Page 52 of Hunting Little Hope
I stared at it.
I wanted it.
Dear Lord, I wanted it.
My mouth practically ached at the thought. My whole body felt too tight, too raw, too exposed in this in-between space of almost-crying again.
But—
“I don’t need that,” I said softly, forcing the words out past the sudden lump in my throat.
Tyrell’s expression didn’t change. “You won’t know until you give it a try.”
Lee’s thumb continued its slow, absent stroke against my stomach, distracting me from the negative thoughts fighting to come to the surface.
My teeth sank into my bottom lip. “I’m not—” I took a deep breath and tried again. “That isn’t for me. I don’t need it.”
Tyrell crouched slightly so he was more level with me. “Button, neither of us will force you into doing something you don’t want to do. If you tell us here and now that you really don’twantit, then I won’t force the issue.”
The words landed somewhere deep.
Lee’s voice softened. “You cried yourself sick, sweetheart. If something helps settle your nervous system, that’s not a weakness.”
My chest squeezed painfully. “I feel stupid,” I admitted in a whisper.
“You’re not,” Lee said immediately.
Tyrell wiggled the pacifier slightly, and my eyes tracked the movement like a predator stalking its prey.
“Just try it,” he encouraged. “Five minutes. If you hate it, I’ll personally throw it in the trash and you’ll never have to see it again.”
I hesitated.
Perry let out a small sigh in his sleep and tightened his grip on my thigh.
Five minutes. I could do that, and no one else had to know.
Slowly, as if I were accepting a live bomb instead of a piece of molded silicone, I reached out and took it. It was lighter than I expected. The sparkles on the bow winked at me in the soft lamplight coming from the bedside table. My pulse thudded in my ears.
Lee and Tyrell didn’t say anything else. Didn’t rush me. Both Daddies patiently waited for me to make the next move.
I glanced once more at Perry—still dead to the world. Then, heart pounding so fast I thought it would escape from my chest, I brought the silicone nipple to my mouth.
Chapter Twenty-One
Perry
I woke up warm.
Not just warm—wrapped up. Safe and protected in the best way.
For a second, I didn’t open my eyes. I just burrowed closer into whatever I was holding, breathing in something soft and faintly sweet.
Then my brain caught up.
Oh.Oh.
Hope.
