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He left while he still had use of his legs, leaving the bedroom door ajar so he could hear her if she needed him. Striding to the bar, he poured a neat whiskey and tossed it back. Then another. The third he sipped, shutting his eyes as the liquid followed the same burning path.
Whirling away from the bar, he crossed to the living room and dropped into a sofa, desperately trying to blank his mind of what had happened to Leia this morning. How badly things could’ve gone.
He didn’t think for one moment Snyder was incapable of rape. He was a little gratified that Leia had fought back, but hell…
He started as his phone rang. Frowning, he dug through his tuxedo jacket and stared, incredulous, at the number.
“Did you forget I’m no longer your patient?” he snarled into the phone.
Shannon laughed and did that pausing thing that had always irritated him. She was waiting for him to fill the silence, to volunteer information. He’d never fallen for the ploy during their therapy sessions. He sure as hell wasn’t going to fall for it now.
He waited her out until she cleared her throat. “It was great to see you again last night. I thought we’d reconnected, but you left without saying goodbye.”
“I didn’t realize I was obligated to.”
“Well, a goodbye would’ve been nice, Noah. I thought we were getting along?—”
“You mean you thought I’d be crazy enough to return for seconds after I told you it’ll never happen? I distinctly remember telling you to lose my number. Or do you want the ethics board to be apprised of the fact that you banged a patient?”
A husky laugh. “You’re no longer my patient and that wasn’t what I called for.”
“Then get to the fucking point.” He knew he was being an asshole. But he couldn’t help himself. Leia had shredded every bit of his control and left him exposed… Bleeding. Shannon had picked the worst possible time to call.
“Earlier this evening when we were talking, I thought you’d made progress. But now I’m convinced you haven’t. I think you need to talk to someone.”
“You mean you?”
“No, I can never be your therapist again, but I care about you… and I was hoping?—”
He sighed. “It’s never going to happen. We may no longer be patient and shrink, but we did fuck when I was your patient, so you need to decide if you want to let one fuck ruin your career, or if you wanna stop debasing yourself and walk away with some dignity. If I were you, I’d choose option two.”
She went silent again. Noah waited her out. “In that case, I have a few highly reputable colleagues who?—”
“No.”
“Noah…”
“I said no. Believe it or not I know exactly what my problem is, Shannon.”
“You do?” Surprise made her voice squeak.
He leaned forward and held the glass against his forehead. He shivered, his body suddenly terrifyingly cold, drowning him in the truth that drenched his soul.
“This time my problem isn’t holding back. My problem is letting go.”
18
The harsh rasp of Noah’s voice ceased, followed almost a minute later by the sound of glass smashing against a wall.
Leia’s heart stuttered. Her mind raced with the possibilities of who could be calling him at this time of night, unable to dismiss the idea that it was the redhead making a reverse booty call.
She jerked the ropes, which tied her elbows to the bed, then forced herself to calm down.
Noah was hers.
If there was one thing she knew with unshakeable certainty, it was that he would never cheat on her while they were together… while he’d put his absolute claim on her. As warped as their situation was, that was one thing she didn’t need to worry about.
That didn’t ease the fear spiking her heart, however.