Recovery (Doctor Dom Volume 5) (A BDSM & Medical Play Novella) by Tara Crescent Read Free Book Online

why yet another relationship was failing, and I saw you and that girl there.”
    “Lisa,” I said. “Her name is Lisa.”
    She nodded. “I don’t want you back, Patrick. I was wrong to interfere with what you had with Lisa. I used you as a crutch our entire marriage, and I used Liam as a crutch until that backfired in my face rather spectacularly. All my life, I’ve leaned on someone, instead of learning to stand on my own two feet. It’s time I changed who I am.”
    I tried not to gape at her. For the longest time, I’d questioned my judgement after Andrea. Wondered how I could have been so wrong about the girl I’d fallen in love with.
    The inner strength evidently needed a near-death experience to emerge.
    “What next then?” I asked her.
    “Rehab, from what Petra said,” she said. She knew Petra well. “But then? The world’s my oyster, isn’t it?” She smiled sadly. “I could go to Italy to eat, or to India to meditate, or some such thing.”
    “I think they already made that movie,” I replied automatically. “Andrea,” I said, working through the words in my head so they wouldn’t sound glib or superficial. “You aren’t alone. We will never be a couple again, but you have people that care about you here. And though you drive me insane most of the time, that includes me.”
    “Funny, that’s almost exactly what my dad said,” she responded with a short laugh. “I don’t deserve your understanding, Patrick,” she added softly. “But I do appreciate it. You still seeing Lisa?”
    I nodded. “It’s long-term,” I told her, just so there would be no misunderstandings.
    She smiled at me again. “I’m glad,” she said. “I look forward to seeing more of her.”
    We talked some more, about nothing v ery important, and then her eyelids started to droop, and as if on cue, Petra appeared and ordered me out.
    ***
    In the hospital corridor, just outside Andrea’s room, I took a long, deep breath. I had the feeling I’d finally gotten closure on my difficult relationship with Andrea. And I was filled with a sense of promise about the future.
     

Chapter 7
     
    Lisa:
    I really like reading advice columns. It’s one of my gu ilty pleasures. My favourite letters are the kind where you want to smack the letter writer for being all kinds of an idiot.
    Dear Ann,
    My boyfriend is perfect. He’s smart and funny and kind. Except, we have this one problem. I really can’t stand the way he loads the dishwasher! He doesn’t pre-rinse. Even though our dishwasher is new, and all the glasses come out sparkling, I still think he should do it my way.
    I know this seems trivial, but it’s starting to become a major annoyance. Is this a deal-breaker?
    Sincerely, ‘I need good sense slapped into me’.
    I was becoming that crazy woman wh o needed sense slapped into me. I was the one focusing on one thing so much that I was starting to lose any sense of perspective. I could have been that letter writer, if you substituted ‘dominating me during sex’ for ‘loading the dishwasher’.
    Three weeks had gone by, and Patrick and I were spending a lot of time together, and really enjoying ourselves. We ate out. We watched movies and argued about Netflix queues. We drove down to Buffalo to watch the Bills lose in glorious fashion to the Patriots. We took turns cooking for each other. We hung out with each other’s friends.
    In short, everything was perfect. Except, of course, the lack of BDSM sex.
    At first, I had thought that Patrick’s reluctance to jump back into a D/s relationship with me would dissipate quickly. But it hadn’t. I understood that three weeks wasn’t a lot of time, and I wasn’t exactly being patient. But the connection between us had been so perfect. So easy, yet so trusting.
    He had said repeatedly that his issues about BDSM weren’t about me. Intellectually, I understood that. But viscerally? I blamed myself. Had I been a better submissive and taken more responsibility for my