My stomach twists. “What did they ask?” She doesn’t answer immediately, so I rock my hips slightly. Her eyes scrunch closed.
“Everything. They wanted everything. Too many examples.”
“Pick one.”
She swallows. “My first kiss was on-camera. I didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t stop crying. But the producers made me do it over and over, in a room full of men watching me, until I got the shot right. It took all day. I was just a kid, and I had no adults who wanted to protect me.” I can feel her heartbeat pounding against my chest. “So I learned to protect myself. Ipromisedthat I wouldn’t be that kid anymore. I’d never let myself be manipulated again.”
I feel my face softening. “I’m not trying to manipulate you, Briar,” I whisper. “I’m trying to keep yousafe.I just want you to be okay.”
She stares at me, breathing hard. Another bolt of lightning shatters through the room, lighting up her face bright white. Her eyes glow this pale, unreal blue, and they’re filled with raw, nakedfear.
“I won’t hurt you,” I promise. “Just trust me.”
“I’ll try,” she whispers. “I’ll try. It’s all I can do.”
The lightning fades and her face falls back into shadow. Slowly, far too slowly, I straighten, bringing my lips back to hers.
And then I move. My fingers tighten on her arse as I slam into her roughly. She screams, and I feel the building groan as thunder roils and smashes in the sky above us. Blood roars in my ears, deafening me. It only takes a few more thrusts before I feel her beginning to fall apart.
I press my open mouth to her sweaty neck and groan, low and desperate, as she starts to come.My hips shudder and thrust as I finally explode and unload inside her. The feeling is intoxicating. I practically black out. I can’t think. I can’t see. It’s all I can do to keep holding Briar up as she wraps herself around me, choking and shaking. It’s like I’m draining my soul into her.
Eventually, eventually, the glow starts to fade. When I open my eyes, Briar is shivering hard against me, her head buried in my chest.
“Down,” she gasps. “Before you drop me.”
Still inside her, I carry her to the bed. We flop down onto the sheets. For a minute or so, we both just lay there, panting, slick with sweat. Briar cuddles into my side, breathing me in like she’s huffing my scent.
I curve a hand against her cheek, tilting her face to mine. My thumb strokes her cheekbones as I assess her expression. “Alright?” I ask quietly.
She nods sleepily. I press my lips to her forehead, then gently pull out, sliding out of bed and walking awkwardly to the bathroom. I clean up and wash my hands, then turn to see Briar still sprawled over the pillows, staring unabashedly at my ass. I lean in the bathroom doorway, staring right back. “What now?” I ask.
She lifts the corner of the duvet. “Come back.”
“Yeah?” I can’t hold back my smile. I climb back under the sheets and wrap my arms around her again. “I never would have expected you to be so cuddly,” I murmur.
“I’ve literally been using Glen as a human teddy bear for the last week.”
“Does it help?”
She nods into my shoulder, and I pull her closer, my chest swelling. The sounds of LA filter through the window, filling the room with the muted sounds of car honks, sirens, and shouts.
She curls a bit of my hair around her finger. “What does it feel like? A flashback?”
Not this again. I give her a flat look.
She shrugs. “Sorry. I’m nosy. You don’t have to say.”
I press my lips together. I don’t really want to tell her, especially notnow.But she’s promised to trust me. It’s only fair that I trust her, as well. “They’re not all the same,” I say quietly. “Occasionally, I see things. Most of the time, I just feel the emotions I was feeling when it happened.”
She frowns. “What, like, you’re just having a conversation with someone, and then you suddenly feel like…” she trails off.
My stomach lurches. “Like I’m watching my teammate getting murdered in front of me. Yeah.” I kiss a freckle on her shoulder. “Thought I was going mental for a long time. At the beginning, it was… awful.”
“You’re not mental,” she says softly. “Unless being really goddamnannoyingis a new diagnosis.”
I snort, reaching out to touch her hair. “You should go sleep with the others.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” She pinches my hip. “You can’t delegate post-coital cuddling.”
