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emotion. Something about the way he said it touched her.
    “He tied me up with wire.” She tried to keep her tone conversational, not wanting to seem overly-dramatic. It was easier to pretend she was talking about somebody else this way. “David went out to work and left me lying there. I struggled a little, and the wire bit into my skin. It got infected—otherwise, I don’t think the scars would be so bad.” Panic started to rise up through her throat again, and she swallowed it down before it could steal her breath. She hated the way her memories made her feel so vulnerable.
    Murphy swallowed hard. “He did this on purpose?” His voice had an edge of disbelief to it, but she wasn’t sure if it was aimed at her words or David’s actions.
    She tried to reply but the words wanted to remain buried. She willed her tongue to form them and her larynx to bring them to life. It was some moments before she finally managed to croak them out. “He liked to watch me bleed.”
    “Fuck!” Murphy slammed the palm of his hand against the tiled wall, and the sudden violence of his action made her jump. He pulled his hand back, shaking out the pain, still muttering oaths beneath his breath. When he brought his gaze back to her face, there was a look of anger and betrayal in his expression that made her shiver. His barely suppressed fury scared the hell out of her.
    He stared at her for a long minute like she was crazy, and his eyes flashed like a battle was being waged behind them. Maybe it was wishful thinking or a misplaced sense of justice, but a small part of her hoped he was beginning to believe what she was saying. He rolled his shoulders and let his face turn blank. “We need to get out of here.” He gestured for her to join him in the stall. She looked up at his jaw, his stubble shadowy and dark in the dim light of the bathroom. “I was going to tie you up while I did this.” He squeezed his body behind her into the cubicle. “But I guess you might not like that too much.”
    Rachel licked her lips, noticing for the first time he was taking her feelings into account. Perhaps there was a part of him that was starting to see the truth.
    Her head shifted up to look at him and she pulled her eyebrows together, frowning slightly. “I used to love being tied up.” Her voice was soft. “Until I met that twisted asshole.”
    Murphy’s breath hitched. Somewhere in the messed up atmosphere, Rachel felt the balance of power shift toward her, and it thrilled her. Suddenly, her shield had become her weapon. She decided to push her luck, glancing down at his crotch. “Would you like me to hold it for you?”
    His bark of laughter was genuine and his grin crooked. Tension seeped out of him like air from a pierced balloon. “As I said before—maybe later, sweetheart. In the meantime, try not to drool.”
    She shrugged. “Your loss.”
    It was cramped in the stall and she was forced to lean back against the door, watching his denim-clad ass flex as he dragged his zipper down. Angling her head to the right, she could see a hint of smooth flesh as he pulled his cock out, enough to make her want more. There was something about watching him in the bathroom that felt dirty and wrong, almost like she was a peeping tom. She didn’t have to see his face to know he was enjoying the attention.
    Damned if she wasn’t enjoying it too. Maybe a little too much. Her body felt like it had been in hibernation, her cells stretching and vibrating with life. It had been too long since she’d last felt this way, like she was able to make a man fall at her knees. Now the sensation was back, dancing around her skin, coiling in her stomach like a spring. She wanted him. All of him. Not just to protect her, not just to divert him. Desire was drowning her instincts until she wasn’t sure how to react.
    Pleasure pulsed through her veins when she saw he was semi-hard. She wanted to reach out and run her finger around the engorged tip, forcing