His voice.
For the first time.
Time stopped.
Xavier collapsed against me. Trembling. His face buried in my neck. His cock still pulsing inside me.
I wrapped my arms around him. Held him while he shook.
His voice.
He’d spoken.
After weeks of silence. After whatever they’d done to steal his words.
He’d said my name.
The ache behind my lids turned into something wet. I pressed my face against his hair. Tried to breathe through the tightness in my ribs.
“Xavier.”
He lifted his head. Searched my face. Terrified and vulnerable and devastated.
Waiting for my reaction.
I cupped his jaw. “Say it again.”
His throat worked. Struggling.
Nothing came.
The hope in his expression flickered. Started to die.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. You said it once. That’s... that’s everything.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. Breathing still uneven. Body still trembling.
I stroked his hair. His neck. Held him while he came back to himself.
We stayed like that. Connected. His weight pinning me to the mattress. Neither of us willing to move.
Finally, Xavier shifted. Withdrew slowly. Rolled to his side and drew me against his torso.
Arms locked around me. Protective. Possessive.
I outlined patterns on his scarred tissue. Processing what just happened.
The sex had been intense. Desperate. Almost feral in its need.
But that wasn’t what had me reeling.
He’d spoken.
For one moment, right at the edge of complete loss of control, whatever they’d done to silence him had cracked.
And he’d said my name.
“Can you try again? Just... try?”
