fear and fascination

"Then he tried to persuade me to follow the 'natural way' and to refrain from what he regarded as a criminal act. We stayed there for a long time, huddled over a table in the Café Métropole, near the entrance. He couldn't bring himself to leave. I felt that his determination to make me change my mind was underpinned by a powerful emotion combining fear and fascination. Men found my desire to abort strangely enticing."

~~ from Happening by Annie Ernaux