Page 92 of His

We.

The word was a fingernail plucking my nerves. Vibrating them. He coughed again.

“What happens now, kitten? Have you thought that far?”

I hadn’t thought that far, but apparently my subconscious had started to. The pieces clicked into place one by one as I thought about it.

I moved over to where he was sitting against the bed and sat with him, shoulder to shoulder. The explanation came to my lips mechanically. I ticked off the points one after another.

“I tell everyone I had a panic attack. I ran away to be alone for a while with my friend.”

“A friend?”

“A secret friend, one I’d never told anybody about. You get away scot-free. And…”

“Yes?”

“And you pay for me to go back to school in the fall.”

“Oh?” His eyebrow raised.

“It’s a fair trade.”

“A trade? What do I get in return?”

I paused. There was no hesitation in my heart, but I didn’t know how he would take it. His head turned to the side, and he stared into my eyes.

“Me.” My hands pressed into the floor, holding me still. “All of me.”

“All of you.”

His hand lifted. His knuckles grazed my elbow. He moved his hand down, brushing his fingertips along my arm.

“You would be mine?”

“Yes.” My voice was shaky. After all this, his rejection would be the thing that would hurt me the most. His hand glided down my lower arm and his fingers slipped loosely around my wrist. I could feel his thumb pressing against my pulse point. Where my scar was.

“You’ve spent a lot of time and effort tryingnotto be mine, kitten.”

“I—I didn’t know what I wanted before.”

“And now?”

“I want you. And I want to be yours.”

His hand tightened around my wrist and he lifted my hand to his mouth.

His lips kissed my palm at the heel. I didn’t breathe. Couldn’t breathe. I was balancing on the edge of something dangerous, I knew. But I didn’t care. All I wanted was to be his.

Finally he spoke, the whisper tickling my skin.

“Yes. That sounds nice, kitten.”

Gav

I pulled her to me, then. She, who had seen the shadow inside of me. She, who had been trapped for so long in my home, She had left… and come back.

She had saved me.

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