Page 91 of The Protégé

“Anxiety has been my weakness . . .”

She did it again. She could bait out the truth like no one else. But she didn’t do it intentionally like a therapist would. It was simply how I reacted to everything she did and said.

“I can help you with that . . .” She gave me a wicked grin and drew something on my chest with her finger.

“You sure can. We can call it Sunshine Therapy.”

She snorted. “They have light therapy where you sit under this special lamp that beams a light onto your body for healing purposes.”

“Not my kind of thing. I preferyou.”

I gathered her up into my arms and carried her into the bedroom. “Let’s get some rest in your bed. Then we can have round two and three later? I’m up for four and five too.”

Her chuckle grew into a laugh. “You’ve got quite the stamina.” She pressed a kiss to my chest. “Not normal.”

I laughed. “You’ve no idea what I have when I’m with you. An inner power comes to life, a surge of imminent power.” I dropped her onto the bed, crawled in next to her, studying how beautiful she was.

All mine.

She stretched out like a cat, looking at me with a satisfied expression that did something to my chest. I’d never had a long conversation during sex. But with her, it seemed normal.

She curled up beside me and threw a leg over mine, trapping my cock beneath her soft skin.

“My body is deliciously limp and relaxed. Thank you.” She rested her head on my shoulders. These little things reminded me of the past, but those memories weren’t as clear as they had once been.

Elena had somehow blurred those memories, allowing me to move forward with hope and ease. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had control of my emotions. It sounded strange to a man who had control of so many materialistic things. A man who stole precious items as easily as pressing a button on a remote control. When it came to my anxiety, I skimmed the edge of a complete breakdown. It had happened once before, and I had my mother to help me overcome it. But she wasn’t here anymore, and I was no longer a teenager.

I could easily become a different person when I stepped over that thin line separating me from right and wrong. Mental health was this dark place that distorted everything you believed to be true. It could end a man simply for saying the wrong word or being two seconds late.

When I’d been chasing after a sex trafficking ring, I’d interrogated many people, using methods I’d rather not discuss. But they were necessary techniques I used for the scum of society who only responded to those techniques. To dwell in a dark world, leniency would be a weakness I couldn’t afford.

Why the fuck was I thinking of this darkness with Elena beside me?

I grunted, and she looked at me with concern in her brown eyes. “You okay?”

“Perfectly fine.”

“You smell nice.” She inhaled my neck. “Sweat and sex.”

A tightness formed in my heart, but I ignored it.

“You smell nice too.” I sniffed her hair, inhaling her shampoo mixed with her unique scent, and it aroused me all over again.

“We sound like two silly teenagers.” She nibbled on my neck and gave me a hickey.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

ELENA

“My turn.”He rolled over me and nuzzled my neck, giving me a hickey.

A series of giggles burst from me and him. I loved this version of him. Tonight changed everything for us.

I escaped from his attack to lie beside him. “When did you follow my blog?”

“Two years ago.”

“Really? How did you find out about it? I didn’t advertise or anything. That blog was something I did for fun.”

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