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"Our relationship was a house of cards I’d built," I said "I should have known it wouldn’t takeit down"

I watched her uneasily Would she leave after I admitted what caht years ago I was--"

"What does eight years ago have to do with anything?"

"I’ Todd for lunch on campus He wanted to meet at the library" I wondered if she even re up the stairs She tripped and fell, looked around to see if anyone atching I went to help, but you made it to her first"

"Me?"

Okay, she didn’t remember I suppose I never really expected her to Who would reo?

"Yes, it was you You knew her, and you both laughed as you picked up her books There were several people nearby, but you were the only one who helped" I picked the napkin back up "I made sure you didn’t see roup reading of Hamlet You read Ophelia"

Her jaw dropped open

"I stayed and watched," I said "I wantedHamlet was no match for her No one deserved to be Hamlet to her Ophelia

I looked up--she still watchedyou unco Todd He was upset" An understatement Do you kno crazyElaina to have lunch with you "Then I told him I’d met so as a little lie All lies are wrong

"Why didn’t you come up to me?" she asked "Introduce yourself? Like a normal person would?"

Like a nor the lifestyle of a do, impressionable coed In my mind, there was no ould have worked I had no idea of your submissive inclinations until your application crosseddifferently if I’d known No, I decided, not since I’d been in a committed relationship "Even if I had known, I had a collared subamous once I collar a submissive"

"My submissive inclinations?"

She didn’t knoas it she didn’t know? The truth hit

I leaned toward her "You’re a sexual submissive, Abby You have to know that Why do you think you hadn’t had sex for three years before you ith me?"

"I hadn’t found anyone who"

Ah, she understood Finally

"Who would dominate you the way you needed," I finished

She dropped her head

"Don’t be e to be ashaht of it like that before"

The puzzle pieces started falling into place

"Of course you hadn’t," I said "Which is why you were so angry when I suggested other doh her eyes "I hated you for that"

As I suspected "I was veryher to kno painful those words had been for ht would suit you But I just couldn’t bring ine you with soh I would have"

"You were thinking of ested other do a hard ti my offer

"I knew you had asked specifically fora subain Then I sa you reacted, so I’m sorry for that as well" Because as her dom, it had been my responsibility to make her understand, and that was just one more way I’d failed her

I’d failed her That was the truth

"Jackson keeps saying you should have done h to me But he doesn’t know the details What I did It’s easy for hi you could have done that would have changed ed the outcome Don’t blame yourself"

Because it was all my fault

"I pushed," she said "I shouldn’t have expected so much so fast"

"Perhaps not, but you could have expectedbut ave so freely "Instead, I shut you down completely"

She nodded

"But there’s more," I said

"Todd?"

Elaina still didn’t know, Todd had told me Which meant Abby still didn’t know about Tampa

"I didn’t pursue you, but I couldn’t let you slip away either I would watch you at the library, hoping to catch a gli soe to speak to you"

"He believed you?"

Smart woman, that Abby Even she didn’t believe it

"Probably not, but he kneouldn’t do anything i it, I reached across the table toward her I wanted so desperately to touch her I caught myself just in time and pulled my hands back--she still wouldn’t want to touch me

"And I didn’t, Abby I promise you I saw you only at the library I never attempted to find out anyI left you"

So she knew; she’d noticedand you were upset I had to make certain you were safe"