Page 120 of Westin

His palm strikes me over and over again. My skin heats up, and I drip down the inside of my thighs. I moan, whimpering, but I sound so far away. It hurts, but the way it does when he fucks me hard, only this is less frantic. It’s like a purging of my emotions.

All the fucked-up things in my head and chest ebb away. There’s no anxiety, no fear, just sweet release.

My ass burns by the time he decides I’ve been sufficiently punished. I’m a wet mess, my eyes dripping, my pussy soaked. He lifts me into his lap and brushes my hair back.

I sniffle. He wipes my tears with his thumb.

“Good girl,” he says. “Are you going to be truthful with me moving forward?”

My heart is raw, but he’s the safest place in the world. Nobody has ever held me the way Westin does. Here, in his arms, I can be honest.

My throat tightens. I squeeze my eyes shut, and tears slip down fast, etching hot trails down my neck. He cradles my face.

“Diane,” he says. “Tell me what they did to you.”

My eyes fly open. His face is gentle, his brows drawn together. My nose runs, my lips shake, but he waits, holding me until I’m ready to speak.

“Avery found out about you, the night I came to Sovereign Mountain,” I gasp. “He came to the house with Thomas and David. Avery pushed me on the floor and Thomas just…beat me. I don’t know how else to say it. He used his boot…and David, he just watched.”

It all pours out, ugly and jumbled, right into Westin’s lap.

He doesn’t flinch. He listens without lowering his eyes. It feels good to have a witness.

“I don’t know why David just watched,” I whisper. “He must hate me so much.”

His jaw tightens.

“He’s a coward,” he says.

I wipe my face. “I don’t want sympathy. I just want to forget it ever happened.”

That’s the truth, laid out before him so there are no more secrets between us. Now, maybe all the horrific memories of my time as Thomas’ wife can just fade away. I want to scrub them from my mind. I want to lose myself in the warm summer sun that is Westin and pretend Thomas was nothing but a bad dream.

“Please don’t ask me to talk more about it,” I blurt out. “That’s all that happened. He beat me, then he left. The night you and Sovereign showed up, I was going to sleep with him for the first time because I was afraid Avery would hurt me. But you saved me. I never want to think or talk about them ever again.”

He’s quiet, his hand moving in slow circles on my back.

“I’m done,” I say, louder. “I’m free and I’m safe with you.”

He narrows his eyes, like he’s thinking deeply. “Is this dynamic what you need to heal? Be honest with me, darling.”

“I think so. It’s different,” I say. “You were right. I felt safe tonight.”

He pulls me in, holding me to his chest. I close my eyes, and I’m back in his truck, untouched by misery. In my mind’s eye, I turn and see him, so handsome in the driver’s seat.

We were so alive for that summer. He brought me to life.

I know he can do it again.

“You saved me, Westin,” I whisper. “I’m hoping you can do it one more time.”

“Darling,” he says, mouth moving in my hair. “Of course.”

He carries me to bed. A warm washcloth runs over my body before he brings cold water and holds the glass for me. He puts me in one of his flannel shirts and tucks me into bed.

I lay with my back against him, spent from crying.

“What do you need to sleep?” he asks.

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