Chapter 89

ELOISE

Adam's reaction made my stomach clench. I stopped walking as well. “Even now, it feels like I’m being trapped. He made me fear him so much that sometimes, I feel like the knot around my ankle is still there, and I remember how hopeless I was.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” His voice was a low growl.

“It’s all in the past now.”

Adam’s face hardened, and he reached out to gently touch my arm. “It doesn’t matter when it happened. That’s unforgivable. I swear, I won’t let him hurt you again. Not while I’m here.”

I nodded, swallowing hard. I knew I had to tell him. I had told no one about this, and it had been kept in my chest for so long that I knew at some point I had to get it out.

“This is why I didn’t like the feeling of being helpless, being tied—being a submissive. I was already born that way; I knew you’d noticed. I knew you’d sense it, but I was done doing that; I just had no choice.”

Adam frowned in confusion. “But you asked me to teach y—”

I pressed a finger to hi