Page 186 of The Professor's Wife

“I’m here,” he continued to say. “You have nothing to fear.”

Coming from the very man who instilled fear in me. Who kept me trapped in the open, with the door right there and no way to walk through it.

How many of us were out there, I wondered just then. How many hopeless beings stripped bare and broken and in this chasm with no escape?

Did any of you get out?

Did he break your minds before he broke your bodies?

He settled me down on the bed and brushed the hair from my face. He sprinkled kisses on my face. He was trying to bring me back to him. I felt numb and cold. Still in that in-between, I saw nothing but shadow and dark at the corners of my vision.

It didn’t have to be this way.

Those words came suddenly, and I listened to them. I listened to that quiet voice inside my head. Heard Plato’s words float around me, encircling my being, shocking me out of my numbness.

The beginning is the most important part of the work.

I blinked out of the in-between and stared into Oliver’s concerned eyes. His gaze lightened in response. “There she is,” he whispered, and his mouth was on mine, kissing me with his black passion. I didn’t kiss him back. I just stared at him. His eyes were closed. His arms were around me, holding me tightly to him. He tried to push me back on the bed, but I felt my body stiffen. I began to shake my head, breaking away from the kiss with flared nostrils. My stomach swirled and nausea slammed into me. My head went light as I dropped down and dry heaved.

“Daisy?” he said, voice laced with panic. “You’re hungry. You must be.”

He gathered me back into his arms and a minute later I was in the kitchen, and he was bringing a spoonful of warm soup to my lips. I swallowed it down, knowing I needed to eat. The second the warmth hit my belly, my body shuddered, and I sucked in a breath. Old emotions threatened to emerge. The warmth that came from his doting on me. The gratitude I refused to allow myself to feel was searching for the familiar empty pieces it always filled.

Reality is created by the mind. We can change our reality by changing our mind.

Plato’s words continued their torment, swirling among his other words around me.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured. “Look at me.”

I blinked out of my daze and looked straight at him. He went completely still. I wondered if he was surprised that I’d so easily followed his direction, or if he saw something in my eyes that he didn’t expect. He collected himself, the tension lines on his face relaxing.

“How do you feel, Daisy?” he asked.

“Better,” I answered quietly.

At hearing my voice, he smiled brilliantly. The victory shone in him as he drew closer to me. His hands were on my legs, sliding up and down my bare skin. Soft and caring.

“I thought a lot about you,” he said. “I think we should go away during the summer. How about a cruise?”

“On the water?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t swim.”

“You wouldn’t need to.” He brought his hand up to stroke my cheek. Featherlight. “I just wanted us away for a short while. Somewhere unfamiliar. Though…there would be too many people on a cruise ship. I want you to myself, so maybe…somewhere on the water, but more secluded. Just the two of us.”

I smiled softly. “I would love that, Oliver.”

His eyes brightened at my responsiveness. He dropped his head to mine and kissed me. He wanted to be rough. I felt his being shudder with the urge to grab me. The moment he brought his arm around my waist, squeezing, I let out a sharp yelp. He instantly pulled away. “Daisy?”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, shakily. “I’m just hurt.”

He nodded. “I should take it easy on you tonight.”

“Thank you,” I said, voice heavy with gratitude.

“Anything for you.”