Page 145 of Reverie

But even then, there was a spark ofsomethingthat blazed between us. I could see it in her eyes. There was still hope because she cared. She cared too much.

Now as I stare at her, all I feel is coldness, and that makes me want to sink into the cargo hold.

“What do you mean, Sunbeam? I only want you as you are. Your presence next to me is all that I need.”

I pour the truth of my heart out to her, praying she’ll absorb the words and come back to me.

But when she’s silent again, still looking at my feet, I take a step forward.

She tightens her hands over her arms and takes a step back.

“I don’t know who you are, Hunter.”

My voice is hoarse when I speak. “What do you mean? Are you talking about the flight attendant? She was before you, and I promise you’ll never have to see her again.”

“Oh, so you did fuck her? I’m not making that up in my brain?” Her delivery is flat.

I press my lips together and shake my head. “It was before you. I don’t want her at all. She doesn’t begin to compare to you.”

She sniffs, raising her nose and unfurling her arms as she spins toward the nightstand. She lifts her iPad, tapping on it for a few seconds before squaring her shoulders and reading the screen out loud.

“‘Abuse and betrayal: Former lovers expose Hunter Brigham's cruelty,’” she says, reading as if she were reciting the morning announcements. “‘Hunter Brigham is a complex man,’ UK pop darling Missy Que says in an exclusive statement toThe Eagle.‘But if there’s one thing that’s simple about H, it’s that he needs to control everything around him—including his women. Especially his women.’”

When the plane banks to the side, I stumble more than I usually would, taken off guard by her words.

“Let me see that,” I say, and she hands the tablet over wordlessly.

Still, she recites from memory: “‘Hunter craves control. He needs it like he needs air. So with his submissives, he’s not a loving, careful Dom. He’s the definition of a sadist and a violent abuser.’”

I take a deep breath, ready for my entire world to spiral out of control as I read the article. I have to hand it to The Legion: it’s damning. I look like a monster in this, and it’s clear how they plan to setup my fall for Blair’s murder. When the storydoesdrop that Blair is dead, the court of public opinion will already be poisoned against me.

Not all of my sexual experiences explored the edges of kink. I could clock it easily when a woman was down to allow me to be rough. The ones who weren’t into it left unharmed after receiving a few excellent orgasms and the right to say they fucked Hunter Brigham. But the ones who were inclined to let me do what I wanted to them…they helped get me back to center when the world stopped making sense and my control started to slip from my grasp.

Any sexual interaction I’ve ever had with a woman began with theirenthusiasticconsent.

But the article isn’t too far off the mark.

“I know how it looks, Sunbeam. Especially with what I did to you the last time we were together—but I can assure you, what these women are saying is totally spun the wrong way. It’s not even like that.”

She makes a delicate sound in her throat. “What’s it like then?”

I open my mouth, only to close it. She continues in my silence.

“What do you want? Does it make you happy to mark the women you sleep with up? To make them bleed?” Her eyes drill into me. “Do you need this, Hunter?”

The plane banks to the side again, and when she loses her footing, I can’t resist grabbing her arm to steady her. She jerks away from me and places her hand over her stomach. Over our child.

“Sunbeam, I don’t need that stuff. Not anymore. I’m disgusted with myself at what happened that night. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you.”

“You don’t need that stuff anymore?” she says with her eyebrow raised.

“No,” I say emphatically. “Before you, I…I didn’t have tools to cope with what I’ve done. I didn’t know how to cope with what has been done to me,” I say, trying to swallow, but my mouth feels coated with sand.

She tilts her head to the side.

“I don’t believe you, Hunter Brigham.”

We stare at each other and her face is unreadable.