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I slid my fingers down to her wrists, guiding her hands to my head while I leaned forward and kissed up her stomach, between her breasts, up her throat as I slowly stood. I guided her hands down my chest, my stomach, until I set them on my belt.

“Can you help me? I really need your help.”

She nodded, relief stealing the tension from her shoulders. She didn’t want a spotlight on her pain right now.

I wondered how many times she’d gotten drunk like this. I wondered if there had been anyone out there who had taken advantage of that.

But she didn’t seem the type to give anyone a chance to take advantage of her in any way. I doubted she drank on a regular basis, and if she did drink, it was probably alone in a place she felt safe enough to do so.

So she felt safe here?

I brushed a thumb beneath her eye. “I love it when you’re good for me. When you listen to me, when you do as I say without hesitation. God, I really love that.”

Her flushed cheeks darkened as she fumbled with the buckle, getting it undone after three tries. Her fingers were shaking as she pushed out the button and unzipped my pants, grazing my throbbing erection. When she looked up at me, like she wanted confirmation that she’d done well, I couldn’t stop myself from leaning down and taking her lips in mine. She tasted like whiskey, and a small moan escaped her as I pulled away. “Good work, darling. Thank you.”

I shucked off my pants and boxers in one go, stepping out of them, then pulled my shirt off over my head. Her eyes were glued to my dick, and when she bit her bottom lip, I almost lost it. I grabbed the base of my cock and squeezed, closing my eyes. When the near-orgasm faded into a dull, throbbing ache once more, I sucked in a breath and opened my eyes.

Whitney was staring up at me with an intensity that forced me to turn my back on her before I did something I regretted.

She didn’t need a cold shower. I wanted to give her something soothing, and a warm bath would be better. Quickly playing with the dial and plugging the tub, I made sure the water was set to hot and let it fill.

Once it was halfway full, I held out my hand to her. She let me guide her into the tub, I stepped in behind her, and sat down. She looked back at my hard cock, then raised her eyes to mine, and I laughed. “Come here.” I braced my hands on her forearms as she lowered herself down, then wrapped my arms around her as the tub kept filling around us. As soon as she was leaning against my chest, she relaxed into me, her head falling back onto my shoulder.

“Your dick is stabbing me in the back,” she mumbled.

“Not much I can do about that. Sorry,” I said, kissing her temple as she scoffed.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and when the tub was full I leaned forward and turned off the water, then got comfortable. Whitney turned her face into my throat, her nose brushing beneath my jaw.

“Where have you been?” I asked softly. The anxious energy that had been buzzing through me for days had slowly started to wane, but it still waited for any sign that she’d return right back to where she’d been.

She set her hands on my thighs, fingers rubbing my skin in soft little strokes. That was going to slowly drive me mad.

“Whitney. Where have you been?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been right here.”

I shook my head and tapped her temple. “No, you’ve been somewhere else for days now. So where have you been?”

I was dying for her to tell me. To trust me with her pain. To give me at least an ounce of it, if that was all she could give. Anything. And maybe it was wrong of me to try and take advantage of her when she was drunk, but I didn’t fucking care. She was locked up so tight all the time that I was starting to think it would be impossible to reach her.

Her voice hardened as she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re done here, so⁠—”

She tried pulling away from me, but I held her firmly. “No, we’re not done here.” She stopped struggling, going limp in my hold. Her little ragdoll routine had my lips twitching. “I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do with you. How to help you. But you don’t want my help.” She opened her mouth, and I could tell by her expression it wasn’t to say anything kind, so I kept talking. “No, don’t you dare. Don’t.”

All the impatience, anger, and fear that I was slowly losing her came rushing out of me in an instant, and with it, every bit of resolve to take things at her pace dried up. My heart pounded violently against my rib cage as I said in a voice rife with emotion, “It has been fucking painful watching you hide further and further inside yourself. I can’t do it anymore.” With that admission, I buried my face in her neck as the overwhelming onslaught of emotions became too much. Inhaling her scent, I told her, “My mom used to withdraw from the world for long periods of time, and no matter how hard Cade and I tried to help her, we couldn’t. So please don’t tell me nothing is wrong when everything is wrong, Whitney. Just talk to me. Please.”

Tentative fingers threaded their way through my hair, and I shuddered at her touch. She rubbed up my thigh with her other hand, a soft acknowledgment of my pain.

I thought maybe I was starting to understand how to reach her. Whenever I gave her parts of myself, vulnerable moments from my messy past, she softened to me.

I didn’t mind giving her everything if it meant I’d get a single crumb of her soul.

But god, I was a greedy, selfish man, and I wanted all of her.

“I just feel really lost,” she admitted quietly. There was a long pause, and then she said even softer, “Especially with you. You are so fucking confusing.”

“Mm. What about me is confusing?”