Page 73 of Hunt for You

And that she rarely orgasmed when she had sex.

And that she was scared of Ronald.

That part had made him smile broader.

When she said that, my stomach clenched so hard I got nauseous. Yet, his response surprised me.

“If you fear me, Penny, why are you here?” he asked in a low drawl, that was very calm, but very intense.

I watched her face, saw the flicker of awareness in her eyes and my breath stopped.

She swallowed audibly, but her eyes never left his. “Because the whole point of this is to face fears, right?”

Ronald nodded like she was a good student who’d pleased him. “You’re absolutely right, beautiful. So tell me…” For the first time since this started, he drew close to her, standing over her, but cupping her face like a lover. “What was the boundary in your mind or body when you walked in this door?”

Her breath whooshed out of her. “Anal,” she said quickly, like she wanted to get away from the word.

My eyebrows went up. Seriously?

“I hate it,” she said, then licked her lips and gazed at him like she was pleading.

“Why?” he asked quietly.

“Because when I was fourteen my brother used to rape me that way because he said there was no way I could get pregnant.”

Ronald nodded and stroked her cheek. “Have you ever told anyone that before?”

“No.”

“Why did you tell me?”

“Because seeing you made me feel like… like I wanted to get rid of the fear.”

He beamed at her, then squatted in front of her, took her face in both his hands and stared at her like she’d just given him a gift. Then he leaned in and kissed her and I couldn’tquite believe what I was seeing—the gentleness in him, the fascination. Like she was a prize. What the hell was he—

“You are safe here,” he purred. “Every single one of these people was personally assessed by me and they will not tell your secrets. They will not reveal anything you say or do here. You’re free, Penny. Do you believe you’re free?”

“I want to be.”

“Good girl. But your heart is racing, and you’re beginning to sweat. Tell us why.”

“Because I’m afraid you’re going to fuck me up the ass.”

He gave a low, husky chuckle. “That’s because I am, darling… but not until you ask me to. Not until youwantme to. We’ll face your fear together so that you can walk out of here and never be afraid again. Are you ready?”

She stared at him like he’d just revealed a profound truth, then she nodded.

He leaned in and kissed her again, then murmured, “Now, let’s get started.”

It was like watching a high quality porn movie with the premise that the Dom was a psychologist, using sex to work his clients through their issues…

Except it was real. And, at least here and now, it was working.

I tried to imagine what Gerald would think of thistherapeutic approach,and almost choked on my own spit.

I told myself it had to be a party trick. A two-bit hypnotist magician who could make people think they wanted something they didn’t actually want, and I almost fled.

But then I remembered his words.

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