”

A shiver runs down my spine at the thought of someone being that determined to have me changed to a normal woman.

“Do you think it was Thomas?” I ask, glancing up at Phoenix.

He’s quick to shake his head. “No. He tried to help me figure out who did it and where I could find you.”

“He did, did he?” Allard asks, sounding impressed. “That’s good to know. The more people we have on our side, the better. Things won’t be changing any time soon, but maybe one day.”

I lean my head against Phoenix’s chest, thinking about the crazy possibility of change someday and what that would even look like. Phoenix rubs up and down my arm but pauses when his father and mother stop in front of us.

“Go, reconnect.” He tilts his head toward the hallway. “We’ll talk more later. Come on, Elliana.”

The woman who called herself Rayne, as well as Elliana, Phoenix’s mother, both offer me friendly smiles as they pass, which I return, even though my heart skips a beat and my first thought is to double-check my surroundings.

“I look forward to getting to know you,” Elliana says, and I suck in a sharp breath.

Being free to talk to each other openly in front of others or even do something as simple as smile at each other in front of these men is both unusual and exciting. Exhilarating.

I dip my chin at her and then turn to Phoenix once the door closes, wanting to ask him questions. But the words are stolen from my throat when his lips connect with mine in a hungry kiss. Okay, reconnect first and talk after.

His hands fly up to grip the sides of my face, and once he’s angled it for better access, he plunges his tongue into my mouth.

Flutters instantly fill my insides, and the heat he always ignites gathers between my legs.

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