ike the silk sheets he'd ruined, the hotel room he'd paid for, the li

hand was on her stomach now, pressing her back against the table with a

the edge beneath it. The same edge she'd heard in the dark, when he'd bee

hook, but she forced the words out. "You're

he moment of consideration. Then he straightened, ste

s with a snap that made her flinch. "Th

back to her. Joanna watched the muscles move under his white coat, remember

s were across the room, and he was between her and the door, and her b

was composed now, professional, but his eyes-his eyes were

her clothes. "We'll continue t

't wan

is and a treatment plan. Whether you choose to hear it is your decision. But-" He paused, his hand on the door handle.

closed be

uld run-should grab her clothes and flee through the window if necessary-but her body was a

and she bit her lip, hard. The paper gown crinkled as she climbed dow

h made her gasp-but she pulled them on anyway, buttoned them with fingers that

He was on the phone, speaking in low, rapid tones that s

nt

e financial reports. He sat behind the desk, white coat gone, wearing a dark shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves, re

it

and it made her feel like a supplicant. Like s

ion. Neosporin. Ibuprofen. And beneath them, in handwriting that was a

absti

ked up. "I don't need

ecologist's office less than twenty-four hours after your first sexual encounter. An e

e burn. "That's non

he anger beneath it. The same anger she'd felt in his hands last night, the controlled violence t

t know y

tana. You gave me your virginity without knowing who I was, what I was, whether I was dange

e forced herself to meet his eyes. "Trap me? Control me? I'

hat what you tell yourself? That the way you responded to m

om with this man who knew her body better than she did and

lea

t d

sai

ning her to face him. The wall was at her back. His body was against her front. She was trapped

hers. "You don't get to disappear and pretend it never happened. I felt you, Joanna

don

h anyone else. If I so much as smell another man on your skin-" His thumb pressed again

. It did terrify her. But beneath the terror was something else, somethin

sane," she

ok your first time. The man who made you feel things you didn't know your bod

the office

d's name do you t

lding her in place. An older woman stood in the doorway-silver hair, elegan

n Evans.

anna could feel the tension in his body

on Joanna's arm, the flush on both their faces. Her expression hardened. "This is my clinic, and that is

fuse. His fingers tightened on her arm,

ng past Dr. Evans with a mumbled apology she didn't mea

na. S

led receptionist and the woman with the Birkin who finally looked up from her magaz

the burning, the feeling that she was leaving pieces of herself on every step. She burst ou

ree blocks away, leaning against

xi. She was lost in a neighborhood where apar

ee. She'd esca

s and tried to believ