didn’t send her directly into Jasper’s arms, and came to rest on the edge of the stage. Even barefoot as she usually was for dancing, the four-foot drop posed a risk. If she slipped, if she landed wrong...but there was no stopping her once she made up her mind.
Jasper lunged for her, missed her arm by a hair, and closed his eyes as she made the leap.
The landing jarred her, sent her stumbling forward into the crowd. Several hands reached out to steady her, but she just shoved through people, heading for the exit. Definitely not thinking. An arm’s length away from Atticus, she pulled up short, backpedaled quickly as the big man held out his hand, palm up, and smiled at her.
She bolted, heading back toward the stage and her hidey-hole, but both Connie and Jasper were waiting for her now. Frantic, frazzled, she spun in a circle as Dominants and submissives alike tried to calm her down.
“Please tell me you’re going to put her out of her misery,” Liam snapped from behind him. “I can’t watch this, Braun.”
No, neither could he. He shoved away from the bar without answering his friend, striding into the center of chaos. She was whimpering, slapping at the hands that dared reach out as he approached.
Braun didn’t hesitate. He ducked as she swung at him, tucked his shoulder into her midriff, and folded her into position as her fists hammered on his back. Pinning her legs with his arm, he simply turned around and carried her silently to his office.
Closing the door, he locked it and stood stoically, taking each blow without a word. Her pain was tangible and hurt him more than her tiny hands ever could. Her silence was deafening.
As the minutes ticked by, her legs stopped kicking and the ferocity of her fists waned. Even when she hung limp, he didn’t move, didn’t say a word.
It was only when the first explosive sob ripped through her that he eased her carefully to her feet. He’d organized what he thought he’d need hours before, stacking items on the couch to the right of his desk.
Once he started this, he wasn’t moving for anything.
Not until they were on the same page.
With an arm around her waist, he half-carried half-guided her where he wanted her as the keening sound of a woman on the edge echoed around the room. Somehow, he was the cause of this, and he couldn’t stand it.
“Darlin’, I’m going to put the blanket around you. If you’re comfortable with doing so, I’d like you to strip down to your underwear. Can you do that for me?” Braun had no idea whether she could even hear him through her pain.
Sobs wracked her body as she lifted her arms like a child.
Braun gritted his teeth and grasped the hem of her black lacy shirt. She’d improved her dress standards for the club, he noticed, upping the sexiness with every weekend that passed. He lifted the shirt up and over her head and arms, and Bodie immediately wrapped her arms around her waist.
Christ, he’d never seen so many tears come out of a woman.
He ignored the swell of her breasts in their tiny sports bra and hooked his fingers into the waistband of the high-cut spandex shorts clinging to her hip bones.
His girl was cruising for a spanking for letting herself deteriorate this far.
Hands gentle, he worked the shorts down her lean, toned legs to her feet, sinking onto his haunches. “Grab onto my shoulders, little one. Use me to balance.”
Her knees buckled as he removed the material from around her second foot; Braun surged up, hooking his arm under her butt and anchoring her to his body. A fierce sense of protectiveness washed through him when she smushed her face into his chest and clung. “All this running away from me, little one. What the hell’s been going through your head?”
He yanked the blanket off the couch, shook it out one-handed, and bundled her into it where she stood. She keened quietly when he urged her back a step to tuck it around her front, then choked on another harsh sob when he scooped her up and stretched himself along the couch with her curled on top of him, propping his back against the arm for support.
Braun checked she was fully covered by the blanket, then settled in for the long haul. One arm curled over her waist. His free hand stroked wherever he could reach. He said nothing because he