Page 156 of Love Bleeds Red
“Are you okay?” His thumbs brush over my cheekbones, checking for any more tears. “How do you feel?”
“I...” I have to clear my throat. My voice is hoarse.
How do I feel? Truly?I search my body for signs of a panic attack coming on. For anything that feels remotely bad, but there’s nothing.
“I feel... good. Really good.”
Relief floods his features. He reaches for the towel we’d left on the dresser, and gently cleans his cum from my face and chest.
“You were incredible,” he murmurs as he works. “So brave. So strong.”
“Was I?” I lean into his touch, feeling boneless and safe. “It felt... It felt like I was taking something back.”
“You were.” He helps me stand on shaky legs, then guides me to sit on the edge of the bed. “You were in control the entire time, even when you were pretending not to be.”
I nod, processing that.
“How are you feeling?” I ask him. “That couldn’t have been easy for you.”
Leon sits beside me, pulling me into his arms. “It was difficult. Seeing you scared, even knowing you wanted it... But knowing it was helping you heal? That made it worth it.”
“The choking part,” I say quietly. “When you had your hand on my throat...”
“Too much?” His body tenses.
“No, it was perfect. You did exactly what we practiced.” I trace patterns on his chest, loving the way his breath catches in his throat. “I could breathe the whole time, but it felt real enough to face that memory.”
“And when I called you those names…”
“That’s exactly what I needed to hear. To have someone say those words to me and know they don’t mean them. Know they love me.”
He leans his forehead against mine, and plants a soft kiss on my lips. “I do love you. So much.”
“I know.” I pull back to look at him. “And I love you for doing this with me. For understanding what I needed.”
“How do you feel about... trying this again sometime?”
The question makes my pulse speed up, but in a good way. “Yeah. I think I’d like that. Maybe we could try some of the other scenarios we talked about?”
“Whatever you need,” he says simply. “Always.”
I curl against his chest and he wraps his arms around me. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” he whispers, laying me down on the remaining pillow. “For trusting me with this.”
He gets comfortable beside me, tucking his large body against my back, holding me like he never wants to let go. I close my eyes and let myself melt into his warmth.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
LEON
The golden lightof late afternoon filters through the trees as I sit on a park bench, watching Bailey across the meadow. She’s walking around the small pond, smiling at a family of ducks gliding across the water. She looks so damn peaceful it makes my chest ache.
It’s been six months since we found her at Alfred’s estate. Almost five months of watching her slowly, carefully piece herself back together back at home. Some days are harder than others. The nightmares still come, but they’re less frequent now. She still flinches at unexpected sounds, still needs space when the memories slip into her conscious mind. But she’s healing.
It’s a beautiful sight, watching her heal.
My sketchpad rests against my knee, the pencil between my fingers moving almost unconsciously as I capture the way the light catches in her hair. It’s grown past her shoulders again. She’s put on weight, healthy weight and muscle. Her eyes are bright and cheeks full again. She looks more like herself each day, though I know she’ll never be exactly who she was before. None of us will. There’s no erasing who we are now.
