Page 38 of Hunting Little Hope
“Daddy…” she said, softer this time. Intentional.
I leaned my forehead against hers. “Yeah, button.”
“Will you kiss me again?”
My hand slid to the back of her neck, steady and warm. “Of course I will,” I murmured. “But slow.”
She nodded immediately. Good girl. My mouth moved against hers with patience, giving her something solid to lean into instead of something that would sweep her away.
When I pulled back, her expression was much calmer. I felt an insane amount of pride at helping calm her anxieties.
“I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day. Let us get you back inside and fed with something other than picnic snacks.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she whispered before standing on her toes and softly pressing her lips against mine in one last chaste kiss.
A chaste kiss that did nothing to calm the raging erection in my pants.
Chapter Sixteen
Hope
Perry’s hand in mine felt like a tether that kept me glued to the ground.
My—wow, wasn’t that a trip to say—Daddies insisted that I needed to have a decent meal before they would take me back to my room for the evening.
Perry had then advised that we should maybe go to the main cafeteria for dinner, because all the Rawhide residents had been given the okay to mingle with the guests for the event.
And apparently this would be the perfect environment for me to mingle with other Littles and see how I liked it.
This was not something that I was ready for.
But his smile had been so big, and both Daddy Lee and Daddy Tyrell had given me big encouraging smiles, so I’d agreed.
Though I’d eaten in the room before, that had been when it was way early in the morning and practically deserted. Now, however, the closer we got to the cafeteria, the louder it became.
Laughter. Clinking silverware. Someone squealing in delight over something. The low rumble of deeper voices layered underneath it all.
My footsteps slowed, until I stopped completely. Icouldn’tdo this. I wasn’t brave or strong enough to do this.
Perry didn’t tug. He just tightened his grip on my hand and glanced back at me. “I know it’s scary, Hope. I’m scared too,” he whispered to me, his voice trembling slightly.
What did he mean he was scared, too?
He turned toward me, and stepped up so he was almost right against me. “I don’t make friends real good,” he whispered again.
My mouth fell open in shock. “But you made friends with me in like five seconds.”
As I said this, Daddy Tyrell stepped up behind his Little and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, which meant when he pulled Perry against his chest he pulled me in on their hug too.
Perry put his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder.
“That’s only because you’re special, sweetheart,” Daddy Lee said from behind me, before he folded himself around my back.
Perry looked up at me, a shimmer of tears in his eyes that hit me straight in the heart. “He’s not wrong,” he murmured. “Youarespecial. I’ve never, ever, ever connected with anyone like I did you. Other than Daddy, of course, but even then he had to convince me to open up to him.”
Oh boy. What on earth was I supposed to do with that?
“So,” he said to me, squeezing his arms tight around me. “What do you say, we both go in there together and show them how brave we are, and make some new friends?”
