Taking Passion by Storm by Ravenna Tate Page B

for some reason. I’m not sure why
that is, but I feel as if I can tell you anything.”
    The
way his face softened, and the look of delight in his dark eyes sent her heart
pounding. This time, she wasn’t afraid. All she felt was profound relief at
finally saying the words to someone other than Brenda or one of the countless
officers and attorneys she’d spoken with all those years ago.
    Someone
else knew. Finally. He hadn’t judged
or admonished her for not telling her father. Instead he’d asked if there was
anything he could do. No wonder her father had always spoken highly of Addison.
Now she could understand why he admired the man so much.
    “ You have no idea how happy I am to hear that,” he
said. “Only I wish I hadn’t told you what I did earlier. In light of this, it
seems insensitive.”
    So
he was thinking about that. “It’s
not. You couldn’t have known.” And it’s
time I moved on. Could she say that to him? More importantly, could she
allow herself to do that, finally? Was it really possible? She wasn’t even sure
she knew how.
    “ None of my business, but did you see anyone afterward
to talk about the rape?”
    “ You mean a therapist? I’ve been seeing one for four
years, for all the good it’s done me.”
    He
frowned. “Why hasn’t it helped?”
    “ I wish I knew. I’ve been taught visualization
techniques, told it would take time, and been offered medication, which I’ve
refused. I wish I knew what else to do.”
    “ Are you able to talk about the details?”
    She
sighed. “I haven’t talked about them in years. We talk about my fears, my
nightmares, and my inability to let myself get close to anyone.”
    He
nodded slowly as if realizing something for the first time. “If you want to get
the details out now, I’m here to listen.”
    “ Why do you want to know them?”
    “ I don’t, but it might help you to verbalize them.”
    She’d
heard that so many times, and now realized those who had said it to her were
only trying to help, as Addison was. Maybe it was time to let someone in that
far? She could always stop if things got too frightening for her. “Where should
I start?”
    “ Where did it happen?”
    “ In one of the classrooms. I was there early one
evening working on end of semester grades, and he was the only other person in
the building. I knew who he was, of course, but had no reason to fear being
alone with him. He came into the office and asked me to come into one of the
classrooms. He said he’d found bloody pads in a corner, along with evidence of
who might have put them there.”
    “ Pads?”
    “ Like girls wear when they’re on their periods. He
didn’t want to touch them, and he said he wanted a witness to the evidence of
who might have left them there in case anyone challenged him on what he’d
found.”
    “ Sounds legit.”
    “ Yes. Exactly. He knew I wouldn’t have any reason to
doubt his story, so of course I went with him.” She closed her eyes for a
second or two. She could do this. “He locked the door behind us, and then he
was on me before I could do anything. I was so damn scared, and I remember
fighting like crazy through the fear, but he tied my wrists with my own clothes
and slapped me…”
    She
stopped as panic, hot and fast, like someone had just poured lava into her
veins, spread through her. Addison pulled her close again and held her. “It’s
all right. You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.”
    “ No. I want to get this out. All of it.” She pictured
the details as she always tried to now, a black wisp circling in the air. In
her mind, she held out her hands and scooped the mist into them, then pictured
herself standing on the shore of the ocean.
    “ I’m right here. Take your time.”
    “ Thank you. Just give me a second.” Nadine closed her
eyes again. In her mind, the ocean always looked as blue and peaceful as she
remembered it. She tossed the mist into it, and it disappeared in the water,
where it