A/N I'm a bit short on time, so my reviewer responses will be short, sorry guys! Welcome new readers, make sure you follow, favorite, and leave a review if you've enjoyed the story so far. Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited since the last chapter!

Msgemgem: There's no way she'd allow a school nurse to remove a bullet, especially from herself! She has made references to Daryl before, when Negan first caught her and wanted to know where she'd learned her survival skills. But, will Negan realize who Daryl is when he finally makes his appearance ;)

Bamby0304: You can't rush the good stuff, but don't worry, they'll get there ;) Bud won't make a move on her, but that's not to say someone else won't be that stupid. I like Bud too much to iron him and scare him away from Crimson. She needs a good friend. And I was a pre-vet biology major before I realized relocating to vet school wasn't feasible. And I worked for a vet for a while, and own a small farm with rescue animals, so I have just enough medical knowledge to get myself into trouble, haha!

Whenthewindblows95: Wow, thank you so much! And thank you for reviewing! It makes me a little sad to see how many hits chapters get and that only a few readers actually review. I love to hear what readers think.

NIGHTSCREAM: Welcome and thanks for reading! Apparently you were reading my mind as I was writing this, which you'll see shortly ;)

Icec: Welcome! Good to hear you had to read it all in one sitting! I'm glad you like my Negan. I hope you keep reading!

Lalilou10, EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester, Charlene Clark, celia azul, CLTex, KEZZ 1, MistahJs Kitten: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you all enjoy the new chapter

Crimson slowly sat up in bed. She had no idea how long she'd been asleep. Nancy must have given her the good stuff. She was light headed and dizzy like she had a hang-over and if she'd dreamt at all, she couldn't remember any of it. When her movement was restricted, she realized her left arm was comfortably but tightly bound in a sling. She'd have to thank Nancy for that later, she hadn't even thought to tell the nurse to give her one. She glanced down to see someone had changed her into a white t-shirt and pair of boxers that were several sizes too large. She brought her good hand up to her forehead to rub her temple in a feeble attempt to relieve the pressure. It didn't take long for her bladder to let her know she needed to make a trip to the bathroom.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed before she heard Negan.

"Woah there baby doll, where the fuck do you think you're going?" She turned to the direction of his voice and saw him standing up from an oversized recliner in the corner of his bedroom. There was a blanket slung across the back of it. She didn't remember seeing it there the day before. Or what she assumed was the day before, she may have slept for a while.

"I need to use the bathroom. How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"About 16 hours. It's 7am. I'll help you."

"I don't need your help. I was shot in the shoulder, not my leg." She went to stand a little too fast and stumbled. Negan's hand gentle caught her arm to steady her.

"You lost a hell of a lot a blood. You won't be walking around by yourself for a few days. You're gonna be staying in the hotel Negan until I know you can take care of yourself. And before you start screaming and slapping me again, I slept in that god damn chair last night instead of my own fucking bed. Talk about some service. Nancy changed you into clean clothes in my office before I brought you in and yes I turned my back while she did."

"Being a gentleman when I'm so weak and needy right now? Isn't this the perfect opportunity to take advantage of me?"

"I don't take advantage of shit when it comes to women. Thought you would have realized what a stand-up guy I am by now. Besides, you look like shit."

Crimson's eyes snapped up to his, her jaw dropped slightly at his insult. "Screw you." She yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"Lighten up, I'm just fucking with you. You're still super hot, even when you're all pale and sickly. You've got that goth chick thing going on right now. Come on, bathroom's over here." He took her arm again and she found that she did actually need him to help her walk. She hadn't seen Negan's bathroom before. It looked like a large storage closet that had been converted, the exposed piping was a dead giveaway. There was a large white marble tiled shower, big enough for at least 4 people that was a few inches off of the floor, probably for the drainage system. It had a bench to sit on, the large rain type shower head hung from the ceiling, and it was missing a shower curtain. There was a toilet, also raised a few inches off of the floor, and a large sink with a cabinet and mirror.

Negan stepped into the bathroom with her.

"What are you doing?"

