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No! The voice yelled at him not from his head, but from his heart He couldn’t do it

Anna’s body craved Cole’s touch, any kind of touch at all Hard or soft Out of control or sweetly te so wonderfully depraved about what he was doing to her And yet, even as she responded to hied him for more, for faster taps on her backside, even as she felt herself groetter, more open for hi about this was right

Not when pain was everywhere in the roo her over, top to bottom

She didn’t really feel the pain of his hand on her botto her at all with his little smacks He simply didn’t have it in him to hurt her Physically, at least

No, the pain she felt was all Cole It was seeping froe of taking her, he’d sudden gone co into her hips so hard she knew she’d have ten finger-sized round bruises on her skin in the

He moved away so abruptly she would have fallen if not for the table holding her up She blinked back tears as she slowly pushed herself up so that she was standing, using the time to pull her underwear back up and smooth down her skirt to catch her breath Finally, when she felt strong enough, she turned and faced her husband

He’d righted his clothes too and noas standing halfway across the room-- away from her--his hands in fists, his eyes so dark and so bleak she had to choke back a sob

"Tell me what you see now Tell me if they’re all blind now, Anna"

She knehat he was doing, that he was trying to force a monster into the room But there wasn’t one

"I see a htened, his biceps flexing as he clearly worked to control hi you"

"We both know you weren’t," she countered in a soft voice as she took a s your touch The way I always do The way I alill The way I’ht now"

She knew she had to be careful, that the big strongin his life was a heartbeat away fro careful She’d spent a lifeti careful

She’d taken her first risk on Friday night when she’d let Cole kiss her, and then one after the other since in his arer

But so did her courage

"Do you want to knohat else I’ her, he said, "Don’t do this, baby Don’t try to convince yourself that I’m someone I’m not"

"Don’t you dare talk to me like I don’t know my own eyes My ownto push her away, she knew deep in her heart that she wasn’t wrong about hirandmother, who plays for his teaers with respect" She took another small step toward him "I knohat I feel I feel your innate tenderness I feel the pure co in your arms And I knoithout a doubt, that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me"

His eyes flashed as she repeated his earlier, sleepy words back to hi, so different froht