Page 63 of Pretty Little Shadow
"I wanted an unbiased source."
"Allof these people are biased. Against me, and against you."
"Then I wanted an outside view. It was interesting. I actually feel better now."
"How could you possibly feel better after reading all this shit?"
"I didn't know you before. Now I can tell you're different with me."
"Of course I'm different with you. You're my mate. I'malivewith you."
"Right. But I didn't know most of the details. Now, I do."
"You know other people's version of the details. Not mine. Not yours, either."
He set my phone down, either reaching the end of my binge-search or just deciding he'd seen enough. When he lifted his arm from around me, I turned on his lap, tugging the blanket away so more of my skin could touch his.
He was shirtless, wearing just a pair of cargo-style joggers, and his hair was a wreck.
I put my hands on his chest. "Okay. Tell me your version."
He looked a little… flustered.
I liked it.
"I was just trying to survive. Sex was a distraction from everything else. It wasn't always enjoyable. It took a long time for me to get off, with the apathy. There were times I didn't at all."
"And it's not like that with me." I knew it wasn't. He'd nearly come all over my face before I gave him a blowjob, and he lost it three times when he was teaching me how to jerk him off.
"Fuck, no." He rubbed the back of his neck, still looking slightly flustered. "I'm going to tell you something that you can't tell anyone.Anyone. Not Grayson. Not Merrily. Not the fucking internet. Not even your gaming friends, and I know you use a voice changer."
"You've officially summarized every living creature I ever come in contact with. I get it."
"I… got off. When we were on the roof, and you were riding my hand. I'd never felt pleasure like that. I was so desensitized to everything. Iamso desensitized to everything, when I'm not touching you."
A possessive sort of satisfaction curled in my stomach. "That's actually kind of flattering."
Darius slipped his fingers into my tangled hair and tipped my head back. "Ignore the internet, Rae. What we are is up to us. No one else gets a say."
"Alright. You shouldn't have put Callum in a holding cell just for talking to me, though."
He tipped my head back further and kissed me lightly. "He meddled. That had already been set as the consequence. I let him out after a couple hours. Who told you?"
"You should've."
"I bet it was Grayson. And Mer told him, after talking to Liv or Kat."
"I don't know. I didn't ask." I leaned in closer, pressing my forehead to his throat. "How long do we have until you need to leave?"
"I'll call in sick. We can spend the morning in bed, cuddling."
I made a noise of disagreement. "You still need a life outside me."
"I'm not leaving you alone after you spent twelve hours researching my past sex life and reading shitty comments about yourself."
I bumped the side of his throat with my nose. "Let me bite you, and I'll be fine."
"You don't need to ask. We could be in the middle of a huge fight and my blood would still be fair game."
