Page 154 of Safe Word

I kept my eyes on her – pale, adrenaline-drained, looking smaller. Fragile.

Staying close to her side, I dared not touch her, but I kept near enough that she would know I wasn’t going anywhere.

The drive to my penthouse was silent, neither of us speaking, both lost in our own thoughts. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It was the kind that gave space to breathe, to process everything that had happened.

I knew the drill, though. I kept glancing at her out of the corner of my eye as she kept her gaze fixed out the window. She looked exhausted, but there was something else too, something I felt deep in my gut. We were on the edge of something, something big, and it scared the hell out of me how much I wanted to take the leap.

When we got inside, I guided her to the guest room. As she stepped inside, she stopped at the threshold and thanked me weakly, then closed the door behind her.

I knew this stage of the aftermath. She was still in shock.

I rested my forehead against the wood.

She needed this time to herself, I told myself. She needed to rest so she could let me in again.

I didn’t see her again that morning.

After icing my knuckles, I managed to slap some greens into a bun – the saddest sandwich I’d ever made. I hoped she’d be well enough to mock me for it later.

Leaving the tray in front of her door, I knocked and announced her breakfast was there with the softest, most careful tone my rugged voice could muster.

I hadn’t slept at all, and the sun was already breaking over the sky.

Hours later, long after the city outside had bloomed to life, I went to check on her, thankful I was so high up in the building that the traffic wouldn’t wake her.

The sandwich still sat there. Not even the water had been touched. My heart stumbled against something sharp.

I knocked, eased the door open. She was curled on the bed in the same clothes, the pillow gripped tight against her chest – damp with tears.

She looked so small, and it killed me that I hadn’t been there sooner to stop everything.

Then she screamed.

The sound ripped through me like shrapnel, and I lunged forward before my thoughts engaged. In seconds, I was at her side, pulling her into my arms, her body shaking against mine.

She was trapped in a nightmare, breaths ragged. I murmured her name, over and over, voice low, steady. Grounding her.

Her sobs quieted gradually, tapering off into soft, uneven breaths.

Phase two was nearly over.

Melting into me, her weight felt soft against my chest as the last tremors faded.

I shifted, gently, to ease her position. But the second I moved, she stirred.

She murmured something and clung tighter, burrowing closer.

My entire body tensed.

Tucking her head beneath my chin, she sighed as her face nuzzled into my neck. Then, to my utter fucking horror – her leg swung over mine, her knee pinning me down.

Oh… shit.

I stared up at the ceiling, every inch of me reacting like a fucking virgin. My heart thundered. She was tangled around me, half-asleep, and I was trapped in the most compromising position I’d ever been in without a safe word.

I tried moving again, just a little, but she murmured a faint protest and hugged me tighter, her arm looping higher around my chest in a drowsy claim. Her breath was warm against my collarbone, but I couldn’t tell if she was fully asleep or teetering on the edge. Either way, she wasn’t letting go.

‘Paula,’ I whispered, careful not to wake her completely. ‘You’re kind of… making this difficult.’