Page 52 of The Masks We Burn

He shakes his head, ignoring my huff as he makes quick work of cleaning my entire body. “You can barely stand, bunny. Let me do this.”

And I do. I watch in almost a euphoric state as he washes us both. Here in this space, I don’t mind him taking care of me. I am tired and emotionally drained from the brunch, and really, I can’t think of anything better than being under his care right now.

So I let the butterflies soar, not worrying about the small dents in my armor or my exposed insecurities.

He’s got me, and for now, I’ll let him.

After we wash off, he steps out to grab some towels, and realization settles in, making my spent limbs tremble. For the first time in years, I don’t want to be done after this. He felt way too fucking good to even consider anyone else. I…

“What’s wrong?”

Will dries himself before wrapping the towel around his waist. Then he dries my feet as I step out on the mat. It feels like a natural thing, as though we’ve done it a thousand times, and that only exacerbates my fear, my stomach turning rock hard at my train of thought.

Sex didn’t alleviate the desire.

When I still haven’t answered him and he reaches my throat, he hooks my chin up to look at him. “Words, Mora.”

I can’t tell him everything, but I can tell him something. “I have never wanted to fuck anyone again so bad in my life.”

He smirks, handing me the towel. “That can be arranged.”

A swell of an emotion I want to shove back down expands in my chest and I chew on my lip. I wonder if this means he still feels everything like before, because I sure do. Hell, more so now. “Yeah?”

He nods, grabbing shorts from a bag I didn’t even realize was in the bathroom. “For sure. Maybe we can make another arrangement. Friends with benefits or something.”

Will winks but I play with the idea. That could work, though I wouldn’t call us friends. “More like enemies with benefits.”

This makes him chuckle that deep laugh of his, leaving me wet all over again. “Alright.”

I smile harder than I should, but it quickly dies when I see him put on shoes. Maybe I was wrong about that feeling.

He must notice whatever is written on my face and closes the small space between us, cupping my face. “I’m headed to training with one of your dad’s guys. I can come back tonight.”

I shake my head, embarrassment sweeping over at how quickly I felt… something I can’t put my finger on. “No, it’s okay. I need a day or two to recover anyway.”

It’s only half a joke. He’s well-endowed and I am definitely going to be feeling that shit later.

He caresses my cheek with his thumb, and I lean into it a little. “Well, we don’t have to have sex. I saw there’s a really big storm coming this evening. So I can just sit with you, watch some anime or whatever till you fall asleep.”

My head cocks to the side. “We’reenemieswith benefits.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, I know.”

Tell him yes.

I want to. I really fucking want to. But this has already turned into something flirting with the line of disaster, so I lie and shake my head. “I’ll be okay.”

He nods and grants me a soft kiss before releasing me. My heart sinks in my chest, wanting to tell him never mind. To please come and keep me company so I don’t ball myself up in bed and rock myself till the storm passes.

But I don’t. Instead, I wave goodbye and wish him fun at training.

Later that night, when the thunder rolls, rain pelting onto the windows while the wind wails outside, I slip into bed with Remy and regret not telling Will how badly I wanted him to come back.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ilike Amora...

Fuck.

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