Young, Allyson - Broken [Running to Love 2] (Siren Publishing Allure) by Allyson Young

cornered him one night at the club, and Kyle confessed that he had let her go.
    “Are you nuts, man?” Andrew’s tone was incredulous. “After finding your One, you just let her go?”
    Kyle shrugged and tried to avoid further conversation but Andrew wasn’t finished.
    “You look like shit, you clearly aren’t taking care of yourself. You’re working every day of the week and not taking time to play!”
    Kyle recognized that his interest in life was minimal and rote, and that he wasn’t getting any better. He actually made an appointment to see a therapist, cancelling it at the last minute. Finally, he called Devon and asked if he could talk with them and Alexandra. Devon was cautious, as Alexandra had given birth to their son just five months previous, but agreed that Kyle could come over the following evening.
    That night was one of the most harrowing times of his life, filled with painful revelations. While Alex was not at all like Tabitha, their upbringing reflected the lack of nurture both had endured. Alex had thought she’d miraculously found a future, only to have it torn from her by dint of manipulation and lack of communication, further complicated by masculine pride and ego. The fact that Devon and Jeff had been able to bring her back into their lives was another miracle, one that neither took lightly to the extent that they had relinquished all ties to BDSM clubs and much of the lifestyle. Kyle understood that in surrendering to him, Tabitha had taken a chance few people with her history would ever have taken even given several lifetimes, and was further humbled by it.
    Alexandra had looked at him out of her silvery-gray eyes, skewering him with a glance. She had held her child protectively, and Kyle knew that he wouldn’t like what she had to say. “Your Tabitha took the biggest chance in her life with you, Kyle. I know. I did the same thing with my men, and if she is anything like me, she won’t be doing very well without you. She’ll be a shadow of herself. You need to find her.”
    So he found a trauma therapist and consulted with her on several occasions. Nothing he learned was a real surprise to him, but he came to accept that in order to deal with what she naturally perceived was the ultimate breach of trust, Tabitha would have regressed to the person she was prior to being with him, and that her defenses would be reinforced and even more indefatigable. There was no way for someone with Tabitha’s history to interpret the training video other than believing Kyle’s feelings for her were in no way different than how he felt about any other submissive, especially when Kyle had never professed his love for her. This had reduced her to nothing when she had come to believe that she actually meant something to someone. Kyle had been correct in wondering that if he had forced her with punishment and pleasure that night in the hotel, she could have broken along irreparable lines. The therapist was not hopeful that she had not already done so. Kyle was far more concerned by the therapist’s contention that, while Tabi’s defenses would be well constructed simply in order to survive, there was a very real chance that someone could shatter them, just as Kyle feared, a predator who could sense the ultimate victim to despoil forever. Kyle knew how many such people were out there in the world and made the decision to find her and somehow fix things.
    The private investigator Kyle hired had called that morning to say he believed he had found Tabi, although the woman didn’t really sound like Tabi and had a different name. And this woman lived in Oregon. Still, the house was in the name of Tabitha Land, so perhaps she was renting to someone who could point Kyle in the right direction. The PI hadn’t been able to interview the woman, held off by the two large dogs guarding the property, but had photos of her in the yard and on the porch to share.
    Kyle stared at the pictures attached to an email from the