"Will you fucking relax? I'm just going to walk you over to the toilet then I'll leave." He did exactly as he said, leaving her leaning against the wall next to the toilet, shutting the door behind himself. It only took her a minute to relieve herself. She used the wall to walk herself to the sink and wash her hands, face, and neck. She really needed a shower, but she knew she couldn't manage that on her own yet and she didn't want anyone, not even Nancy, helping her with that. She was drying her face when Negan opened the door, without knocking.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" she snapped at him.

"It's my fucking bathroom," he answered. "I rushed you back to Sanctuary, provided you with the supplies to pull off some MacGyver shit and operate on yourself, and let you sleep comfortably in my bed, without me. And, not only do I not get the simple fucking thank you I'm due, you're snapping at me like I'm some asshole."

Crimson was quiet for a moment. He was right. He might be crude, but he'd done far more for her than he had to. Far more than what he would have done for anyone else. She was angry at herself and while she may not have been happy with his actions the night before, he didn't deserve to have her self-anger taken out on him.

"I'm sorry. I'm just tired, and in a lot of pain. Thank you. You probably saved my life." Negan helped her back into his bedroom and into bed.

"Yeah, I did. That prick took a second shot when you were on the ground, before I could move you to cover. Tommy took it, right in his head. He was covering me while I covered you." She pulled the thick comforter around her waist and used her good hand to adjust the pillow behind her so she could sit up comfortably.

"What happened? I don't remember much. Did you catch the shooter?"

Negan took a seat on the recliner. "Of course I caught the fucking shooter, and the couple of guys that were with him. Simon found him in one of the buildings, up on the roof. Just some dumb shit who was holing up by the exchange site. He saw the exchange from a few weeks ago and thought he could scare everyone away and make off with my supplies. He took the first shot at you. That damn red hair makes you stand out in a crowd. He took the second shot at Tommy. After that, everyone was behind cover."

"Is he dead?"

"Tommy, yeah. The prick with the rifle? No. I'm gonna make an example out of him, put on a real good show." Negan grinned like just the thought of it was enjoyable. "Lucille ain't the only one calling for blood after he shot our doctor and killed Tommy."

"When is that happening?"

"Once you're feeling better. Everyone needs to be there." A firm knock on the bedroom door ended the conversation. "You better have a damn good excuse for coming into my office and knocking on my bedroom door," Negan growled.

"Just bringing up a meal for you and the Doc," Crimson heard Bud's voice behind the door. "In case she's awake. I left it on your desk." She heard the loud thumps of his boots as he walked away.

"Why didn't he bring it in?"

"I already told you, no one comes into my bedroom."

"Except me?"

"You're something special." Negan walked over to the door. "Let's see if Bud brought us anything good, or if I'm going to hand him his ass on that platter for entering my office without permission."

"Leave him alone, he was just trying to do something nice." Negan paused at her words, and turned around, his hand slipping off of the door handle he'd been ready to turn.

"You sweet on him?" Negan wore his usual smirk, but his eyes were dangerous and his voice was deadly low. "I know you've eaten breakfast with him, you rode in his truck yesterday. After you took that hit, he was already running to get the van before I told him too."

"No!" she exclaimed. "God, no! Nothing like that."

"You sure? I'd bet he's thought about how sweet it'd be between those beautiful thighs of yourself, just like I have."

"Don't be disgusting! I just think he's a very nice man. I had a teacher once, that helped me a lot when I was struggling with social issues in school. Skipping grades as often as most kids skipped school lead to some problems. Bud reminds me a lot of that teacher, that's all. He's been very kind to me."

Negan seemed satisfied with her answer. He brought their breakfast in. Greg had whipped up some cheese omelets and hash browns. Crimson hadn't known how hungry she was until her mouth watered and her stomach growled at the smell. Bud had even brought a small lap tray so she could eat in bed. It was a bit awkward to eat with one arm wrapped so tightly in a sling. Balancing without being able to move both arms was difficult. She couldn't use both the fork and knife provided, so she used her fork to cut the omelet into bite sized pieces. At this moment, she was incredibly thankful it was her left shoulder that took the bullet so she still had full use of her dominant right hand. Learning to be ambidextrous wasn't high on her list of priorities.

Breakfast was wonderful, especially the small glass of ice cold milk. Eggs had been a staple item of her daily breakfasts in life before. Sanctuary had so many luxuries Crimson hadn't even dreamed she'd have again. Hot showers, a comfortable bed locked safely behind layers of security, electricity, medical facilities, clean clothes, an abundance of books, fresh bread, eggs, butter, cheese, milk, and the beginnings of friendship with some of the Saviors and workers.

