Brawn - Laurann Dohner [116]
Brawn softly growled and his arm around her tightened. Becca didn’t turn to look at him, instead kept her gaze locked with Trisha’s.
“The police came to our condo to inform me Bradley had died in another woman’s apartment. They’d been having an affair for months and he kept her a few blocks away, rented the place as their love nest. He was into things—liked to wear leather and had his mistress whip him. He was into pain. When I got his personal items from the coroner that’s what I got in the bag. He was wearing a leather outfit when he suffered the rupture in his heart. She’d been spanking him when he died. I saw a shrink afterward. I was pretty confused and emotionally messed up. She told me that some men need to be dominated the way Bradley obviously did, that some men enjoy that kind of pain to get off and he knew I’d never be into that. It’s why he rarely touched me. It’s why…” Becca wiped her eyes. “No matter what I did, I could never have made him happy.”
“I’m sorry,” Trisha said softly. “The shrink was right. I’ve heard of this before. Some men marry one sort of woman but have a darker side they hide. It’s the deceit and the lies that flip their switch.”
Becca shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I just don’t want to make the same mistake twice and end up being that unhappy again. I just can’t take it.”
Trisha frowned. “I’m not sure I understand.”
Becca cleared her throat. “Can I talk to Trisha alone, Brawn?”
“No.” His hold on her tightened. “Tell me why you are crying and why you are crying over your dead husband. Do you still love him?”
“God no!” Becca immediately regretted her outburst. She locked her gaze on Trisha.
“Just talk to me and try to forget he’s here. He’s worried and he needs to know why you’re so upset.” Trisha’s voice softened as she glanced at Brawn. “You just be quiet and let her talk.”
Becca took a breath. “The first time I saw Brawn I thought…” She sniffed. “I thought he had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. He was so hot. I was attracted to him instantly. I—” She suddenly laughed. “I thought he’d make a great stripper with that body and wished I could see him out of his clothes.”
Trisha grinned. “They do like to dance. You should have Brawn take you to the bar at the hotel.”
“Then he told me why he would never touch someone like me.”
Brawn tensed. “Becca—”
Trisha shot him a glare. “Shut up. Not a word. Let her talk. If you won’t leave than be quiet and stop interrupting.”
He softly growled but he didn’t speak. Brawn shifted on the bed, getting more comfortable. Becca realized he wasn’t going to leave.
“Keep going. Talk to me,” Trisha urged. “I want to hear this. Why wouldn’t he be with you?”
“He thinks we’re too frail. He likes not to restrain himself, to have rougher sex than our bodies can handle.”
Trisha didn’t look surprised. “They could easily hurt us. They sometimes use their teeth and they are very aggressive. It’s a valid fear, Becca. There are a lot of Species men who say they won’t touch human females because of that. They are afraid they’d…break them somehow. Tear them up inside. Snap a bone by accident. Some of them like to wrestle a bit with a female before sex. If my husband wrestled with me the way some of them do, I’d probably be in a body cast.” Trisha smiled to soften her words. “But Slade doesn’t hurt me. If you are afraid Brawn will hurt you I can understand that but you’ll both learn how to balance it out so no one gets hurt.”
“I’m not afraid of him hurting me.” Becca shook her head. “It’s Bradley all over again. Don’t you see that? Brawn needs things I can’t ever give him. He can’t be as rough as he wants and is always going