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“And you’ll be a good boy?” Will finally asks me.

“I can be. I have what I need now. I have you.”

Half his mouth raises in a smile. “Really? Almost sounds as if you’ve fallen in love.”

“You tripped me.” And I shine a smile up at him.

Will pulls me closer for a kiss that I sigh right into like easing into warm water. Self-preservation is hard. Sometimes difficult choices must be made. Even stupid ones.

Trusting Will is not smart. But he finally has what he’s always wanted: someone who’s completely and irreversibly dependent on him. He treasures that too much to throw it away. And we both know it.

He owns me so completely, I more than want him in return. Ineedhim. Which means he gets to be the only thing that comes close to how much I care about myself. Without him, there is no me.

The End