Page 132 of Taming Seraphine

The muscles of my pussy clamp. “Just a little. It’s more like an ache from being stretched.”

“Is that what you like? Being stretched open?”

“Only by you.”

His hand drops.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asks.

“Of course. Why are you even asking?”

He lets out one of those long, frustrated sighs that are usually accompanied with pinching the bridge of his nose or rubbing the patch of skin between his temples. I pretend not to notice. If Leroi has hangups about sex, then he needs to do it more, not less.

“Seraphine,” he says.

“Leroi.” I mimic his tone.

“You can’t erase years of abuse with a few brutal murders.”

“Why not?” I glare straight ahead.

“You’re impossible.”

I raise my shoulders, not feeling the slightest bit murdery. Leroi doesn’t understand that his presence is everything I need.

He wraps his arms around me and plants a soft kiss on the tender spot behind my ear, over the scar from my chip. Shivers skitter across my skin, making my nipples tighten.

“Do that again,” I whisper.

“This?” He kisses it again.

My muscles relax. “Yeah,” I say with a long exhale. “Your touch is all I need to erase my past.”

His second sigh is quieter, sounding a little more resigned. I reach for his large hand and intertwine our fingers.

“It wasn’t that bad,” I say softly.

Leroi doesn’t respond. Either he wants me to elaborate or he thinks I’m lying.

“I suppose the first few weeks were the worst. It was terrible, really, but that’s so far in the past, it’s barely worth mentioning.”

“Yet you still have nightmares about what happened to your mother.”

I stiffen. “That’s different.”

“How?”

“It just is.”

“Seraphine.”

The hands running over my skin still, and I grind my teeth.

“What’s the point of rehashing the past? I’m over it.”

“You gouged out a man’s eyes for... How did you put it? Being rude?”

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