"I've got shit to do today. Nancy needs to change that bandage and help you get cleaned up. I know there are a few people that would like to say hi, see that you're still alive. I'm gonna help you relocate to the couch in my office. I had it brought in for you. Got a small TV set up out there too so you can put on some movies, read books, whatever."

She gave him a small smile and a nod. He tosses his plate onto her lap tray before he carried it out to his desk. She was already standing when he returned to the bedroom to help her to the couch. He closed the bedroom door after they exited. The couch was an antique style, with light gray upholstery and gilded trim. It didn't look very comfortable, but a pile of pillows and blankets were waiting on the couch for her. The coffee table was pulled up next to it so the TV, DVD player, water glass, bag of potato chips, walkie radio, and stack of books were all within reach of her good arm when she was laying down. She quickly settled in to a comfortable spot, Negan helped her arrange the pillows behind her and covered her with one of the blankets.

"The radio is set to channel 12. Bud, Simon, and me all have a radio on 12. If you need something important, like you tear a stitch, start feeling really sick, someone has a death wish and starts bothering you, anything like that, you radio ASAP, but don't fuck around. Sherry will be coming round for little shit, like refilling your water or getting you a new book. I'll be back in the afternoon to help you to the bathroom. Everyone else already knows this, but no one goes into my fucking bedroom. If you need the bathroom before then, Sherry will help you down the hall. Fat Joey is on guard by the elevator. He's probably stuffing his fat fucking face with a Twinkie, but he'll be keeping an eye on who's coming and going. Normally I'd keep the office door locked but people need to get in and out while you need assistance."

"You have Twinkies here?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, you want some? I think they're gross as shit but I can get you one."

"Thank you, but no, I don't like them either, just surprised you actually have them," She said quietly. "I'll be back on my feet on a few days, then I'll be out of your hair and won't be inconveniencing everyone."

"You're not inconveniencing anyone. They do what the fuck I say. You forget that I own this place and everyone in it?"

"No," She answered. "You make that minor detail hard to forget."

"What kinda movies you like?" He asked. "I'll have someone bring some up."

"I like fantasy and sci-fi the most."

"Like that Star Trek nerd shit?" He laughed at her.

"Star Trek was TV shows. Star Wars were movies, my favorite ones, actually."

"Never seen 'em, probably because I got a real pair of balls."

"Watch them with me some time, you might like them."

"Doubt that, but you got yourself a date. We can fuck around on the couch while it's on. That'll keep me interested." He grinned at her. When she gave him a look saying she was not pleased, he threw his hands up. "I'm just kidding. Maybe. I'll see you in a few hours. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." He grabbed Lucille, swinging her to rest over his shoulder and swaggered out the door.

Crimson flipped through the stack of movies on the coffee table. Godfather, Rocky, season 1 of Game of Thrones. Nothing caught her eye. The first movie watched after the end of the world should be special, so she grabbed a book instead. He'd left Stephan King's The Stand for her. She knew that would take a few days to get through so she started in on losing herself in a completely different post apocalyptic world.

There was a swift knock on the door before it swung open. Bud's smiling face greeted her as it opened.

"Hey Doc!" he said. "It's good to see you awake. How you feeling?"

"Shoulder hurts like hell, but I'm alive so I'm not complaining." She gave him a reassuring smile. It was nice to see his friendly face after Negan. She was always on edge with Negan. The tension that filled the room with him wasn't there with Bud. She relaxed back into her wall of pillows.

"I'm just here to drop off these." He set a stack of DVDs on the table. A few Star Wars titles and Firefly caught her eye. "And take your plates down to the kitchen. Errand boy isn't usually my duty, but I wanted to say hi. You gave us quiet the scare yesterday."

"Well, now that I know you'll worry, I'll make sure I don't get shot on the next pick up."

"Usually we don't have problems on pickups. Seems you attract some trouble. Might be better for you to stay behind for a while, least till you're all healed up."

She twirled a piece of her hair around her finger and pointed it at Bud. "Red head, remember? Didn't anyone teach you red means danger? I'm nothing but trouble." She laughed.

