She was torturing him and he couldn’t even blame her for it. He also couldn’t stop himself from wanting it. Or accepting it. He might have been strong in some or even most instances, but she was his weakness and always had been. But it was a weakness he could live with if it meant she was still in his life.

“You’re assuming I could stop you,” he answered with a bit of a smile. “You always manage to get your way and I always let you.”

He supposed that it would be a powerful incentive to work up the courage to tell her everything that had happened. If he kept having almost what he wanted but never quite enough, he’d want either more or an end to it, either way.

“But yes. It’s okay. I know what I’m putting you through isn’t easy and I wish there were a better way.”

He took a deep breath. “But why don’t we sit down and you tell me everything you’ve been through since you got here?”