#Chapter 205: I Can Handle Any Pain

With our lovemaking finished, we lay together, naked and tangled on the floor. Neil’s flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. I’m on my side, tucked up against his chest, with his arm securely wrapped around my back. With a gentle, barely-there touch, I trace my finger along the path of one of the tendrils of poison marring his skin. “You could stay on,” he says again now. He’s said so many times during our lovemaking, but things said in the moment should not be listened to with any measure of sincerity. Things said afterwards, though… when the best part of the afterglow has worn off and things start getting sticky. That’s when the real truths are said. Forget everything that came before. This is the moment. “I can’t,” I say. “For a lot of reasons.” I lightly drag my finger back up the tendril toward the source. I don’t directly touch the wound now, but even hovering my finger a few centimeters away, I can feel the numbing buzz at my fingertips. “Not the least is this.” “If you w