Page 65 of Only for Him
Somehow, watching him hold my sister’s earrings in front of me is a deeper violation than him stripping me bare. My clothes he can take. My body he can touch. My dignity he can erase.
But Serena's memory belongs to me.
And me alone.
"Give them back to me." The words lunge from my throat.
"Tell me why first." His grip tightens.
My heart pounds against my ribs. Anger floods in, scalding everything else away: my fear and my need.
"Some secrets," I bite out. "You will never have."
To my surprise, he accepts that answer and releases me.
“Secrets,” he echoes.
Then, the hand holding the earrings reaches forward and tucks them into my back pocket. His palm burns me like a brand as he does.
Why doesn’t he press harder? Why do I want him to?
For a second, I wonder what this feels like to him. If he wants me, really wants me, or if I’m just something to crack apart and crawl inside for a while, then discard for something shiny and new.
Or does being around me feel like being in a vacuum, a place where logic and self-control go to die?
“Don’t part from them again if they mean so much to you,” he murmurs, almost gentle.
Almost.
The darkness doesn't fully recede.
But for a heartbeat, I feel not just seen, but understood.
It doesn’t last.
He leans in again, and his breath is hot against my face. I feel small under his gaze, pinned in place by the weight of his focus. My stomach twists, and I force myself to meet his eyes.
The air between us tightens like a noose.
My breasts are heavy and aching to be touched. Every atom in my body gravitates towards him, little bullets of ecstasy at all the places our skin touches. His fingers skim over my bare stomach, stopping at the waistband of my pants.
Then, just like he did with my blouse, he starts undoing the button.
I’m defiant but trembling.
Each second feels like a wide, blank expanse even though I know what he’s about to do.
“It doesn't matter if you keep your secrets now," he says, cold and calm, as he slowly starts to unwind the button from its hole. “You’ll tell me soon enough. There’s nothing you can hide from me, little viper. Nothing”
The promise sends a traitorous thrill through me. I hate how much I want him to know me.
"Except this."
"Whatever you say, little viper." The button pops free under his skilled fingers.
A whimpering breath escapes from my traitorous throat.
He’s doing far more than just undressing me physically. He’s peeling away every part of the lie that I’ve built up around myself. Until he shows me what I really am underneath it all.