"You just might be Doc. I see you got a radio. I got this one on 12 in case you need something." He gestured to one of the two radios clipped to his belt. "I'll be round Sanctuary all day today."

"Thanks Bud. You're a good friend."

He gave her a nod before he took the tray and left. She lost herself in the book again, not paying much attention to the time passing. A few people stopped in to say hi, just like Negan had said. Claire, Jerry's wife, was the first. She'd heard Crimson was a reader, so she brought a couple of books. Crimson asked how Jerry was doing, and Claire informed her that it was healing very well, Nancy said he'd be ready to start learning to use crutches soon.

Jason stopped in shortly after Claire left.

"Hey, good to see you up!" he greeted her with a goofy but charming smile.

"Thanks, I'm glad to be up."

"If you promise to stop getting shot so I can get it back soon, I brought my iPod for you to use. Nancy said you'd probably be on bed rest for a couple of days." He set the iPod, complete with a set of headphones, on the table. She wasn't good at just sitting around, so anything that made the time fly by was fine with her.

"Thanks. I'll try to not make a habit out of being someone's target practice." They both laughed.

"We're all hoping to see you back on your feet soon. See you 'round."

It was a while before anyone else came. When her stomach growled, she grabbed the bag of chips and dug in. Sanctuary was already making her weak. Out on her own, her stomach never made a noise. Hunger was just a part of living and her body had adjusted to it. Here, where she had at least 2 full meals a day, her body was expecting nutrition in a timely manner.

There was a soft knock on the door. Crimson called for the person to come in. Nancy stepped in, with Sherry following behind her.

"Afternoon ma'am," Nancy said. "It's time to change your bandage."

"Thank you Nancy," Crimson replied. "Good afternoon Sherry."

"I thought you might need some help with the bandage change. And it's lunch time, so if you need something after this, let me know."

The bandage change didn't take long. Lifting her arm up to get the shirt on and off took longer than the actual bandage change and wound cleaning. So far it was healing nicely, no redness, heat, or swelling. Nancy had brought up a bottle of Amoxicillin, 875mg pills so she only needed to take it twice a day. She'd also brought a small bottle of Vicodin, but Crimson left that alone.

While Nancy was working on her, she inquired about Jerry, if he was doing as well as Claire had said. Crimson wasn't one to let someone else treat her patients, but she didn't have much of a choice at the moment. Once her shirt was back on, she used the last swig of water to swallow the horse pill. Nancy excused herself, letting Crimson know she'd be back at the same time tomorrow for another bandage change. Crimson took the first move to break the awkward silence between herself and Sherry.

"Thanks for your help," Crimson said.

"You're welcome. I'll get you another glass of water. Did you need anything else?"

"No, I had that bag of chips for lunch. I'll be fine until dinner time." Crimson pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, debating her words for a moment before she spoke again. "Look, I can tell you don't really like me. I'm really not trying to step into your territory. As soon as I can get around on my own, I'll be back in my room and Negan will be back in yours."

"He doesn't visit me or the other wives anymore," Sherry answered softly.

"What?"

"He usually visits at least one of us a day. Since you've been here, he went to Amber after that meeting but she said that they barely got started when he left. And nothing since then."

"Oh… I'm sorry?" Crimson wasn't sure if she should be apologizing.

"I don't think you know what you got yourself into. It's not that I don't like you, I'm just not gonna make a friend who's gonna get herself killed real quick. Negan, he doesn't give people personal tours of Sanctuary, he doesn't take people out for a personal run, he doesn't take women to his bed, he doesn't keep watch over someone all night after they get shot, he doesn't spend time getting to know someone. But he's doing all of these things for you and you keep turning him away. Everyone is replaceable to him. You keep doing what you're doing, and you're going to die."

"I don't want to be in this situation. I told you before, I just want to do my job." Sherry shook her head and left without another word, but the sadness and defeat in her eyes spoke loud enough. Both of them had forgotten about the empty water glass that needed to be filled.

Crimson sat in silence for a while, lost in her own thoughts. She knew Sherry was right, eventually Negan would tire of their games and a man like him wouldn't be happy on the losing end. But was she willing to give up her self-respect and her independence to keep herself alive? The world had already gone to hell, could she sell her soul to the devil himself to stay here? She'd fought her entire life to become the woman she was. She'd been set up to fail from the day she was brought into the world by a drug addict with crack in her system. Statistics said she should have ended up working on some street corner hoping her pimp left her enough cash to get a fix, or doing what her mother had done, shack up with a dealer and trade her body for drugs. No, she fought her way to freedom and she wasn't going to hand it over just because it's the easy way out.

