Page 129 of Let Me In

It feels like structure.

Like safety, in a shape I don’t fully know how to stand in yet.

I open my mouth. Close it again.

Then, smaller still—

“You really think I need it?”

His gaze doesn’t waver.

“I know you do,” he says. Quiet and unshakeable. “You broke a rule. One that protects you. And I know how easy it is to let the world convince you that your safety doesn’t matter.”

I blink hard.

“But it does, Emmy,” he murmurs. “You do.”

And that’s when the tears come.

Silent. Just two.

But they slide warm down my cheeks and he sees them—of course he does. He brushes one away with the back of his knuckle, so gently it steals the breath from my lungs.

“I’m not angry,” he says. “I’m not punishing.”

He leans in just enough that I feel his presence like a weight across my chest.

“I’m keeping you.”

And God—

I’ve never wanted to be kept more in my life.

He stands. Reaches out a hand.

“Come here.”

I hesitate. Just a breath.

Then I shake my head, shrinking smaller in the chair.

Because I know what a spanking means. Not just pain. Not just heat.

But being seen.

Exposed.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

I’ll be across his lap. My body bare. His hands on skin no one’s touched in years.

And I can’t pretend that doesn’t scare me.

I shift where I sit. Squirm, just a little.

It’s the anticipation thrumming under my skin, a slow current winding through me, tight and sparking with nerves. The weight of vulnerability pressing on my chest. My limbs feel too aware, every nerve lit up, waiting.

His gaze doesn’t harden. Doesn’t narrow. But I feel him watching. I feel himknow.

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