Page 91 of The Kidnapped

“Can I help?’

“You can just be there next to me,” Raleigh replied.

“Deal,” Hollis said, looking up at her. “And anything else you need.”

“You. Just you,” Raleigh told her, leaning down and kissing Hollis on the lips.

“You have me already.”

After finishing their bath and changing for bed, Hollis went into her mom’s room and woke her up, wanting to make sure she had something to eat before the night nurse arrived. Raleigh heated up the soup and brought it in for Hollis to help Olivia with.

“You both have wet hair, and I don’t think either of you took a shower in my bathroom,” Olivia said between bites.

“Mom!”

Raleigh just laughed and sat on the bed next to Olivia, telling her about her day with her client calls. Hollis filled her in on the research she was doing for the show. When Olivia was done eating, she asked if they’d stay and watch some TV with her before they went to bed, and they squeezed into bed beside her. Hollis felt her mom’s hand in one of her own and then Raleigh’s in the other as Raleigh’s head went to her shoulder. That nearly made her cry, but she managed to hold it in. When the night nurse arrived, they gave her the details from the other nurse, and Hollis made sure her mom had a few good sips of water before they left the room so that the nurse could take her vitals.

“So, I usually start with Facebook. It’s basically just people sending me prayers and well-wishes. I reply to all of them and thank them, but we don’t get leads from here. The website has a contact form, but there’s also a little community where people can post anonymously without having to provide an email. I had some tech guy set it up for me. It’s supposed to make it more likely that people will share if it’s someone they know and they feel bad about turning them in. If I get a lead, it usually comes from here. I also have to call the billboard company back because they told me they’d give me an extra month for free because it’s a missing child. I’m hoping I can afford two months on my own and their free month, but I need to call them back to arrange it.”

They were on Hollis’s bed now, with Raleigh sitting between her legs. Hollis was looking over her shoulder at the laptop, wishing she could just bring Eden home to her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, moving Raleigh’s still-damp hair away from her neck.

“Me too,” Raleigh replied.

CHAPTER 29

When Raleigh woke up, it was to an unfamiliar sensation. It wasn’t unwelcome, but it wasn’t something she was yet accustomed to. She opened her eyes, finding Hollis trying to move slowly down her body while applying kisses to Raleigh’s bare stomach. Hollis had pulled her shirt up, but if she was planning on doing what Raleigh thought she was planning on doing, she’d somehow have to get Raleigh’s shorts and underwear off without waking her, which wasn’t likely because Raleigh was already awake.

“What’s your endgame there, dear?” Raleigh teased.

“Shit. You’re up?” Hollis spoke.

“Kind of hard not to wake up when my girlfriend is kissing me.”

Hollis smiled up at her and said, “I was just trying to figure out how to get your clothes off so that I could wake you up with my tongue.” Then, she looked down at Raleigh’s pants, adding, “And I realize now, I wasn’t ever going to do that.”

Raleigh laughed and lifted her hips off the bed. Hollis looked at her as if in silent request. Raleigh nodded, and her pants and light-blue bikinis were tossed onto the bed.

“You’re not worried about your mom?”

“Raleigh, my mouth is inches from your clit. Mom? Really?”

Raleigh laughed and said, “I’ll just try to be quiet, then.”

“Yeah, good idea. The night nurse is gone, and the day nurse isn’t here yet.”

“So, this is a quickie?” she asked.

“This is you shutting up so I can go down on you,” Hollis replied, lowering her mouth to Raleigh’s center and licking her hard.

“Oh, fuck,” Raleigh let out.

She hadn’t been turned on until that very moment, but now, she wanted to watch. Hollis’s blonde hair was a little messy from sleep and looked perfect between Raleigh’s legs.

“That’s good,” she said as Hollis dipped her tongue inside. “Oh, wow.”

Hollis moved it in tight circles at her entrance, causing every nerve in Raleigh’s body to snap to attention all at once. She wasn’t prepared for Hollis to move up to her clit and slip her fingers inside her.

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