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He looks erous kind of heat

"What?" My voice is wary

"I think, my very dear Ms Fairchild, that you are in for ain ainst h

I try to take a step backward, but am blocked by the pillar "Why? Because I pushed your buttons? That doesn’t seem quite fair"

"No," he says, "it doesn’t And not because of that"

"What then?"

"Do you really think it’s in the realm of possibility that you would ever find another woo"

I cross my arms over my chest "But you know I don’t believe it and didn’t mean it"

"I do," he says "But I’ll tell you a little secret It’s the best excuse I have for bending you over and feeling the sting on my palm"

I lick my lips The room turns suddenly warm, and I feel beads of hs I reach back, holding on to that pillar to steadyyou want?" I keep ht now," Da"

He uses the pad of his thu my jawline I close my eyes and draw in a breath, suddenly unable to concentrate

"Why?"

"You know me better than anyone, Nikki You knohy"

I do know He needs me like I used to need a blade--like I now need him In a day when he’s been blindsided by horrific pictures of his past and bitchy ex-girlfriends, he needs to know that I will surrender utterly to him That it is Da my pain He needs to know that he can take me to that limit And he needs to know that I want hi has spun out of control Not just Carmela’s appearance in our room, but the whole day Ollie’s appearance in Germany The horrible photos Daainst him

Too much noise, and it all bubbled up inside of me, so much so that when it knocked Daht it, though I’d fought and I’d won I didn’t need to cut, but I still needed Damien Do need Damien I need to feel his hands uponof pain I need the release to keep

I need it--and so does Daht