Mr. King [Book 1]

Forty-Five

Harrison was quiet for a long moment before he looked up to see Katherine looking back at him intently, waiting for him.

"You were the first woman I slept with in a year," he told her, his confession coming out barely above a whisper.

"Oh," she breathed, the sound falling out of her mouth as if she could no longer hold it in.

Harrison watched her, knowing there were many questions swirling in her brain. Questions he knew he didn't have all the answers to.

"W-why?" She asked carefully.

Harrison's stern eyes looked into hers. He was uncomfortable and it wasn't a feeling he was well accustomed to.

"Because, Katherine, I'm a sex addict," he told her, finally making her privy to his inner struggle.

"Oh," she said, her eyes looking down at her tightly knotted hands in her lap.

"Oh," she said again, her vision meeting his again, realizing what his words meant.

"The woman you saw at the house, Ava – she is my mentor," he explained.

"Oh," she said, nodding her head.

Harrison paused again, trying to gauge her reaction. She wasn't running away, which he was grateful for.

"What does it mean?" She asked quietly.

"What? That I'm a sex addict?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Yes... yeah," she replied, nodding her head slowly, sitting on the edge of her seat.

"It means I have compulsive sexual thoughts and that I act upon them... often. It also means that over time, my sexual compulsions can intensify so much that I need more and more aggressive forms of sexual exploration to feed my addiction," he explained to her. She almost looked horrified from his explanation, which festered inside of him.

"Oh," she breathed quietly, her eyes darting away from him again.

"Miss Mason," he said, getting her attention.

"Katherine," she reminded him, her restless hazel eyes looking back into his.

"Katherine—" He started to say.

"Why me?" She asked, cutting him off. He let the silence engulf them for a moment before he spoke.

"Because, Katherine. I crave you," he told her, realizing how much of a deviant it made him sound.

Katherine let out a shuddered breath from his words and he felt it deep within him. A spark skated up his spine and gave him life. He still affected her.

"Maybe you shouldn't," she replied, looking flushed and embarrassed.

"I can't control it, Katherine. I'm an addict," he told her evenly.

"Then maybe it's not a good idea that I'm here," she retorted, standing on her feet.

"Katherine, sit... please," he demanded, not wanting her to move an inch. She obeyed immediately, looking up at him with her wide eyes.

"I've learned a long time ago that there are some things I can control and some things I can't," he continued.

"And the way you feel toward me is something you can't control?" She questioned, her voice noticeably quivering.

"The way I feel about you is something I don't want to control," he told her honestly.

"Oh," she said again – her word of the night.