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I need to stop that voice screaming Mom is going to die and she's not even fucking interested in sharing her treatment with you.
I go straight to Lacey and wrap my arms around her. She sinks into the embrace. She needs me right now. She needs someone making this feel normal.
And I want to be that person.
I need to be that person—it's my fault she's in this fucking position. But it's more than duty. It's something deep inside me that wants something deep inside her.
"Let me buy you lunch," I murmur.
She shakes her head. "I'm not hungry."
It's still early. It's a normal response. It doesn't mean her mood is destroying the parts of her body that want.
From the way she's pressing her palms against my back, digging my t-shirt into my skin, it's safe to say she wants plenty.
That's what will get her out of her head. And me out of mine.
I brush her hair behind her ear and lean down to whisper. "Let's go to a hotel."
"Not my place?"
"Too far with traffic."
She nods as she looks up at me. Her brown eyes are wide with that mix of need and desire. "You're right. Even the bathroom in the corner is too far."
There's a nice hotel a ten-minute drive away. It takes too fucking long to get there and check in, but it's worth it for the way Lacey's eyes go wide as she takes in the room.
It's a suite with an inviting king bed, a plush sofa in the corner, and a minibar stocked with all the this will ease your inhibitions one person could handle.
But the view is what really impresses. We can see all of Los Angeles, from Malibu down to Long Beach all the way over to the start of downtown. Lacey presses her fingers against the glass as she looks out at the miles of coastline.
I set my duffel bag on the armchair in the corner and get out what I need.
Lacey turns to me with a half-smile. She motions to the riding crop then the restraints system. "You carry that around with you?"
"I've been keeping it in my car since my parents moved back in."
"Oh." She steps away from the glass. "You didn't think to leave the restraints for them?"
I make that ew face Piper always makes when Joel teases her about my interest in bondage.
Lacey laughs. She recognizes it immediately. "I guess nobody wants to think about their family members tied up."
r /> "Or tying people up." I slide my arms around her waist and pull her body into mine. "You're hurting right now?"
"More shook up than hurting, but yeah."
"Danielle say awful shit?"
She nods.
I slide my hand into her hair then cup the back of her head with my palm. It feels right, supporting her like this. Right now, I'm exactly where I want to be. All the shit weighing me down is somewhere outside this room and it's not getting in.
And that's even more terrifying than it was last time I was with her.
"I hate asking anything of you right now." She rests her forehead against my chest. "You're going through so much."
"You are too."
