"You still with me?" he murmured.
Blinking at the ceiling, I swallowed hard. "I—I can't believe we just did that. Can't believeIjust did that."
"There's no shame in it. That was... fucking incredible."
His voice was lower now, the heat gone now, replaced by something softer. Something closer to awe.
"I could hear everything," he added. "Every breath. Every sound you made. I could practically feel you under me."
I closed my eyes, my heart thudding in a slow, heavy rhythm.
"You okay?" he asked, quieter now.
"Yeah," I said. But my voice cracked on the word.
There was another pause.
"Baby?"
"Yeah," I repeated, clearing my throat. "I'm okay. Just... I don't know. That was intense."
"It was."
Silence stretched again, until he broke it with something that nearly unraveled me all over again.
"I keep wishing I knew what you looked like, knew your name at least."
Oh, no. I hadn't at all been prepared for him to go there.
"I mean... I know your body," he said quickly. "Better than I probably should. And I've imagined your full face without the mask, your eyes. But I don'treallyknow. I just keep thinking... if I saw you in real life, would I know it was you?"
My throat tightened. "Maybe."
"I'd like to think I would. That there's something in me that would justknow."
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
His voice softened. "You don't have to tell me. Not yet. I'm just being honest. I want to know you more than anything else in this world. And I don't want this thing happening between us to ever end."
God. How was he making this harder?
"Tristan," I said, totally thrown off balance and wondering how I'd let this happen. "I've never done anything like this before, and I'm, well, quite frankly, not sure, well, um..."
"Me neither," he interrupted, putting me out of my misery. "I've never had a moment like that with anyone else. Never."
In the silence that followed, I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting against my heart that was being pulled in two different directions, one toward revenge, the other toward something I couldn't name.
"I should probably go," I finally said. "I really need some sleep."
"Okay. I understand. But one thing before you hang up..."
"Yeah?"
"Besides our first time together, this night, this experience we just had together, was the best time of my life."
Oh, my God. That was exactly what I wanted to hear, right?
"Goodnight, baby," he said, not waiting for a reply. "I'll call you tomorrow. Get some rest."
