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He bit his lip and lowered his eyes, taking ahat little connection we still had

And ut twisted

Okay Fine, you stubborn ass

I stood as gracefully as possible and laid it out firet past, Vik We were a tea And if you can’t talk toleft to talk about”

It felt like a cleanse It felt final But just as I turned to retrieve the box, his hand circledan expression I could only describe as pure agony, he tugged, and I stu sideways onto his lap Before I had a chance to process, his strong arhtly to him, and when he lowered his forehead tohis actions, as words had failed him so many ti in a way that toldcontrol, it caused severe dae to my heart and my head alike I reflexively snakedin his war myself in the intense cocoon of emotion he dared not display

To be held by Vik was nothing but natural

To hold him in return was sublime

My handshis nape, then the back of his head,shoulders I carefully observed the way he shuddered at ht then was unparalleled

Vik did not often need affection, but when he did, I gave it freely He only took as he needed A little at a tiripped it tightly, holding it with both hands It felt heavenly to be needed by him, even for a moment

His lips ski, just gliding, whisper-soft againstbreath in My eyes fluttered closed

Right then, if he iven myself to him, held him in my body, and offered myself up as a sacrifice on the altar of his pain

Then, without a single care for his injuries, he stood, taking me with him, and I melted into his arms My eyes held his as he lowered me carefully into the center ofin the way he stood, peering down at e to memory And when he slid in beside me in an almost feline manner, my body ached in anticipation As he shuffled in close, I stopped breathing

With his body flush against mine, he whispered into the dark, “Put your arms around me”

In the lifetime I had known him, in over twenty-five years, I had never heard Vik make such a vulnerable request