Page 39 of Bloodlust

It felt safe.

It's not his voice this time, but for some reason, it feels safe to walk again.

"Okay," I whisper, putting one foot in front of the other in controlled, careful movements, tuning out everything other than Hayden's instructions.

Walk. Stop. Turn. Left. Right. Walk. Stop. Repeat.

The further we walk, the more my hesitation seems to wane. At no point do I fall. At no point do I trip. At no point do I stumble and crash. He's keeping me upright. He's keeping me standing. But more importantly, he's keeping his word.

I appreciate a man with a strong verbal handshake. Those types of men earn my trust. Not instantly but eventually. Hayden tells me to stop again once we cross a street. I hope his word doesn't waver. It would be a shame to cut out such an intriguing tongue.

"You can take the blindfold off now," he says. "We're here."

I slide off the tie, squinting as my eyes adjust to the sunlight. I frown, looking around Central Park. "Andwhyare we here?"

"It's a beautiful day." He gestures to a bench. His playful gaze flits across my face. "Or would you prefer to sit in my office and talk?"

I sigh. "We're going to talk now?"

"Thatishow this works." He removes his blazer and rolls up his sleeves. "So? Here or in my office? Your choice."

"Would you let me smoke in your office?" I ask, taking a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket as I sit down on the wooden bench.

"No." He takes a seat beside me and angles his body toward me. "Definitely not."

"Then I suppose this works." I light the smoke and take a drag, fiddling with his tie in my other hand. My eyes narrow before flicking up to Hayden. Interesting. "Nice knot, Doc. This blindfold wasn't going anywhere, huh?"

Hayden cocks his head to the side, amusement tugging his lip. "A girl scout?"

"No," I smirk, ashing my smoke as I meet his curious gaze. "Just a fan of tying things up." I pause. "Really,really, tight."

"That's good..." Hayden clenches his right fist, the muscles in his forearm tensing as he clears his throat. "It's important to have basic survival training."

"Right." I let out a faint laugh, pleased with myself. God, he's entertaining. "Survival training, we'll go with that."

Hayden hums in annoyed agreement before asking in a clinical tone, "How do you feel after that exercise?"

"Fine, I guess." I shrug. Great, it's starting. "You didn't let me get hit by a car or fall into a manhole, so I'd say it was a success, right?"

"If that's your definition of success then yes," he muses, hiking his ankle over his thigh. "You were quite apprehensive before we started, it's not easy giving up control, but it got easier, didn't it?"

"Mhmm," I hum uncomfortably, craning my neck toward the dog park. I smile, watching a pitbull puppy chase an older lab. "Can you believe some states have breeding bans? Look at that tiny little bean. Completelyharmless. It's people that should be banned, not animals." I sigh, glancing at Hayden who's pensive in thought. "You don't agree?"

"No, I do," he says. "Animals are like humans in my opinion. Products of their environment. No human is born evil or violent; the same goes for animals."

I take a puff of the smoke. "You think evil is a learned trait?"

"Everything stems from something, Camilla," he replies. "There's always a reason. It's what makes human psychology so fascinating. It's why I do what I do."

"And what is it that you do, Doc?" I ask. "Help people discover the reasons why their lives are fucked up? Iknowwhy my life's fucked up. I don't need to pay a shrink two hundred dollars an hour to tell me."

"Really? How self-aware," he chuckles, rubbing his chin. "Please enlighten me then. Why is your life fucked up, Camilla?"

I snort. "Nice try, Doc, but I'm not about toDear Diarya man who doesn't even know how I like my coffee in the morning." I pause, putting out the smoke. "Black, one cream, by the way."

"See? We're getting somewhere." He tilts his head. "Tell me more about yourself then. The truth this time." He expels a stifled laugh. "I had a hard time believing you were a stunt double as you jotted down on your intake form."

"Why?" I smirk, shifting closer to Hayden. "You don't think I havethestrengthorstaminato performdangerousstunts?" I place my hand on his thigh and bat my lashes. "Because believe me,I do."