Healing Inc. by Deneice Tarbox

a trail down her neck, kissing and licking, pausing occasionally to suck in places that heighted their desire.  Evy couldn’t help but savor every kiss, every caress and touch from him.  Without warning, those words from the past came flying at her.  ‘ Don’t fucking look at me bitch!’   
     
    “Stop!  Please stop!” she shouted. 
     
    She frantically pushed at Tyler who had been completely wrapped up in his passion.  He stepped back but didn’t take his hands off her waist for fear she might fall off the desk.
     
    “I’m, I’m so sorry,” she stammered jumping from the desk as though it were on fire.  “I can’t, I can’t… I’m sorry.”  Bowing her head, she put her hands over her face.  She shook her head from side to side unable to face him.  At that point, she was completely embarrassed by her outburst.
     
    Tyler noticed that she was starting to tremble while he still held onto her. “It’s okay Evy… It’s okay.” 
     
    He slowly pulled her toward him and held her, unable to ignore the way her body stiffened from the act.  After a few minutes, she began to relax against him.  He held her until the quaking subsided.  Looking down at her, he gently removed her hands from her face.  He bent down to where his face was level with hers. 
     
    “Better?” he asked warmly. 
     
    “Better.”  She reassured him with a slight smile.  She still felt like a fool for her behavior.
     
    “I’m sorry,” he apologized, righting his posture. “I let that go further than it should have.  Please forgive me.” 
     
    “It’s not your fault.  I’m a grown woman… I should have known better.”
     
    “A woman you are indeed.  However, that was not your doing.”  His hands moved up to caress her arms.  “Do you want to talk about it?”  He sensed there was more to what had just happened than what she let on.
     
    “Let’s just say that’s part of my baggage.”  She couldn’t suppress the tears that welled in her eyes.  “I should probably go now.” 
     
    Tyler stepped back, giving her room to walk around the desk and retrieve her things.  Out of nowhere, instinct stepped in and told him to stop her.  Following her route around the desk he came up behind her, placing his hands over hers, halting her activity.  He observed that she had again visibly stiffed from his touch.
     
    “I can’t let you leave like this.”  His voice was soft yet full of concern as he spoke close to her left ear.  “Please talk to me about what just happened.  I know we haven’t known each other long but I really do care for you, Evy, and I don’t want to see you like this.  Please let me help… Let me in.  I’m a strong man.  Let me help you with your baggage.” 
     
    Placing his hands on her shoulders, he turned her in his arms to face him.  “I lied when I said I just wanted dinner, I want much more than that.  I love what you do to me, Evy.  I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m around you.  I’m willing to take things as slowly as you need me to but please don’t push me away anymore.  I promise you I can help you with this if you’ll allow me to.”     
     
    Evy leaned against his desk as the words he had spoken impacted her.  She knew she wasn’t ready to tell him everything about her past but she did trust him.  “I have PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.  Most of the time I’m fine but on occasion it will hit me out of nowhere.”  She chanced a look up at Tyler who was listening attentively. 
     
    Feeling secure with him, she continued, “It was really bad the first two years after I left Chicago, that’s where everything happened.  I tried to drown it out with booze but Nita went on the war path every time I got sick from it.  That helped squash that habit.”  A slight smile crossed her lips from the memory of Nita hollering at her as she spewed her stomach contents into the toilet.  “I took up running and martial arts to