Page 86 of Every Shattered Note
My entire body locks up, pleasure detonating behind my eyes as I spill into her with a broken, guttural sound.Her hands hold me steady, keeping me there as her mouth stays on me, swallowing every last drop like she wants it.Like she’s proud of it.
I stare down at her, completely undone, chest rising like I’ve run a goddamn marathon.I’ve never felt anything like this.Never been taken apart so slowly and so completely.
She pulls back, wipes the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, and gives me this smug, sleepy smile that nearly makes me hard again.
“You okay?”she teases, voice husky and proud.
I let out a low, wrecked laugh, dragging her up into my arms and kissing her like she just broke me and made me whole in the same breath.Nothing will break this.Nothing
But of course, I’m wrong.The landline rings—harsh, shrill, too loud for a morning like this.It slices through the stillness, dragging me back to reality one ring at a time.
I don’t want to, but I reach for the receiver.
“Yeah?”My voice is still thick, rough from what I’ve just experienced.
A beat of silence.Then—“Dex?”
I recognize Eddie’s voice right away.It’s not hard.This is the voice that dragged me through detox.The guy who never calls before noon unless something’s on fire.
“Hey,” I murmur, trying to keep my tone light.“You know what time it is?”
He exhales hard.“You sitting down?”
That’s when my stomach drops.
“Eddie, I can’t right now.”
“Sorry, Dex.You need to come back now.”
ChapterThirty-Three
Dexter
The moment I hear the words—“Sorry, Dex.You need to come back now.”—something inside me snaps taut.
Not inconvenient-bad.
Not gossip-column-bad.
This is so fucking bad it’s already unraveling me.
That voice—Eddie’s voice—crackles in my ear like static.But it isn’t the phone.It’s me.My mind already miles ahead, the air closing in.My grip on the receiver tightens as if I can physically brace myself.
Aly props herself on an elbow, eyes half-lidded, curious.She’s glowing—skin flushed.The sight of her makes my chest tighten.She looks peaceful, and for a second, I wish I could freeze time.Keep her right here, untouched by whatever’s waiting on the other end of this call.
There’s something so calm about her expression, so open.And it guts me.
She has no idea.No warning.She’s just here—soft and beautiful and entirely unaware that something is about to detonate.
I want to press pause.Just this once.I want to bottle this exact moment and keep it somewhere safe.Aly, looking up at me like I might be worth something.
Instead, the pit in my stomach hollows deeper.My chest threatens to cave in.
Maybe someone got a picture of us.Maybe this is about the wrong people finding out.It wouldn’t be the first time.But it’s not that possibility that terrifies me—it’s the fallout she doesn’t deserve.What happens to her if my past claws its way to the surface?
She’s not built for scandal.She’s not a storyline in aNational Paparazziheadline or a name to trend for the wrong reasons.She’s not like the others—they never really looked at me.Not me.Just the version they could use.
But Aly?She’s the only one who’s ever seen the part of me that might still be salvageable.
