with Laurel. She’d also been cool about whatever Noelle wanted to do with the stairs. When Noelle had chosen the elevator, Erin had sighed in what seemed like pure contentment and gone up with her, cursing her brother-in-law because he’d never had to go up those suckers in a pair of five-inch heels. “I can make it up if I’m on a cane, but these babies make it a little more awkward. I should be back on the cane next week.”
Because Hutch was taking such good care of her. He made sure she rested but somehow managed to not make her feel self-conscious about it. He never demanded. He persuaded, like if she would let him do this thing for her, it would make him happy.
Going to bed without him was getting harder and harder to do.
But she knew what he wanted. He wanted her to give up the class and focus exclusively on him, and then she wouldn’t have this crazy, excited feeling that she was going on an adventure, that she was exploring with people like her, people who didn’t know everything, who were on her level.
“No one’s going to care if you’re on your cane or you need to use your chair,” Laurel explained. “This is a place where we take people as they come. It’s also a place where ex-soldiers come to play. You will see a whole lot of prosthetics here. It’s fun to figure out how to use the equipment. Kinksters can be incredibly inventive.”
She could see Hutch plotting and planning how to make every experience good for her. She would have trouble with some of the apparatuses because it would be hard for her to stay in position for a long period of time. But Hutch wouldn’t let that stop him if he wanted to spank her on it. He would adapt it to her needs.
Some of her excitement faded because she wished he was standing here beside her.
“Hey, sweetie, I’m not joking. This is a good place,” Laurel was saying.
She shook her head. “I wasn’t worried about being accepted. I met several of the other subs in the locker room and they seem great. I was thinking about something else. Someone else.” She shouldn’t have said that. “Please forget I mentioned it. I’m excited to be here. I was telling Erin how much I’ve been looking forward to taking this class.”
“Someone?” Laurel’s eyes went wide even as her voice went low. “Do you have a boyfriend? Lila didn’t mention a boyfriend. We should think about this if your boyfriend isn’t into the lifestyle. I know you don’t have to have sex to practice D/s but, honey, there’s going to be sex.”
Noelle shook her head. “No. I don’t. No boyfriend.”
But she had to admit that she might want one. The days with Hutch had been a revelation. They had pointed out how nice it was to have something beyond work to look forward to. He was even starting to charm Cara. He’d invited her to dinner the night before and then they’d played games. At the end of the evening Cara had grinned and told her she took back saying Kyle was hotter than Hutch.
Because Hutch was so much hotter, and it had everything to do with how he could make her feel.
“But there’s a guy you like,” Laurel prompted.
She wanted to talk, but Laurel was her stepmom’s sister, and her younger one at that. She’d come to realize Lila ruled the roost in the Daley family dynamic. Her younger sisters came to her for advice, and they would definitely report back to her if they thought something was up. Lila considered Noelle a daughter, and she would definitely want updates. “It’s someone at work.”
“It’s Hutch.” Erin moved in beside Laurel. “At least I hope it is because Hutch is acting like a mopey bitch, and everyone at the office knows it’s about his client. Well, most of us do. Li and I were talking about paying her to do Hutch so we can get him to do work without the sad puppy eyes. I asked him to run a couple of traces for me on a business guy in San Francisco named Noel and I swear he sat there and stared at the work order and actually touched the name on the page. It was the saddest most Hallmark shit I have ever seen. Please do Hutch, Noelle. Please.”
She felt her cheeks flame. She’d known he was going into the office while