Page 110 of In Shadows We Dance

“Did you like it?” His eyes search mine. “My mouth on you, my fingers inside you, my dick filling you? Did you like that?” His fingers brush between my thighs, over my clit, and I gasp, a mix of pain and unwanted arousal making me shudder.

“Yes.”

His lips tip up into a satisfied smile, and he leans closer, kissing my shoulder. His voice lowers, dark and coaxing. “Did you like giving me your mouth? The way I filled your throat—tell me how it made you feel.”

I nod, the movement almost imperceptible, my heart pounding in my chest. His gaze holds me captive, and he waits.

“Tell me.”

A tremor runs through me.

“Yes.” God help me, Ididlike it. I liked the way his voicethickened, the way he growled, the way his hands felt in my hair, the way hesawme. “It made me feel ... wanted.”

The heat that floods my body is matched only by the calm that settles over my mind. I can’t keep pretending this is something he’s doing to me. This—us—isn’t just him pulling strings. It’s me letting him.

No. It’s mewantinghim to.

I hate how much I need his approval, how much I crave his touch.

“Good. Because I’m not done with you yet, Ballerina.”

He wraps me in a towel, while the water is draining away, his touch still too gentle for someone who’s just dismantled my entire world. When he carries me back down the hallway into a bedroom, and lays me on the cool sheets of a bed, something shifts inside of me.

I don’t want him to leave.

I don’t want to be alone in this new reality he’s created for me.

He pulls the sheets over me, and turns.

“Stay.”

He pauses, his gaze locking onto mine. For a second, I think he’s going to ignore me, but then he sits on the edge of the bed, his hand brushing a strand of hair from my face.

“You’re stronger than you think.” His voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it.

And for the first time, I believe him.

CHAPTER 56

Shadowed Truths

WREN

She hasn’t movedsince I lay down beside her. Her breathing is shallow, her fingers twisted in the blanket like it’s the only thing keeping her from unraveling completely.

I wait, watching her. The tension in her frame, the faint tremor in her hands—she’s still caught in the aftermath of everything we’ve done. Still trying to piece herself back together while the weight of my truths presses down on her.

Her lips part slightly, and her shaky exhale is the opening I’ve been waiting for.

“You’re too quiet.”

Her gaze stays locked on the ceiling. The blanket creases tighter in her grip. “I don’t know what to say.”

The bed shifts as I lean closer, brushing her hair back from her face. She doesn’t flinch, but the way her lashes lower tells me she’s retreating. She’s pulling back into herself, searching for the walls I tore down hours ago.

“You could start with the truth.”

Her throat works, but her voice comes soft and uneven. “I feel like I’m losing myself.”

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