’ Lacie could feel the soft fabric of Master’s shirt against her cheek, she could hear his heartbeat. Too fast. Rapid staccato thudding in his che...t. Master’s heart was supposed to be strong and slow. Calm. This was wrong. This wasn’t right. Her delusions were off. Master shouldn’t be in pain. He shouldn’t be exerting himself. ‘Lacie, you’re frightening me. Open your eyes. Please, Lace. Open your eyes.’ Lacie burrowed her face into his chest. Weakly lifting her hand, Lacie pressed it to the. ‘You’d better be saving that for me.’ ‘All yours, dear,’ I called to her from the hallway as I stepped lightly to the bathroom. ‘If you insist!’ I laughed to myself as I closed the door. I didn’t dally in the shower. When I came out, shaved and clean and wrapped in my towel, I stepped into the bedroom expecting to see her there, waiting for me, but the room was empty. I felt a moment of dismay, a remnant of high school dates that didn’t pan out and misread signals from college girls who had let. Right now, she needed to mend this fence, alone with her father. Hans slowly nodded, thoughtful. ‘I think I can do that,’ I could see Gretchen let out a breath, ‘but there will be times that we’ll be together, Kat and me, while you are there. I can’t tell her what to do, anymore than I can tell you, so what should I do?’ ‘Let us settle it ourselves,’ Gretchen said bluntly, any hint of fragility gone. ‘She and I will never get along. And she will never accept my wife,’ she said with a smile at. He took a deep breath, and raised my leg further, until his lips were almost touching my blood. I saw him lick his lips. He broke his gaze away, but still flicked his eyes back to my leg. Finally he looked me square in my eyes. Let me taste. Please? I didnt say yes, but I didnt show any form of rejection, so he dipped his head back down and pressed his lips on my bloodied shin. I didnt know what to do, didnt know where to put my hands, so I wrapped them around myself, clutching the towel closer.