Life After Sexual Assault

"So I didn't say anything, because there was nothing to say and no one to say it to. He raped me twice more over the next month, before I got the nerve to run away again. Of course, they caught me. Maybe I'd wanted them to that time. I stayed in the home until I was eighteen. And when I got out, I knew no one was ever going to have that kind of control over me again. No one was ever going to make me feel like I was nothing ever again."

Unsure what to do, Colt reached up tentatively to brush a tear from her cheek. "You made your life into something, Althea."

"I made it into mine." She let out a breath, then briskly rubbed the tears from her cheeks. "I don't like to dwell on before, Colt."

"But it's there."

"It's there," she agreed. "Trying to make it go away only brings it closer to the surface. I learned that, too. Once you accept it's simply a part of what makes you what you are, it doesn't become as vital. It didn't make me hate men, it didn't make me hate myself. It did make me understand what it is to be a victim."

Nightshade 

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By Jason clendenen - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76284275

What It's Like to Reclaim Your Sex Life After Sexual Assault

That focus on a better future, many survivors say, is part of what helps them form bonds with potential partners with whom they can have healthy relationships—and repair their relationships with themselves. “There is hope,” says Lindsay. “The physical pain, the emotional pain—all that stuff is passing clouds. Joy is the sky. It’s always there.”

YAHOO!

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He plunged his hand into her hair, got a good grip to jerk her face up to his. “Pay up,” he

demanded, then closed his mouth over hers.

There it was, she thought, outrageously grateful. There was the instant thrill, the response, 

the need. It had taken nothing from her. His body moved wet and hard 

against hers, his mouth took from hers, and there was nothing, nothing but pleasure.

“Touch me.” She demanded it, using her teeth, her nails. Nothing fragile here, 

nothing damaged or in need of tending. Touch me, she thought, take me. 

Make me feel utterly, utterly human.

The Pagan Stone

Saint Christopher Medal

Althea shifted, crossed her legs with a rustle of silk. The silver dangling over his shirt 

was a Saint Christopher medal, she noted. The patron saint of travelers. 

She wondered if Mr. Nightshade felt the need for spiritual protection.

Nightshade

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By UsnGMan - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18081774

The Catholic Church honors medals as a form of religious protection. These medals often represent one of our many beloved saints, one of which is of Saint Christopher. The Saint Christopher Medal is one of the most popular around the world because of his significance in the Catholic faith.

The Saint Christopher medal is believed to protect the wearer on his or her travels. For this reason, many people wear Saint Christopher pendants around their necks, on their wrists, and some even hang the medals in their cars!

Who is Saint Christopher?

McVan Blog

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There was the usual pile of loose change on the dresser, along with a

Saint Christopher’s medal. She remembered the gris-gris in his glove

compartment and wondered how many other bases he’d covered.

Heaven and Earth

On Valentine's - "See beneath your beautiful"

He walked over, sat beside her, took her hand. "I've never told anyone I loved them before," he began. 
"I never loved anyone. Not a woman, not family, not a friend." 
"Jack." Swamped with emotion, she brushed the hair from his brow. 
"You just never had a chance to." 

Captive Star 

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What had she expected? she asked herself. 

No man would be comfortable around a woman after hearing a story like the one she'd told him. And why in God's name had she dumped out her past that way? 

How could she have trusted him with pieces of herself that she'd never given anyone before? 

Even Boyd, the person she considered her closest friend, knew only about the foster homes. As for the rest, she'd buried it-until last night. She didn't doubt that her tie to Liz had unlocked the door and let the nightmare back in. 

But she should have been able to handle it, to hold back, to safeguard her privacy.

The fact that she hadn't could mean only one thing.

Indulging in a sigh, Althea pushed herself up and rested her brow on her knees. She was in love with Colt. 

Ridiculous as it was, she had to face the truth. And, just as she'd always suspected, love made you stupid, vulnerable and unhappy. There ought to be a pill, she mused. A serum she could take. Like an antidote for snakebite. 

The sound of footsteps had her whipping her head up. 

Her eyes widened when Colt came to the doorway carrying a tray. 

He had a split second to read her reaction before she closed it off. She'd thought he'd taken a hike, he realized grimly. 

He was going to have to show the lady that he was sticking, no matter how hard she tried to shake him off. 

Nightshade

more guys than gals fall in Love at first sight

Then he shifted his gaze until it met hers. 

The tightening in his gut was unexpected-it was raw and purely sexual. 

The one fleeting instant when his mind was wiped clean as glass was more than unexpected. 

It was unprecedented. 

Power slapped against power. She took a step toward him. 

He let out the breath he'd just realized he was holding.

Nightshade

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When it comes to falling in love, a lot of guys fall hard: According to a new study of over 10,000 people, 48 percent of men say they've fallen in love at first sight, while only 28 percent of women said the same.

So are guys just more romantic than we are? I'm not so sure.

Maybe men are simply more apt to feel those fluttery butterflies right away because guys are more visual creatures while women typically take some time to get warmed up.

SHINE