Page 86 of The Obedient Lie
Relaxed.
Mine.
Her fingers curled around the edge of the sheets as I worked a little deeper into the muscles at her shoulders. Icould feel her shifting under my touch, caught somewhere between wanting tosubmitand not knowing how to ask.
So I guided her.
“You’re doing so well,” I whispered. “Letting me take care of you.”
And I meant it.
Every damn word.
This wasn’t about control.
This was about herletting go.
She was ours to calm.
Oursto touch.
And watching her body melt under my hands— watching hersurrenderto it— was a kind of high I hadn’t known I needed.
She lay on her stomach now, face turned to the side, hair swept back so I could get to the base of her neck. My thumbs worked carefully down her spine, easing the tension I’d felt earlier when she was on the phone.That fucking phone call.
That voice.
I still wasn’t over it.
But her body… her body was listening to me.
Breathingfor me.
Trustingme.
The way her back rose and fell, the way her mouth parted just slightly when I found a tight spot—it did something to me.
Something I didn’t want to name yet.
That’s when I heard the door open.
Bastion.
His gaze went to her immediately.Always did.
She didn’t lift her head. Didn’t even flinch. Sheknewit was him. Knew we were both here now.
And still—she didn’t move. Didn’t stiffen.
That settledsomethingdeep in my chest.
The way she wasacceptingus. The way she didn’t question what we did to her the other night. Didn’t look at us like we were different now.
Bastion didn’t say a word. Just crossed the room and sank down beside her, his hand going straight to her hair.
His fingers threaded through it in that soft, absent rhythm he always used when he needed to steady himself—possessive, but gentle.
Like touching her was something he didn’t take for granted.
