Page 109 of Texting Dr. Stalker

I didn’t know if she was still trapped in whatever nightmare made her cry or she still held a grudge toward me for buying her a dildo, but she curled up even tighter and buried her face in her pillow.

I had no idea what I should do.

Comfort her?

Leave her?

Am I making this worse or better?

I could ask, but I doubted she’d give me an honest answer. I just had to hope we had enough of a connection and trust that I wasn’t severely messing her up.

Forgive me if I’m doing this wrong…

Pushing her toward the window, leaving some space on this side of the bed, I brushed off the grass stuck to my bare feet, then swung myself into horizontal position behind her. The second I wound my arm around her middle and tugged her into me—spooning her like we had the other night—she went terribly quiet.

“It’s just me,” I whispered into her ear, pressing the softest kiss on her cheek. My mask absorbed the kiss, pissing me off that I couldn’t taste her skin. “Just me.”

It took a while.

It took an eternity.

But slowly, the stone in her bones thawed, and she unravelled her tiny ball just enough for me to scoot her a little closer and hug her a little tighter.

“X?” Her voice hitched with silent tears. “W-What are you doing here? I thought you were away for work.”

All kinds of lies came to mind: I was let off early. I came back quicker than I planned.

I couldn’t say any of them.

All I could say was the truth. “I missed you.”

She sniffed and shook her head. “But…how did you know I needed you? I haven’t been outside tonight. You don’t have cameras inside.” She groaned as fresh tears wobbled her voice. “Pleasetell me you didn’t lie and truly do have cameras inside.”

“I don’t.” I kissed her hairline. “I would never.”

“Then how?”

This question I did have to lie about. And I had no idea how to be convincing. “I came to check on you. Your cat was caterwauling. I figured you hadn’t locked him outside on purpose, so something might be wrong.” Nuzzling her neck, I breathed, “I used your key to get in. But I can go if you want. Now that I know you’re okay.”

Sucking in a breath, she stiffened again.

I waited a few seconds before whispering, “You’re not okay…are you?”

She turned to stone again before finally shaking her head. “No…no, I don’t think I am.”

Wrapping my arms even tighter around her, I didn’t care I might be bruising something. I needed her to feel the sincerity of my feelings. The truth of just how hard I’d fallen, even if she had no idea who I was. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She scoffed with a sob. “Not really.”

“That’s fine, you don’t have—”

“I tried the gift you bought me.”

It was my turn to freeze. I didn’t say a word, just in case I interrupted whatever she needed to say. Resting my chin on her head, I claimed one of her hands under the blanket and brought it to her stomach. Running my thumb over her knuckles, I just waited.

“I…I’ve never been good at that sort of thing.” Tears escaped and poured freely. “That’s not true. I used to be able to…you know. But when Milton found my vibrator and said it undermined him as a man, he forbade me from ever doing it again.”

My jaw clenched.

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