Chapter 26. His Panic

“Are you okay?”

His voice is quiet. Looking up at him, I can see the concern in his eyes. “Please don’t. Don’t worry every time you touch me or afterwards that you have hurt me like that. You never do and never have.”

I can’t stand the thought that now, at the back of his mind, he will be thinking of Max and wonder if what he is doing now hurts me.

“I will always be concerned, Alena, always. No matter what happens, I will be concerned. It isn’t a bad thing. I care about you so of course I will be concerned.”

I can, in a way, understand what he means.

“Okay, but don’t worry about me too much. I know the safe word, I know how to stop you and I know you will stop. I can’t stand the thought of you constantly worrying that you’re hurting me. That is one of the reasons I never spoke about it before.”

His hand stops stroking me. Turning, he looks at me. “No matter what, Alena, there will always be a part of me that wonders if I have hurt you. It is