Page 175 of The Obedient Lie
Full of them. Of everything they gave me.
Of everything I let them take.
Bastion’s hand never stopped moving. He brushed his knuckles down the back of my neck, over my spine, his thumb trailing soft circles at the base.Gentle. Unspoken.Like he was grounding himself with my skin.
Luca’s fingers traced light patterns along the outside of my thigh — barely-there touches that made me feel like glass.Fragile and precious.
No one spoke.
Not because there was nothing to say.
But because none of us wanted to break the quiet yet.
This was the part that hurt the most before.
When it ended too fast.
When I had to pull myself away and pretend like it hadn’t mattered.
But they weren’t letting go.
Bastion kissed the top of my spine. “You okay?”
I nodded, still against Luca’s chest.
“Talk to us, baby,” Luca murmured. “We need to know.”
I lifted my head slowly. “I’m… good. That was…”
They both waited.
“That waseverything,” I whispered.
Bastion’s eyes closed for a moment, like he needed the words to settle in.
Luca kissed my forehead. “We needed to show you.”
“You didn’t have to prove anything.”
“We weren’t proving something,” Bastion said softly. “We were claiming what’s already ours.”
I smiled faintly. “You always say that.”
“Because it’s always true.”
I sat up slowly, my muscles still trembling slightly.
Luca reached out to steady me, and I let him.
“Hey,” Bastion said gently, tipping my chin up. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I am,” I said honestly. “Just… trying to come back to earth.”
Luca ran a hand down my back, a little firmer now. “Then let us bring you back.”
He shifted me into his lap, so I was straddling him now, my head tucked beneath his jaw.
Bastion moved behind me, pressing his chest to my back, arms folding around my waist.
