Page 29 of Regressive

Levi grabs his notebooks and shakes his head. He stops by me and says quietly, “Everything okay?”

“Just tired that’s all.” I give him a tight grin. “It was a busy day.”

“Get some rest.” He runs his fingers gently down my neck. “When Anex calls the men like this, it’s viewed as a moment of respite for the women. Take the opportunity to recharge and reflect.”

The last thing I want to do is reflect on what I saw up in the Main House.

“I will,” I say, watching him step out the door. Elon follows with his bottle of liquor, barely looking me in the eye. Rex follows, but I grab his wrist and tug him back. His eyebrow raises.

“I spent some time today looking for answers to your question.”

“Any luck?”

I shake my head. “Not yet, but I’ll keep trying.”

“Thank you,” he says, resting his large hand on my hip, thumb rubbing tiny circles. “I guess you get a night off from our arrangement.”

“Levi said it was an opportunity to recharge and reflect.”

He snorts. “Like my father gives anyone a night off from anything.”

“Try not to get in a fist fight with your father, okay?”

“Is that a request?”

“I just…” I think about Charlotte, her broken mind and body. Rex is the only thing keeping me out of a room like that. “I just want you to remember that you have a bigger plan.”

His crystal blue eyes hold mine, and I have no idea what this man is thinking. But his hand rises to my chin, and he tilts my mouth towards his and he kisses me. For once it’s not forceful, but his jaw is strong, tongue sweeping against mine. I feel the rush of our connectivity surge through me. Me and Rex… we’ve had this chemistry from the start, all the way back to that day we stumbled onto one another at the overlook when we were kids, bonded by our mothers.

Here we are again, literally ‘bonded’ by that and more.

“Good night, Imogene,” he says, after he pulls away. My lips feel hot as does my skin, warming me after such a traumatizing night.

I’m still processing it, when Silas comes in, worn and exhausted looking. He returns his kit to the cubby by the door and barely looks up when I enter the foyer.

“Hey, can I get you something to eat? Drink?”

He shakes his head and walks past me, going to his room. A moment later I hear the water running in the shower. I stand in the doorway, caught in confusion. Should I do something? When I learned about caring for the man in my life, it centered around food and keeping the house orderly. Silas taught me more about how to make a man feel good, but that doesn’t seem right, not now. He’s also not my man.

I tap my fingers on my thigh. Or is he? Aren’t they all? Isn’t that what Rex told me he wanted? A woman for his friends who Anex would never give one of their own.

The urge to comfort Silas, the way he has comforted and soothed me through my own pain overwhelms me and without hesitation I stride into his room and enter the bathroom. The glass is fogged from the steam, but I see the shadowy outline of his naked body behind it. I peel off my dress, goosebumps rising on my flesh from the cool air, and open the shower door. Silas has his face lifted to the running shower, as if he’s trying to wash away everything he’d seen, but he turns when he hears the door open.

“Hey,” I say, sliding in the shower behind him. He doesn’t move, and I wrap my arms around his waist, leaning into him. “Do you want to talk about it? We don’t have to. I just…” I press my cheek against his warm, strong, back, “I didn’t know you had to do things like that.”

He reaches for my hand and pulls it tight against his toned belly. “I don’t, and Anex will be pissed to find out I interfered, but I feel an obligation to these women.”

I hear his heartbeat under my ear and feel his muscles tense at my touch. He’s a strong man but filled with emotion and compassion. So different from the other guys.

“You aren’t the one that hurt her, Silas. Anex did that.”

He turns to face me. Our belly’s touching. His cock half-erect and pressing between my thighs. “I played my part. Rex gets them in the door, Levi into classes and I… well, I strip away their inhibition. I confuse their mind and their bodies. I show them what feels good, so that they forget the bad.” His forehead drops to my shoulder. “I own my guilt in this, Imogene. The least I can do is try to relieve a little of the pain.”

I force his head up until I can see his face. “Did you give her the comfort she needed?”

“I gave her some medication.” His mouth forms a frown. “She has an infection—from too much sex and inappropriate hygiene.”

“Why would he allow that?” I ask, so confused by the actions of our leader.

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