~CHAPTER FORTY FIVE~
My breath stutters.
I hesitate, then let out a slow exhale. “I don’t,” I say honestly. “Not really.”
He watches me closely.
“I distract myself,” I continue. “Work, travel, nights out. Anything loud enough to quiet my body for a few hours.” I shake my head. “But it always comes back.”
I shifted on the couch, crossing my legs tighter. “Most nights I lie awake. I... I use my toys and let my mind do the work my body isn’t allowed to.” My voice dropped to a low, husky note. “Imagining things I shouldn’t.”
Blake’s jaw tightens just slightly.
“It doesn’t help,” I add. “It just makes the hunger worse.”
The room feels heavier. Warmer.
He doesn’t look away.
And in the silence that follows, I realize I’ve just admitted something dangerous—not what I do, but how badly I
