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control anytime he saw me on campus talking to another guy, even if I was with a whole group of people. One night, he came in totally blasted on I don’t know what, and I ended up in the emergency room.”
    David sat up, clenching his fists tightly. “If that guy was around now, I’d put him in the hospital.”
    Jessica smiled but looked sad. “I moved out and stayed with a girlfriend, but he stalked me. One night, he broke into the apartment in the middle of the night and woke me with a knife to my throat. He swore he’d kill me if I didn’t have sex with him right then and there. I pretended to want him, and when he got distracted enough to let go of the knife, I grabbed it and told him to get the hell out.”
    Jessica’s voice broke, and it was a few seconds before she could continue.
    “There was a struggle, and the knife pierced his chest when he lunged at me. He died later that night on the way to the hospital. After a long and horrible investigation, they ruled it self-defense. It was awful at school after the incident, but I gutted it out the last few months and finished my associate degree.”
    David was overcome with emotion. He’d never known anyone who had anything like that happen to them.
    “Jessica, how awful!” he finally managed to say. “Were your parents there to support you?”
    Jessica shook her head. “My dad died when I was two. My mom had a string of boyfriends, and the latest one was the reason I had gone away to school.”
    “What to you mean?”
    Jessica looked down and fiddled with her coffee mug. “He liked to visit my bedroom when my mom had night shifts at the hospital. She didn’t believe me when I told her what he did, so as soon as I had saved some money, I took off for the community college. I’d gotten a scholarship for tuition, but I had to pay my own living expenses.”
    She looked up at David. “So, I worked part time at a local attorney’s office and finished a two-year paralegal program, which gave me the training to come to New York to work while I finished my Bachelor’s degree and now law school.”
    “And when did you start seeing the therapist?”
    “I’ve been seeing her ever since I came to New York. I have excellent medical benefits from work, and it was a no-brainer, really, especially since it seemed that every relationship I had turned abusive on some level. That’s when she said BDSM communities had rules to protect a submissive personality and provided a safe environment. She said that I could trust someone with proper training, so that’s how I came to Club Manhattan.”
    David looked into her blue eyes. He took hold of both her hands.  
    “Jessica, even without training at Club Manhattan, I would never hurt a woman in that way. I despise bullies, especially scum that prey on women. But, it’s true that our training is to protect a sub from harm or injury while pushing the limits of giving pleasure. So, I’m grateful to your therapist for sending you there.”
    He let go of her hands and leaned back in his chair. It was time to reveal his past.
    “In a strange way, what brought me here was an abusive man in my past as well.”
    Jessica gave him a quizzical look. “What?”
    David filled her in on the events with Danny, Andrea’s ex-boyfriend, and how that relationship had propelled him into the program while he completed his first year of med school.
    Jessica listened attentively. When David finished, she looked into his eyes. “So, you’re only staying in New York until you get into med school in Miami?”
    David reached over and took back her hand. “That’s what I thought. But, while you were gone this weekend, Andrea came for a visit. I didn’t plan it, I swear, it just worked out that way.”  
    Jessica nodded, although David could see she was upset.
    “But, the visit wasn’t what I hoped it would be,” he said.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I’m starting to see there’s a big difference between what goes on in the back rooms