Free Otherworldly Bad Boys: Three Complete Novels by V.J. Chambers

was moving the sponge over her other breast now, working around the swell of it in rhythmic circles. The sensation was disturbingly erotic, and she fought her arousal as best she could.
    “What things?”
    “High school,” she gasped. Why did that feel good? Why could she register that? Shouldn’t all sexual stimulation be turned off when you were being chained up in a madman’s basement?
    “High school.”
    “What Adam and Chase did,” she said. “The massacre.”
    “Becoming a wolf?”
    “Yes.”
    “But you’d be completely different if that hadn’t happened.” He might have been lingering, washing her breasts for longer than was necessary. She couldn’t be sure. If he was, she didn’t know if she minded or not. “You wouldn’t be you.”
    She didn’t answer.
    Cole stepped back, removing the sponge. She was both relieved and disappointed at the same time.
    His gaze swept over her, taking her body in. “You’re very beautiful, Dana,” he whispered.
    She shut her eyes, feeling revolted. But also a tiny bit pleased at the compliment.
    “I need to wash your back.”
    And then he was behind her, the sponge working its way over her spine and the sensitive curve of her waist. His voice at her ear. “This is probably very confusing for you. For both of us. I’m sorry.”
    * * *
    “So you spoke to him?” Chantal Hernandez, werewolf psychiatrist, crossed her legs. She was settled in a chair in her office. She always looked impeccably professional, and today was no exception. She tucked a strand of long, black hair behind her ear and looked at Dana expectantly.
    Dana sat opposite Chantal. The office had a couch, but Dana had never laid down on it. She was comfortable enough sitting up. “I did.”
    “And the world didn’t explode,” Chantal said, smiling. As always, there was a hint of a Latin accent when she spoke. “You didn’t lose your mind or throw yourself at him.”
    “No,” said Dana. “But it was... upsetting. He said things to me that were... suggestive.”
    “Of course it was upsetting,” said Chantal. “How could it not have been?”
    “I guess so,” said Dana.
    “Did his comments frighten you or make you anxious?”
    Dana twisted her hands in her lap. “I guess so. I mean, eventually, they did. I was frightened by my reaction to them.”
    “What was your reaction?”
    She shifted on the couch. “I felt... aroused.” She could feel heat coming to her face just from admitting this.
    “Are you still fantasizing about him?”
    “Yeah.” Dana hugged herself. “I’ve tried the exercise you told me. The, um...”
    “Orgasmic reconditioning?”
    Dana nodded. “I’m having trouble with it.”
    “You want to talk about that?”
    “Well, I switch the fantasy to something not about him right at the last minute, like I’m supposed to. But then I can’t... finish.”
    Chantal raised her eyebrows. “Not thinking about him essentially halts your orgasm.”
    Dana nodded. “But then the minute I think of him again... everything works fine.”
    Chantal considered. “You know what? I don’t think you should worry too much about that. There are other more aggressive techniques we could try, like aversion therapy, but I’m rather confident this is all going to resolve on its own. I think that engaging with Cole Randall, while he’s imprisoned and can’t hurt you, would be good for you.”
    “Good for me?”
    “In your mind,” said Chantal, “he’s still the man who had absolute power over you. Who imprisoned you. In reality, he’s only a man. And now he is imprisoned. Seeing him in a different way may help you to see that he doesn’t have power over you anymore, which I think will ultimately help rid you of the fantasies.”
    Chantal theorized that Dana fantasized about Cole sexually because she could control him in her fantasies, and it was a way for her subconscious to work through her fear of him—by making him safe.
    “So,” said Dana, “you think seeing him is