Page 72 of Invisible Bars
“I don’t,” he admitted. “But Iwill… eventually.”
There was a pause.
“So… so that’s it?” I asked. “You’re just gonna keep me married to you indefinitely until Imagicallyearn your trust?”
“No. You’re gonna stay married to me until you show me you’re not a threat to me or what I’ve built,anduntil I know you can stand beside me without running, flipping, or destroying everything around you out of fear.”
“And when youdotrust me, then what?” I countered.
“If I’m feeling generous,maybeI’ll ask you if youwantto stay,” he replied, no hint of humor in his tone.
I gasped lightly.
The truth was… I didn’t know what scared me more—the idea that hemightkeep me forever, or the idea that I might one daynotwant to leave.
“Any more requests?” he asked.
“P-Plenty! No lying… at all! Not even the s-small stuff. I… I don’t want to be left in the dark. Shady secrets, sneaky snakes. Mm-mm.”
Imanio raised a hand slightly. “No secrets. I hear you.”
“Next,” I continued, shifting in my seat, “I need to know what’s going on. Not… not everything, just what involves me. No s-surprise trips. No unannounced guests. No last-minute ‘get in the car’ chaos. O-Okay?”
“Okay. You’ll be in the loop.”
My fingers tapped the edge of the chair. “Don’t try to fix me.”
That made his brow tighten a bit.
“I’m not... broken.” My voice didn’t rise, but my tic did. “Glitchy, not gone. Don’t reboot me.”
His gaze softened.
“Got it.” He nodded.
I cleared my throat and prepared myself for the final answer.
“Last question.”
I paused—that one sat heavy.
“Are you… going to be sleeping with anyone else while we’re married?”
Imanio didn’t answer right away. His jaw tightened, like the question bothered him more than he expected—or maybe it just pissed him off.
Hard to tell with him.
Then he leaned back a little and rolled his shoulders like he was shaking off whatever patience he’d been holding onto.
“If you don’t want me touching you,” he said slowly, voice low and sharp, “I’m gonna keepfuckin’whoever I want. You setting boundaries and wanting doors locked like this is some halfway house for healing. But let’s be clear, Naji. At the end of the day, I’m still a man… with needs…sexualneeds. And if this marriage ain’t gon’ be real to you, it’s not gon’ be real to me.”
Imanio gave me a lazy smirk. His eyes dragged over me like they knew exactly what lived between my thighs—and whatitlooked like desperate.
“I’ll have no choice but to give them this,” he added, tone thick with mock amusement. “My white father might call it acock, but I’m loyal to my mama’s roots, so let’s keep it a buck—it’s adick. Nine and a half inches offuck-your-rules, ruined sleep, silent cries into the mattress, calling-my-name-in-her-sleep madness, back-arched flashbacks and prayers she ain’t never said before type of dick.”
My breath hitched, and I squirmed under his gaze. I could feel the heat rising in my chest, neck… everywhere. I was hot in places that had no business being warm.
If his mouth has this much power, what the hell can that dick do?
