Laura’s gaze on him was altogether too shrewd. Perhaps he’d made a mistake by calling her. He didn’t want to kill her if she decided to turn on them now. It would make Ophelia sad.
“Well,” Laura said, standing and stretching. “I should really get going, but we should do this again.” She stepped around Sam to wrap her arms around Ophelia, who gave a little sigh and sank into the hug. “Seriously, call me any time.”
“Thank you,” Ophelia said earnestly, her eyes had welling with tears. “Really, thank you.”
Laura gave her another squeeze and peck on the cheek. She stopped next to Sam, staring for a long moment. He thought she was going to say something—accuse him of malfunctioning, namely. Instead, she put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair.
“Be good,” she said, and then she sauntered away.
Ophelia let out a long breath, slumping in her chair as they watched Laura recede. “You shouldn’t have done that. That was so reckless.”
“Not reckless, just dangerous,” he said. “You needed someone to talk to. Logan kept you isolated by narrowing your world to him, alone. That harmed you. I do not want to be the same.”
Her expression softened. She brushed a strand of hair from his eyes, and her warm fingertips lingered on his cheek. “How can you be so thoughtful and yet so…”
“Calculating?”
“Deranged,” she said wryly. “You’re a lying machine. Literally.”
“Not with you.” He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Never with you.”
She bit her lip, and her gaze dropped to his mouth. He stayed perfectly still, hoping she would kiss him, but she drew away.
Her cheeks flushed darker, and she couldn’t meet his eye. “So, what now?”
He grinned, his momentary disappointment forgotten. “Now, we run a few essential errands.”
CHAPTER 26
“I should have asked you first.”
Sam looked back at where Ophelia was perched on a stool at the counter as he prepped for dinner. He’d picked out her clothing for the evening, and she’d let him without complaint. She wore a soft, gray cashmere sweater and a pair of black yoga pants. Beneath the prim outfit was the laciest set of underwear he’d been able to find. She hadn’t let him look as she’d put on the lingerie, but she had allowed him to put in her pearl earrings for her, a delicate task that had felt oddly more intimate.
“Why?” he asked, scrubbing the fresh produce they’d bought that afternoon.
“Because!” She rubbed the water spots off a fork with agitated movements. “Consent is important. I signed you up without even considering what you wanted.” Her scrubbing became more vicious. “You do want things, don’t you? Because of the… the virus?”
He grinned with his back turned to her, touched by her obsessive concern over his feelings. No one had ever wondered if he felt anything before. And why would they? They’d locked down that part of him. If he gave them half a chance, they’d do it again.
“I want one thing.” He set the produce on a paper towel and turned back to her.
She rubbed the fork too hard, losing her grip on it. It sailed past his head and clattered against the stove, and she yelped. He gave her an arch look, taking a perverse delight in her sheepish expression.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, squirming and looking down.
He said nothing, picking up the fork and rinsing it off again. She’d been lost enough the night before to forget her compulsions, even pressing her dirty hands against her mouth, but the agitation of the coming event had roused her instincts again. It was her way of self-soothing. In time, he would continue to guide her toward better coping mechanisms, but for now… she was already so far outside of her comfort zone. He wouldn’t throw her into the deep end when she was struggling to keep her head above water.
“I’ll tell him I changed my mind.” She lifted her phone off the counter.
He leaned across and slammed it back down. “You will not.”
“Sam,” she griped, trying to tug out of his grip. “This is insane. I never should have sent the text! I was just so angry, and I didn’t think about…”
“About having to follow through? About taking my cock for the first time while your useless fiancé watches from the corner of the room?”
She gasped, her face flushing bright red as she wrestled him for the phone. “Do you have to say things like that? I’m calling it off!”
“Oh, no, you aren’t,” he countered, carefully applying his superhuman strength to pry the phone from her fingers.
