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"A boy froentle as he could make it

Alyssa opened her mouth, then closed it Hesitated Then she rose to her feet Luc wanted to keep her in his lap, safe and warhtest treain

She paced to the bathroom counter and braced herself on it "Notexactly It’s ancient history Not really i her plenty of tih his system when she didn’t pull away, so he loosely placed his hands on her shoulders

"I think it’s very important If you don’t want to tellyour trust today Or for the past two months I’ve been slow to learn, but I want to do better--with your help Please, I need to knohat’s going to frighten you so I don’t do it again"

Alyssa bit her lip, sighed, looked at the ceiling as if praying for strength "N-no bondage I can’t" She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself "I just can’t"

Reality hit Luc in the face What had Jack said? He and Alyssa had realized quickly they weren’t compatible That made complete sense now "Not unless you’re ready If that day never coave hi her shoulders, Luc brought her against his body She wanted to leave the story there She’d been fifteen, a virgin, and had been raped But he sensed the story was only beginning

"It wasn’t a boy from school who hurt you?"

Alyssa wrapped her arms around her middle and shook her head "I--I don’t know if I can talk about this I haven’t told anyone this since the night after it happened"

She’d kept this to herself for fourteen years? "You never told Jack? Tyler? A therapist?"

A sad smile crossed her face before it dissolved "Jack would have hunted hi I want TylerIf I thinkback to haunt me, I’ll tell hih a lot of this on my own"

Why the hell wouldn’t she want Jack to hunt this asshole down? Personally, Luc was dying to But she didn’t want to hear that, and he couldn’t jeopardize the conversation now that she was talking

He hugged her back to his chest again "Who did this to you, sugar?"

"Joshua" She shuddered, closed her eyes "He’s ain Someone as supposedly a part of her blended fa this killed hiet the full story But he didn’t knohat questions to ask fro it "Your mother remarried?"

She nodded slowly "When I elve"

Please, please tell e of her then "Did it start then? Touching? Fondling?"

"No At first, he was my best friend My mom remarried sohborhood toLifestyles of the Rich and Famous I started a new school I didn’t know anyone I was shy I had a hard ti"

And this prick Joshua had used her insecurity against her "So he said he’d be your friend?"

"Yes, and he made sure I had all the coolest friends in school And he kept other guys away from me When I was a freshman, there was a junior--one of Josh’s classot me drunk and cornered me in the bathroom Joshua and some of his other friends picked the lock and storuy ruthlessly; then he carriedand not to fuck with runted in disbelief

"He wanted you for hi that

"Yeah He’d fly into a rage if he even thought anyone was looking at me, or if he suspected I liked so into my room, said he wanted to hed bitterly, it twisted his stoe of her How could he couch that as protecting her? "Did he start kissing you or just attack?"

"Oh, there were kisses Lots and lots of those, and I stupidly encouraged it, thinking that he really cared That started when I was fourteen"

And this fucking rapist had beenwhat? Sixteen? Seventeen? Old enough to know that he was using a young, innocent girl

"When did he start touching you?"

"Right before I turned fifteen That suedly told Luc she needed to pause He stood silently behind her, caressing her arue to tell her they could stop here, talk later Certainly, it would be better for his sto her back to this place would be difficult and painful Better to get it all out now

"When did it beco with this girl in his English class I wasso stupid that I ever believed that he wanted to ht he aiting for ether He told irls Our parents couldn’t know about us yet They’d have freaked So Joshua said he was keeping up appearances, letting his dad know he had a healthy interest in other fe," Luc muttered That was actually a lot , but with that pronouncement, she’d know he empathized but wouldn’t alarm her with the violence of his fury

"Then he said that all the waiting for h on him and that he’d had to have other pussy or his huht" She scoffed "So I told hio away, that I didn’t want hi to him for weeks"

"And he turned violent?"

"Yes Just after ht, tied me down, and said he felt cheated that he’d waited around and hadn’t gotten any And he’d so been looking forward to being one so far as to plan this elaborate scheme to ‘pop my cherry’ for my sweet sixteen"

Luc’s nausea rose to new levels, as did his need to wipe this asshole off the face of the earth He wasn’t a violent ivable

"I’m sorry" He wanted to say so much more, but at this point, words would only placate hie had been done He only hoped he could help heal her

"Oh, God it hurt" Her body treain "H-he took me every way a man can take a woman"

Joshua had raped her anally, too? Another blow to the restraint around Luc’s rage He grabbed the countertop on either side of her hips and looked at her bowed head in the ht, doar, I’m so sorry" He kissed the back of her head He didn’t trust hies running through his body

"Wh-when it was over, I was sobbing and bleeding He was angry and said he wondered why he’d bothered I was just another whore after all" Fists clenched, she drew in a shuddering breath "II wanted to kill him"