Edward Banner is so out of his depth, and he knows it. Falling for a waitress that is younger than he is was one thing. Falling for a woman who self-harms? That is another thing altogether. He doesn’t understand it. But he can’t bear to see it happen, and there’s no turning back.
Isabel Benson has not lived a great life. Abandoned by her parents from a young age, she was the one who raised her little sister. When the pressures of life got too much, she found one solution to get herself through, the only thing she could ever control, cutting. It’s hers alone. Her little secret—until Edward catches her.
He wants her to stop, but she doesn’t know if she can. There is no easy way to help. But he’s not walking away like so many people have in her life. He’s not going to stop loving her, and he’s not going to stop being there.
Can Isabel find the strength to see that she doesn’t need to hurt herself anymore? Will Edward stay true to his word, and stay by her side?
Be Warned: spanking
Was it possible for Edward to fall in love with her? She already knew her feelings for him. She loved him, knew without a doubt that she did. Her feelings when it came to him had been building from that very first time he walked into the diner.
She had been captivated by him, and now, she wanted to be everything he needed.
It had been nearly two weeks since he had taken her kit from her, and she hadn’t felt the need for it. There was no weekly ritual in her life for the kit. It wasn’t like she set a day every week, and then stuck to it.
The only time she had used it was when she couldn’t stand not to. The longest she had been without hurting herself was three months. Three months she could handle. Two weeks were a piece of cake.
Cleaning the dishes, she felt Edward close beside her. He stood, drying up the dishes that she washed.
The cut on her thigh was all healed up, and she didn’t know how to tell him.
Her body was on fire for him. She wanted him so badly. Her dreams at night were getting hotter.
With no release, she was finding it hard to concentrate on anything else. His hands looked so big, and she wondered what they would be like on her body, touching her. Her imagination was running riot right now.
“My legs are fine,” she said, blurting the words out, and cringing as she finished.
“I’m sorry?”
“My leg. It’s fine. No more damage.” She had still covered it with tape just in case. She didn’t want to risk the scab opening up and bleeding.
Handing him the final plate, she cleaned the sink up and washed her hands.
“Show me,” he said.
Staring at him, and around the kitchen, she licked her dry lips. She wasn’t nervous about showing him her healed leg. No, she was more nervous about him discovering the truth of her arousal. She was wet. Even her panties were wet.
Grow up. You’re twenty-five for God’s sake. Get your shit together.
Unbuttoning her jeans, she lowered the zipper and wriggled the jeans down to her knees. The shirt she wore covered her thighs, so she lifted it up. All she wanted to do was cover up. Most of her old scars were faded, some of them just silvery strips similar to wounds made in surgery. Only hers were not perfect.
She had never gone too deep, or hurt herself to the point that she needed to go to the hospital for stitches. As with all things in her life, she had been careful.
Holding her shirt at the apex of her thighs, she was praying that he didn’t notice her wet panties, or the scent of her arousal.
Isabel truly believed that she could smell herself. Edward knelt down, and she watched him as he removed the Band-Aid from her thigh. The scab was nice and clean. For as long as she could, she kept it exposed so the scab would form quickly. She had even opted for some skirts to help with the process, only long skirts though, down to her ankles, hiding everything.
“Remove your jeans,” he said.
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