The rumbling of trucks roused her from her thoughts. It was strange to hear them all the way up in the 10th floor. She managed to sit up enough to see out of the window. There was a stream of trucks pulling in and disappearing around the side of the building. She looked up at the door as it slammed open and Negan stormed in with a look of irritation, leaving the door open behind himself.

"What's going on?" Crimson asked.

"Monthly meeting with all of my lieutenants. They're all coming in from their outposts. I like to keep everyone on the same page. Sometimes one of those halfwits have a good idea to roll out. With the shit that went down yesterday, I completely fucking forgot it was today."

"Should I leave?"

"No, just stay there. And I know this is hard for you, but keep your mouth shut. You disrespect me in front of them and I'll have to do something I really don't wanna do baby doll."

"Yeah, I got it. I'll be quiet as a mouse."

Negan took his seat behind his desk, setting Lucille on top where everyone could see her. The men and Paula came filing in shortly after. Everyone knelt when they entered until Negan permitted them to stand. Bud took a seat at the other end of the couch, she curled her feet underneath herself to give him room. Simon took the chair, and the other two men were spread out around the office, leaning up against a bookshelf or a wall like Dwight was. One was an older Caucasian man and the other was younger, maybe a few years older than herself, and he appeared to be at least part Asian. He was kind of cute, so she gave him a smile when he looked at her. She recognized Paula and another man, Gavin is what he'd been called on yesterday on the run. He was in charge of the Kingdom pickups.

She felt a little awkward, it was obviously that some of the lieutenants weren't happy with her presence. Bud was the only one who offered her a smile and a nod of acknowledgement. Paula was outright glaring at her, not even attempting to mask her displeasure.

"Paula," Negan spoke. "Looks might not kill, but they sure as shit can get you killed." Paula averted her eyes. "Now what's the status on the satellite station?"

"It's good," she answered. "We picked up a few more AR-15s and almost 10,000 rounds from a small group holed up on a decently secured farm. They had about 3 months' worth of food stocked up we took too so we won't need to restock the kitchen there anytime soon. I've been rotating men in and out of runs, one group out at all times."

"Good work. Jiro?"

"We finished repairing the security fences two weeks ago. We're having some issues with electrical, but we'll be fully operational within a week. The dead have all been cleared out and everything cleaned so we can start taking in supplies as soon as the power it on."

Crimson continued to listen while each man gave his reports. Wade had a run in with a well-armed group and lost some men, but other than that, no one had anything negative to report. Though Wade gave a few nervous glances to Lucille when he told Negan about the run in. Everyone gave Negan rough numbers on supplies including food and ammunition and Simon took notes. While they were speaking about runs and pickups, not one of them said anything about housing their own livestock or harvesting their own food. Apparently long term sustainability wasn't a priority to any of them. Bud has just finished giving them a run down on vehicle operation and fuel stocks when she decided to speak up.

"Excuse me gentleman, and lady," she said nodding to Paula. Negan gave her a pointed look. "But I can't help but to notice that no one has said anything about self-sustainability. Do none of the outposts grow food or manufacture supplies?"

Everyone remained silent until Negan spoke up.

"Didn't I already tell you? My men aren't farmers, they're fighters."

"I'd never expect any of these fine soldiers to do that kind of grunt work," she gestured to the men around the room. "But there are plenty of other people here in Sanctuary that would be perfectly suited for the job. I know you get enough supplies from your… arrangements with other communities. But what happens if they all decide they are no longer happy with your deal? I'm sure you've thought this through before, but from the perspective of a recent outsider, I'd think you would want to be able to sustain the Saviors in the event that the other communities decide to rise up in an all-out war. History shows that's a good possibility, and if you rely on only those under your thumb for supplies, then they don't even need to take the outposts and Sanctuary, all they need to do is to be able to hold their positions until they starve you out."

"The other day you said you might have some ideas to make improvements around here," Negan responded. "Since you're already giving me your un-fucking-solicited opinion, you might ask well share."

