Page 65 of Safe Word

I rolled my eyes, though my lips twitched upwards despite myself. ‘I’ll have that salad then, if only to see what enough means for you.’

My words were light, teasing, but as I glanced up, his expression shifted. His smirk faded into something deeper, something I couldn’t quite place. Offence? Amusement? No. There was something else, something that burned quietly in his gaze and sent a ripple of warmth skittering down my spine.

I looked back at my screen quickly, feigning nonchalance, but the moment lingered, a spark between us that neither acknowledged aloud.

I refocused on the text, deleting the last paragraph for the third time.

‘Can we go over the last highlight?’ I asked, keeping my voice steady, though the words felt oddly intimate between us.

Cain’s brows pulled together as he turned to the screen, and for a moment, my breath skipped. His focus was intense, jaw flexing as he read – as if he were trying to bend the passage to his will. I wasn’t sure what was worse: when he smiled like sin, or when he frowned like he was about to devour the world.

‘You mean the section before they have sex, or after?’ he asked without looking at me, his voice low.

That word on his tongue was criminal. Not crude or casual. Just… slow-motion, like he knew exactly what it did to women.

I clicked a fresh highlight in the shared document, forcing my thoughts back into the workspace.

‘Before,’ I said, tapping the line. ‘I think it veers too quickly into the physical. It’s too raw. We’re close to the climax – emotionally, I mean. We need a bit more restraint. Otherwise, it reads like their arc was just lust all along.’

Cain tilted back, folding his arms. The stretch of muscle beneath that damned fitted shirt distracted me for one beat too long.

‘Too raw?’ he asked, finally glancing at me. ‘I wrote it that way because they have been holding back for so long. It’s the breaking point. The release.’

I inhaled, held my breath, and let my eyes sweep over the passage again.

‘I get that,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘But they’re at a point where they are not just surrendering their bodies. They’re surrendering trust. That has to come first. Otherwise, it reads like sex solved it all.’

Cain’s eyes darkened. He studied me for a long beat, the silence thick enough to tighten around my throat.

‘Well,’ he started, voice quiet but with a rough undertone, ‘sometimes it does solve it all.’

Something in the way he said it felt far from rhetorical.

I let it churn for a heartbeat.

‘Only if what needs fixing is the loneliness,’ I said. ‘Not the damage that caused it.’

His chin inclined slightly, as if I’d touched something he hadn’t offered. But he didn’t look away.

‘You’re saying sex without context is empty.’

‘I’m saying,’ I replied, ‘it’s loud enough to drown everything else out. Which is why we have to be careful with it here. This isn’t about relief. It’s about recognition. One character is asking to be chosen – not just fucked.’

His jaw clenched at my crudeness and he exhaled through his nose, one hand dragging down his jaw slowly. Shit, I needed to rein in… well, myself.

This was exactly why I preferred working alone.

‘And that’s what makes it powerful,’ he murmured, more to himself than to me. ‘When something that raw becomes something that matters.’

I nodded. ‘Exactly. That’s why we need the emotion to land here. Otherwise, the physical part is just heat. It won’t stay with the reader after they close the page.’

Cain turned towards the monitor, but his attention wasn’t on the screen. I could feel it in the way his body stilled. The quiet that followed wasn’t discomfort. It was contemplation. But the sort that pressed closer than one wanted.

‘And look,’ I added, offering the last nudge, ‘once they actually let themselves feel, the sex will hit harder. Not just physically. Emotionally.’

Cain angled his head slightly, one brow rising with curiosity.

I met his gaze and continued – completely ignoring that flutter at the base of me. ‘They might even explore something darker. And because there’s trust now, it won’t just be pain or power. It’ll be pleasure because of the emotion behind it.’