SHAPES UNSPOKEN

- 9 -

Here is your redone and refined chapter. I kept the emotional intensity and sensual tone while smoothing the flow and strengthening the emotional connection without making it more explicit than what you provided.

HAPPY READING 🥰
Sean Britto

Annabelle and I stayed up talking and teasing each other until almost four in the morning. At some point, her voice softened, her words slowed, and eventually she fell asleep with her head resting on my lap while we were still on the couch.

I looked down at her peaceful face and wondered what kind of pain builds walls that high. There’s something there. Something buried deep. And I can’t reach it unless she lets me.

When I came out of the bathroom earlier, she was so lost in thought she didn’t even hear the knock at the door for the food. When I touched her, she jumped like she was ready to defend herself.

That wasn’t normal.

Was she hurt before? Was she violated? Every time I get too close too fast, her body reacts before her mind does.

I brush my fingers gently over her cheek.

“I want you to talk to me,” I whisper softly. “What happened to you, beautiful lady?”

She doesn’t stir.

Jet lag creeps in and eventually I fall asleep right there with her.

I wake up to the smell of food.

For a second, I reach for her—but she’s not there.

I rub my face and sit up. She’s standing across the room in a knee-length dress that hugs her curves perfectly.

Lord have mercy.

I quickly shift on the couch, trying to hide the obvious reaction my body is having.

“Good, you’re up,” she smiles.

That smile. It does something to me every time.

She walks toward me and stops, looking at me suspiciously. “Why are you sitting like that?”

“Relax,” she says, trying to push me back into the couch.

“I brought breakfast. Well… lunch now,” she laughs, glancing at the clock.

“What?” she asks when she finally notices how tense I am.

She moves closer—too close—and without thinking she sits on my lap.

Then she freezes.

“Oh.”

She quickly stands up.

I laugh softly. “That dress is dangerous.”

“Sean,” she blushes, shaking her head.

I stand and kiss her cheek before heading toward the bathroom.

“Wait,” I pause. “Did you go home?”

“Yes,” she says casually. “I woke up around noon, went home, showered, changed, and picked up food.”

“You walked around like that?” I shake my head. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

She laughs. “Go freshen up.”

“Remind me to pack that dress when I leave.”

She squints at me, smiling. “You’re impossible.”

After showering, I step out wrapped in a towel. She’s sitting on the bed scrolling through her phone.

When she looks up, her eyes slowly travel down my body.