“What did he say?”

“Which time?”

She raised a brow. “So you’ve asked more than once?”

I thought back to the island, but all I remembered was the raging need he’d ignited inside me. I remembered his hands on me, his mouth, his body sheltering mine. The breathless quality of his words as he’d slid inside my soul, where even now, he still resided. I couldn’t bear to relive those fleeting minutes in the hospital when his kiss had breathed life into me.

“I don’t remember.” I didn’t know this woman, and I wasn’t about to tell her my most intimate moments.

Her pen scraped across the page, stroke after stroke, nicking my sanity. I imagined jumping from the couch and ripping that pen from her hands. Tearing the paper to shreds.

“Alexandra—”

“It’s Alex.” I clenched my hands. “My dad is the only one who calls me that.”

The lines around her mouth softened. “Alex, why don’t you tell me about what happened at the cabin?”

I tugged at my sleeves, making sure they still covered my arms and the hideous destruction marring my skin. “I told you last week I wasn’t talking about that.”

She lifted a hand in my direction. “Yet here you are again.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice. You’re not court ordered to be here. I believe I can help you, but I can’t do it alone. You have to put some effort in too.” She tilted her head. “Okay?”

I nodded, but my throat swelled, preventing me from saying anything.

“Why did you try to kill yourself?”

“You won’t believe me.”

“You won’t know until you try.”

I pulled a hand through my curls, yanking my fingers through the tangles. “I didn’t do it because I wanted to end my life. I just wanted him to stop.”

She sat up straighter. “Someone was hurting you?”

Chewing on my lip, I nodded. “I can’t say who.”

“Whatever you tell me is confidential, Alex.”

“I can’t say.”

Scribble, scribble, scribble.

“Do you have to write everything down?” Regretting the bite of my tone, I winced.

“This bothers you?” She lifted the notepad.

“Haven’t you switched to an iPad or something by now?” I crossed my arms. “You know, something password protected?”

Her tiny mouth curved up. “I find the simple task of writing soothing. Maybe you should try it. Jotting down your thoughts and feelings can be very therapeutic.”