"I think you've done an excellent job of getting Sanctuary running, and it sounds like you're in the process of securing more outposts and storage to expand your territory, which is a great strategy. I just think you need to add more to what you have now while you expand. If you have the fencing supplies, it wouldn't be hard to expand the fencing here behind the parking lot." She pointed out to the open space beyond the fence behind the trucks. "One acre, if farmed correctly with fruits and vegetables alone, feeds 4-5 people for an entire year. There are at least 8 acres we can fence back there. If there is unused, secured land around the outposts, it wouldn't be difficult to start farming some of that as well. A couple of dairy cows could give a constant supply of fresh milk and cheese for the best soldiers. One meat cow can feed 6 men for a year and stretch the fruits and vegetables even further. Pigs don't need much space. Neither do chickens and the right breeds product a lot of eggs and good meat when they get too old to lay."

"The little lady has a good point Boss," Simon said, seemingly impressed with her ideas. "We do have some unused space around a couple of the outposts." The other men nodded in agreement. Crimson ignored the icy stare she was receiving from Paula.

"Negan, I just think that you and your men work hard to keep this place going," Crimson continued, flashing them with her best smile. "Putting some of the less useful people to work on your own land could ease up on your need to make so many pickups from the other communities and have you eating like kings every day. You all deserve it."

"Paula, Jiro, Wade, start looking into it at your stations. Dwight, see if expanding out our fencing here is as easy as Crimson says. Report in individually next week. The fucking meeting is adjourned." Negan's eyes never left hers as the men and Paula made their exits. Bud was the last to leave and closed the door behind himself. "I thought I told you to keep your damn mouth shut?"

"You did, but you also said there would be trouble if I was disrespectful. I thought I was incredibly respectful the entire time." Now that the other half of the couch was unoccupied, she stretched her legs back out. She noticed she'd start to lose feeling in one part of her leg or another if she sat too long in the same position. The couch was not designed for long term use and comfort.

Negan leaned back in his chair and grinned. "That you were. Don't think I didn't notice you trying to stroke my ego. As much as I liked that, there's something I'd like you to stroke a hell of a lot more."

Crimson rolled her eyes but laughed. "I don't see some of those guys around much, like Wade, Jiro, and Paula. Do they stay at the outposts?"

"Most of the time. They have their rooms here for when they report in or when I need to recall them for another reason."

Crimson nodded, that made sense. "I only had that bag of chips for lunch. If you're done for the day, maybe you can have an early dinner brought up for us?"

Negan radioed Joey to have dinner brought up. When he walked over to the couch, she went to pull her legs underneath herself again, but his hand stopped her. He gentle lifted her blanket clad legs and set them across his lap after he sat down.

"How's the shoulder feeling?" he asked.

"It hurts," she started to shrug, her usual casual response, but the sharp pain stopped her and she flinched. "The throbbing comes and goes, but I'll live. It's not too bad if I'm not moving around much."

"Didn't Nancy bring you something for the pain?"

"She did, but I'm not a fan of how narcotics make me feel."

"They make you sick?"

"No, they just make me loopy and lack self-control. A dead head could walk in the door and I'd probably think it was funny until it starts gnawing in my face. You know, I was thinking today, you know so much about me now, and I hardly know anything about you, other than the obvious."

"What'd you want to know?"

"What was your life like, before all this?"

He cocked his head at her. "You really want to know my life story?"

"Yes, I do," she looked him in the eye as she spoke. "I want to know you, the man behind the facade."

"Baby doll, if you're hoping to find some knight in shining armor in me, you're looking in the wrong damn place." His hand was absentmindedly running up and down her leg over the blanket, the kind of casual affection she didn't expect from him. "I may put on a show from time to time, but I do it because I fucking love it. I love seeing everyone on their knees when they greet me. I love watching grown men piss their pants because they're so god damn scared of me. I enjoy beating the holy hell out of someone from time to time." He leaned in closer with a grin. His hand came up to stroke her cheek. "But what I love the most, is watching someone's spirit crumble into fucking dust when they realize that I own everything, that I own them."

"You don't own me," she spoke softly, like she was stating a fact, not a challenge. "No one ever has, and no one ever will. Not even you." His thumb brushed across her lower lip, her breath was trembling now.

"No, I don't. But maybe I don't want to break you."