Page 4 of Exposed (The Wellard Asylum #1)

T he couple stirs in their sunken chairs.

I meet Violet’s eyes, and a rush of adrenaline courses through me.

She peeks up through her thick eyelashes, her deep brown, almost black irises like poisonous frogs hiding at the bottom of a deep well.

The subtle scent of her anticipation floats through the air: ripe cherries dipped in sugar.

Her dark roots stripe her blonde hair like a path marking her skull.

A pleasant shudder runs through me. Her grown-out hair roots are a reminder of the staples I’ll eventually use to put her skull back together again.

For now, she remains whole.

I turn to her supposed boyfriend. “Benji.”

“Dr. Ambrose,” he murmurs. He keeps his eyes lowered.

I address Violet next. “Your boyfriend tells me you were recently fired from your job due to sexual compulsions.” I scrutinize her down my long, hooked nose. “You will follow my assistant to the exam room. There, you will undress and wait for the initial examination.”

“Undress?” Violet squeals, her high-pitched tone slicing through the air as she sits up in her seat. “Why?”

My cock twitches, and a hint of disgust snarls across my face. Surely, she should have expected something like this in her case, but perhaps she is shocked by the immediacy. Only seconds after meeting, I’m already ordering her to undress.

She squirms in her seat, ready to bolt. I stifle a grin; this restless behavior is simply a symptom of repressed desire.

I clench my jaw. “All inpatients undress for their physical exams,” I state. “You must go through a series of exams to ensure the safety of yourself and the staff. You don’t want to hurt anyone, do you, Violet?”

Her lips twist, her forehead furrowed. “Inpatient? Who said anything about staying?” She stands and crosses her arms. “My condition isn’t about my body. It’s about my mind. I’m not undressing for an?—”

I swiftly grab her arm, maneuvering her like a puppet. She shrinks, and her fear and arousal swirl in my head: berries at the first sign of rot. There are so many possibilities when it comes to someone as bottomless as Violet, and this resistance and surrender is a part of the foreplay she craves.

Benji cowers in his seat, and my assistant waits by my side. Violet bares her teeth at me, hatred practically leaking from her bones. It’s laughable. I grit my teeth and lean in closer to her.

“Even if you do not plan to hurt yourself or me, ” I say, my tone biting, teasing her with the potential, “you will soon understand mental apprehensions like yours often exhibit in the physical exterior. Our examinations of these perversions are part of our protocol here. We must endure these recalibration techniques if we wish to heal your behavior. ”

Violet’s breathing hitches, and her putrid scent stinks up the air even more. Fear. Arousal. Need.

In my periphery, I catch my assistant smirking.

I hide my amusement, and instead, I adjust my shoulders, which bolsters my expression of irritation and disgust. I’m not disgusted though.

In fact, I’m quite pleased with this verbal interaction with Violet.

Her resistance will be entertaining, and it will teach me more about conditioning others like her.

At the center of her being, the parts of her she ignores and denies, Violet knows who she is: a disgusting little freak desperate to be used. My goal is to help her find herself.

Then, I’ll fully transform her.

“But—” Violet begins, then stops short. Her gaze falls to the floor. She swallows, then rubs her hands down her leggings. “Dr. Ambrose,” she tries again. “Please. I’d prefer it if Benji were present for this. If he could?—”

This time, I can’t help it. A hint of a smile pulls at my lips. Please? She thinks she can simply be polite and agreeable to get what she wants?

“Right now, Benji is not my patient,” I say firmly.

“You are, Miss Ward. And any activity from here on out will determine your treatment, and that includes your sexual behaviors as well as everything else.” Her cheeks darken, blush coloring her skin.

I raise a brow. “You want to be good for me, don’t you? ”

Her eyelids flutter. “Of course,” she whispers.

Good.

“Then you will do as I command,” I say in a low voice. I nod toward my assistant. “We’ll begin the physical examination at once. Please go to the exam room now.”