“Lara, it’s time to leave now, honey.” Zac crouched beside his girl.
“Not yet, Daddy,” Lara replied absentmindedly.
Oops. That wasn’t going to go well for the small sub. He held the bed together, waiting for the glue to dry. Betsy looked over at him and he winked at her.
“Lara, Daddy said it’s time to leave. You have to get up early in the morning and I don’t want you grouchy all day because you didn’t get enough sleep.”
“Daddy, not now. I is busy playing with Betsy.”
“And you can play with her next weekend. Maybe we could even arrange a playdate.”
“Ooh, playdate. Yes!” Lara clapped her hands enthusiastically. “Let’s do that.”
“If you want a playdate with Betsy, then you need to do as you’re told now,” Zac said sternly. He stood up and held a hand out to his sub. “Come on.”
“No, Daddy. Don’t want to.” Lara poked out her bottom lip mutinously.
Ink couldn’t help but feel amused despite feeling some empathy for Zac. A tired, rebellious Little could be a handful.
“Lara, up now. Last warning.”
Lara just ignored him.
“Lara, corner now!” His voice was louder. Firmer. And he waved his hand towards the corner.
Suddenly, before Ink could blink, Betsy had situated himself between the two of them.
“Stop! Don’t hurt her!”
Fuck. He realized his mistake immediately. He’d just assumed that Betsy would take the scene in her stride, the way the other Littles were. But Betsy wasn’t used to these sorts of scenes. So far, there had only been a few minor infractions taken care of with naughty Littles that had resulted in timeout or lines.
And this was Lara, who Betsy had become friendly with.
He left the doll’s bed that he’d been fixing on the table and strode over to Betsy. Now everyone had stopped to watch.
Betsy was standing in front of Lara, her arms out as though trying to protect her from Zac. A very confused and shocked Zac who stared at Betsy like she’d grown another head.
Even Lara had been shocked out of her budding temper tantrum and was staring at Betsy.
A pale, shaking Betsy.
Shit. Shit. Christ.
“Betsy.” He kept his voice calm, soft. She wasn’t doing this to be naughty or to create problems, he could tell that immediately. She seemed to be somewhere else entirely. Her eyes were locked on Zac’s chest. “Betsy, come over to me.”
“He’s going to hurt her.”
“He’s not going to hurt her, Betsy. I promise.”
“She’s my friend. Have to protect her. Won’t let him hurt her.”
“I’d never hurt Lara, Betsy,” Zac said calmly. “All I was gonna do was spank her and put her in timeout. And even Lara will tell you that she deserved that. Was maybe even acting out because it’s what she wanted.”
There was a warning note in Zac’s voice that had Lara flushing guiltily.
But Betsy read that note in his voice as a threat and took a step back, her body tensing even further.
Jesus, baby. What happened to you?
“Easy, man. Fuck,” Ink warned him.
Someone moved from across the room, getting a better view of what was going on. When Betsy came back to whatever hellhole she’d fallen into, he knew she’d hate that they’d seen her like this.
It made him angry. And things weren’t good when he was angry.
“Lara, you want to reassure Betsy that I’d never hurt you?” Zac asked in a low voice.
“Betsy, Daddy would never hurt me.” Lara reached out to touch her and Ink opened his mouth to issue a warning not to, but he was too late.
Lara’s hand touched her back and Betsy flinched away.
She was side-on between both Zac and Lara now, moving her gaze from one to the other.
Shit.
“Betsy, I love Lara. I’d never hurt her.”
Betsy shook her head, a harsh bark of laughter escaping her. “You can hurt people you love.”
Fuck. She was killing him.
“Betsy, look at me.” He took a step towards her. He knew he was the only one who had a chance of reaching her.
She shook her head.
“Brown eyes. Look at Daddy. Now.” He made his voice firm. And was satisfied as her gaze moved from Zac to him. She blinked almost shocked to see him now.
Come back to me, baby.
“Brown eyes, what’s my name?”
“Daddy.”
He smiled. “Good girl. What’s my other name?”
“Ink.”
“And what’s your name?”
“Elizabeth Victoria McClain.”
Elizabeth Victoria? Very queenly.
“And where are you?” He needed to ground her.
So to speak.
“I’m at Fringe.”
“Where at Fringe?”
Her eyes moved around the room. He watched as she registered where she was and that everyone was staring at her.