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Well, this was an interesting turn of events. Merrick wondered if Elias and Evander were aware they’d hired a misandrist as the club doctor. The level of bitterness she exuded came from personal experience—he’d bet money on it—yet there was a savage undertone of hatred that didn’t target the man who’d hurt her, but encompassed every living, breathing man on the planet.

A hatred she was seemingly adept at hiding.

Levi had definitely developed player tendencies since his wife cheated on him in his own bed with a college student—afemalecollege student, no less—but to Merrick’s knowledge, he’d never encouraged a woman to stray from her marriage to break it up, deliberately led a submissive on just to get his dick wet, or utilized his position to fuck anyone over in the way Linnie suggested.

If she hated men, that wasn’t his problem. The issue was her proximity to a large pool of women who were accustomed to listening to authority figures. Obeying commands. Relying onhonestcommunication.

While many submissives were secure in their relationships with their Doms or happy with flitting from one to the next, there were a great deal of subs who were new to the lifestyle, still finding their way and deciding if BDSM was the right choice for them and what they needed. Some, like his little owl, had trauma scarring their souls.

A woman protecting and defending women against abusive men, he was all for—hell, he’d prefer she called for backup in case of violence, but he’d stand back and let her kick ass all day long.

This was a different story. This was a woman who was so angry with one man in her life, she’d let that anger twist and writhe until it consumed her. Worse, she knew her reach as a healthcare professional, and she’d taken a job in a primarily male-dominated club.

Handling the matter required diplomacy, which meant speaking to the bosses as soon as he could manage it. Maybe they’d have an alternative take on her behavior, but from the glint in her eyes, he was pretty sure Elias and Evander would come to same conclusion.

“Levi deals with shit in his own way, same as any of us,” Merrick replied easily, lifting a hip to get his phone from his back pocket. “Did he fuck you over, Linnie? Is that why you’re mad at him?”

Snorting in disgust, she shook her head and stalked over to the tray beside the exam table, dropping the saw with a crash that probably sent Tamsyn bolting for the nearest dark nook. “Like I’d waste my time with that manwhore. Men like him should wear a chastity belt, I swear to God.”

There it was again.

“So who is it you’re really angry with if not him?”

“You!” she shouted. “You took a sweet, traumatized young woman who needed to be left alone to find herself, and turned her into yet another numb, passive submissive with no will of her own. In less than two months! You must be really fucking proud of yourself.”

Just like that, Merrick decided the conversation was over. Not only was the room filled with hostility Tamsyn would immediately pick up on, the vibe emanating off Linnie was ominous. He wasn’t going to subject his girl to this bitter vitriol.

Rising, he stretched subtly, feeling several muscles twang. Rutting Tamsyn into oblivion the night before was the best sex he’d had in a long time, and the most energetic. “We’re done, Linnie. I don’t know what the hell is going on with you today, but I’m not gonna entertain your dramatics.”

She scoffed. “Just like the rest of them. Can’t handle the shit you give out when it’s thrown back at you. Stand up and take responsibility for your actions, Merrick.”

As his temper began to prickle, he folded his arms across his chest. The phone in his hand crunched slightly when his hands fisted. “Knock it down a notch, Linnie. If you’re having a bad day, that’s fine; we all have them. Attacking my character, however, is a whole other ballgame you’re not ready to play.”

“Everything’s a game to you assholes. Tamsyn’s probably the best one of all, right? Defenseless virgin, so needy and pathetically in love. What are you waiting for, Merrick? Where’s the point when the fun’s over and you break her into pieces?” Eyes manic, breathing as though she’d run up several flights of stairs, Linnie looked unhinged. Beneath the fury, there was a tragically brutal source of pain. “Bet she’s sucked you off already, and you’ve fucked her cunt—”

“Linnie,” he said in a warning tone. “Stop. Now.”

A slim, shaking finger jabbed in his direction. Her voice rose to an unmistakable pitch—he’d be surprised if someone downstairs didn’t hear her. “I know, you’re going after the holy grail, right? Once she lets you fuck her ass like a whore, you’ll drop her faster than a white-hot branding iron.”

The door to the room cracked open; Tamsyn’s sweet voice drifted through the gap. “Merrick?”

“Darlin’, I need you to go find one of the other Masters or Mistresses.” Keeping his eyes on Linnie, he kept his voice calm. If he let his anger loose, this could escalate into something bad, and there were too many sharp objects at Linnie’s disposal. “Now, please, Tamsyn.”

“No, Tamsyn,” Linnie snarled. “Come on in and join the party. Find out what kind of man you’ve fallen for.”

When the doctor lunged for the door, probably intending to rip it open and yank his little owl into the middle of a conflict that had nothing to do with her, Merrick acted faster. He barreled forward, bellowing for Tamsyn to run, and prayed she was out of the way when his shoulder rammed into the door, smashing it closed.

Keeping his back to it, he fended off the furious fists pelting his chest. Unwilling to lay his hands on Linnie, he knocked the blows aside as gently as he could because, evidently, there was something causing this.

Manhater or not, Linnie was hurting and lashing out at the nearest appropriate person she could find; he fit the bill for whatever she needed to lose her shit—being a man with a dick was likely the main requirement. He got the feeling being a Dom was a big red target on his forehead, just for good measure.

“Don’t want to hurt you, Linnie. Step back and calm down. Calmdown,” he ordered in a strict tone, infusing dominance into the words. His suspicions were proved correct when she didn’t rein in her emotions, but erupted as though he’d lit a barrel of gasoline under her ass.

The doctor was half his size, nowhere near him in weight, yet the blows she managed to land were going to leave bruises. At least she wasn’t clawing at his face, he thought, or trying to gouge his eyeballs from their sockets.

“Calm down,” he said again more gently. “Tell me what’s wrong, Linnie. I’ve never seen you like this before, so something must’ve happened. Let me help.”

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Her breath hitched, yet her eyes blazed with hatred, not tears. “She’ll see right through you, y’know. One day, she’ll see through this kind, benevolent act and know you’re not the savior, but the fucking villain in her story.”