“I woke up in a psychiatric hospital. My mother’s first words were that I’d had a miscarriage and had done something very stupid and selfish, and that the doctors had to put me on a suicide watch. She didn’t handle things well. I know I embarrassed her. And now that I’m older I can only imagine what I put my parents through, but she didn’t seem to want to face what I had done either. Mom went on and on about what a blessing it was to have the pregnancy out of the way, like this was her biggest concern. Our relationship is not easy. She disapproves of most everything I do.”

Brynne sighed again into my chest. I just kept touching to reassure myself she was indeed here. My girl was telling me her deepest secrets, in a hot bath, naked in my arms after some really mind-blowing shagging. I didn’t have any complaints. Well, maybe a few but I wouldn’t voice them to Brynne. I continued pulling warm water over her arms and br**sts, and thought about how much I didn’t approve of her mum. What mother would say such a thing to her daughter after a suicide attempt?

“When it was all over my parents sent me to a nice place in the New Mexico desert. It took time but I got better and eventually learned how to deal with my past. Not faultlessly, but I managed to make some decent progress I suppose. I discovered my interest in art and grew up.”

Brynne paused again in her story, almost like she was gauging how I was accepting her news and if I was shocked or horrified by her now. She worried far too much. I picked up her wrist with the scars and kissed right over the jagged marks. Little slices of white marring the otherwise perfect skin with its translucent sheen, the blue of her veins showing from underneath. The idea of her cutting into that skin made me very sad for what she had borne.

I had a sudden epiphany—Brynne had done her attempt at around the same time I was in that Afghan prison about to be—

She entwined her fingers with mine and drew me out of my thoughts, bringing our hands right up to her mouth and holding them there with her lips. Brynne was kissing my hand this time. I felt warmth flush all throughout my body and tried to hold onto the wonderfulness of the sensation while it lasted because her gesture made me far too emotional to speak.

“I never knew that my dad went to Senator Oakley and basically blackmailed him. He was livid that he’d nearly lost me and blamed Lance Oakley for everything. My dad wanted to press charges but realized I was in no shape to withstand a trial and probably never would be. And the added bonus of my mother telling him to leave it alone, and allow me to heal in peace, convinced him to let the idea of a formal prosecution go. But Daddy still wanted retribution of some form though. Senator Oakley just wanted all the ugly to go far, far away from his political career, so he forced his son to enlist in the Army and solved his biggest problem when Lance was shipped off to Iraq. Then he arranged for my acceptance at the University of London when the time came that I was well enough to leave New Mexico and go off to college. We decided on London mostly because it was so far away from home and the art was here. I could speak the language and Aunt Marie lived here already so I wouldn’t be completely on my own in a foreign country without at least some family.”

“So the senator has known exactly where you were all these years?” The situation sucked, was much bigger than I ever imagined, and the risks to Brynne could be enormous.

“I never knew that part until last week,” she whispered, “I thought I got in on my own merits.”

“I can understand how that might bother you, but your graduate study was earned on your merits as exemplary in your field. I’ve seen you at work, and I know you’re brilliant at what you do,” I teased with my tone and kissed the side of her jaw, “My adorable anorak, Professor Bennett.”

“Anorak?” she laughed. “What kind of crazy Brit slang word is that?”

“Yeah, I think you Yanks call them nerds or geeks. That’s you. An artsy anorak that I adore.” I turned her head to mine and met her lips for another kiss. I knew we were both remembering our ridiculous chat in the car that morning about the professor detaining the misbehaving student. Which would be her, the professor, and me, the misbehaving student.

“You’re crazy,” she said against my lips.

“Crazy for you,” I said, squeezing her a little. “But really, Senator Oakley owed you a hell of a lot more than what he gave, although it doesn’t make me happy to know that he is very aware of exactly where you are in the world and what you’re doing every day.”

“I know. And it scares me a little. Daddy said that Eric Montrose died in a weird bar fight when Lance was home on leave from the Army. He—he was one of them…on the video, but I never saw any of them again after that night. Not even Lance Oakley.”

The sound of her voice bothered me, and so did the thought of her remembering what she’d gone through at the hands of those degenerates. I was really happy one of them was dead. That part didn’t bother me at all. I just prayed his death had nothing to do with that video and Senator Oakley’s vetting.

I set the water to drain and helped her out of the tub. “I won’t let anything happen to you and you don’t have to be scared. I got it covered.” I smiled and started drying her legs with a towel. “I’m going to speak to your dad tomorrow and find out everything I can on Senator Oakley.” I dried her arms and back and br**sts, thinking I could get really used to doing this. “You just let me worry about the senator. I’ll send some feelers out and see what I get back in the way of information. Nobody’s going to get near my girl unless they come through me first.”

She smiled and gave me a very nice nibbling kiss on my bottom lip. I had trouble restraining myself from spreading her up on the sink counter and having her again.

Brynne’s skin had a natural golden glow, but right now was pinked from the hot water, and so beautiful it was hard to look and stay neutral. Don’t think about it. I ignored the urge and worked at drying her luscious curves which had definitely lost some of their curviness but still lovely and all mine. She stood gracefully for me as if not at all affected by our nakedness in such proximity. I wondered how in the hell she managed to do it. Well, I had an idea of how. She was a model who posed in the nude and she was used to it. Don’t think about that either.

I couldn’t remember ever being driven by my c**k in the way I was driven with her. Maybe when I was just starting out, but nothing with this level of intensity had ever consumed me like it did now. Fucking Brynne was right up there with food, and shelter these days.