“Fuck me!”

A camera went off in my face, quickly followed by another. A swarm of paparazzi surrounded the car, and I had no idea where they’d come from.

One thing was certain though—they smelled blood, and like the sharks they were, they were not going away anytime soon.

“Camry,” I said gently, rubbing the back of her neck. Her slim shoulders shook, and I knew her tears were from more than just being in jail. Her brother’s betrayal had shocked the hell out of me. I could only imagine how hard it had hit her.

Now we were surrounded by these bottom-feeders.

“I see them,” she said, her head still against my chest. Her voice was quiet, but steady. “Give me…just, can you give me a few seconds?”

“Take all the time you need.” Grimly, I closed my eyes and dropped my head back against the pillowed headrest. I kept one hand moving up and down her spine, the other massaging the back of her neck and the base of her skull. I didn’t care that having her in my arms would give them more ammunition. We were already screwed anyway. “They’ve already seen us, Cam. This is going to get messy. I’m sorry.”

“It’s already messy.” She took a deep, shuddering breath, then lifted her head. With artless indifference, she swiped the tears from her face, her expression carefully blank. “Are we allowed to run them over if they don’t get out of the way?”

“I sure as hell wish we could.” Keeping the car in park, I gunned the gas and the car’s powerful motor roared to life.

A few wise reporters fell back, but most of them were too determined to get more pictures.

Annoyed, I began to ease forward.

“Jacen!” Camry’s startled yelp almost made me smile.

“I’m in a parking lot, in a car, with the engine running. Seems to me they should be aware that cars in that state usually start moving at some point.” With a careless shrug, I continued on, keeping my speed low enough that they had plenty of time to get out of my way.

And they did, at least those in front of the car. The ones along the sides just kept trotting with us, shouting questions that the windows didn’t quite muffle.

“Mr. Barbour! What’s your relationship with Ms. Hastings? Are you aware of her past?” the man at my window bellowed.

Ignoring him, and all the others, I kept driving at my excruciatingly slow pace, trapped to the narrow viewpoint I had in front of me. A police siren blared behind me and I groaned, but the squad car pulled in front of me, clearing the way, and then kept going, letting us follow. Half a dozen uniformed officers moved around us, hands out as they ordered the paparazzi back. I breathed a sigh of relief as we escaped the parking lot, but a few of them must have been waiting for just this. A trio of cars and one news van followed us as we turned onto the street.

“Please don’t let this end like the Princess Di thing,” Camry said, nervously.

“Don’t even joke about that.” I gave her a quick glance. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. We’ll lead them on the slowest pursuit of the century.”

One of the cars pulled up next to me, the window down, a photographer half-hanging out in an attempt to take a few pictures. The squad car in front of us moved over and slowed down, forcing the photographer’s vehicle to a stop. Flashing red and blue reflected off my rearview mirror a moment before I heard the sirens behind me.

I’d never been so torn between being pissed or being grateful.

Camry started to laugh, the sound strained. “Does this mean I need to buy them a thank you card.”

“At least they’re doing their fucking job now,” I said darkly, all the anger I’d felt at what had happened to her came bubbling up, simmering just below the surface. And not just at the cops, but at her brother too.

All Kaleb would have had to do was tell the cops about the tracker app when they’d asked him if he knew where she was. They might still have questioned her, but they sure as hell wouldn’t have arrested her. I still didn’t understand why he hadn’t. Unless he’d thought he could scare her into behaving the way he wanted.

My knuckles turned white as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. “Are any of the cops back there coming after us?”

She twisted in her seat to look. “No. They’ve pulled over the paparazzi. We’re clear.”

“Good.” I punched it through the light just as it turned red and we were at my hotel less than ten minutes later.

Unfortunately, more sharks with cameras were waiting, but I’d already had the hotel’s security on alert since the incident with Adelina, so they were right there waiting for me as I nosed right into the valet area.

“Wait until I come around,” I said as I climbed out.

Camry just nodded, looking vaguely hunted as she stared out at the throng of reporters and cameramen waiting for us. I wanted to break every single camera out there. She didn’t deserve this shit.

Hell, neither did I for that matter.

Didn’t anybody deserve privacy anymore?

The valet was shaking his head in sympathy when he saw me. “I’m sorry, Mr. Barbour. They can be awful, can’t they?”

“That’s putting it mildly.” I tossed him the keys. “It’s a rental, and I’m not sure if I’m going to keep it another couple of days or not. Can you park it until I find out?”

“Of course, sir.” He ignored the vultures as he went around to the driver’s side of the car and got in.

Gritting my teeth, I opened the door and offered Camry my hand. She accepted and I wrapped my fingers around hers, pulling her tight against my side. She flinched as reporters started to shout at her.

“Ms. Hastings!”

“Ms. Hastings! What’s the nature of your relationship with Mr. Barbour?”

“Did you meet in rehab?”

“Were drugs related to your arrest?”

The questions came one after another as Camry and I hurried into the hotel, but the security did their job well and not a single reporter got close to us. Once inside the roar turned into a muted hum and both of us breathed a sigh of relief.

“How does anybody put up with that kind of thing on a regular basis? I’d rip my hair out,” Camry muttered.

“Please don’t,” I said, not thinking about my response, or my action, until my hand was tangled in her long locks.

An audible breath escaped her and she looked up, meeting my eyes.

“I…um…come on.” Feeling strangely awkward, I moved my hand to her elbow. “Let’s get upstairs, and see how Daytin is doing.”

Camry blinked at me. “She’s still here?”

We quickly found out that the answer to that was no.

She hadn’t so much as left a note, and if something hadn’t told me to lock Camry’s purse in the safe before I’d left for the police station, Daytin probably would have snatched it.

I know, because I’d left a stash of cash in the top dresser drawer, about a hundred bucks worth of tips from my most recent performance, and it was gone.

Coming back into the main room, I found Camry standing in front of the couch. She had her arms wrapped around herself, so tight that it looked like she was trying to hold herself together.

“She left,” she said woodenly.

“I’m…fuck, I’m sorry, Camry.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

She shook her head. “It’s not your fault.” Her forehead furrowed and she sat down on the floor with a hard thud. “I have to try to figure out where she went. Again.” She sounded exhausted.

I felt a flare of anger at Daytin and wondered if this was how Camry had made Kaleb feel all the times he’d tried to help her and she’d blown him off. And she’d still had to hit rock-bottom before she’d change.

“Or you could do what you know is the right thing…let her figure it out on her own.”

Sitting down behind her, I stretched my legs out next to hers, grimacing as my right leg ached. I’d spent too much time pacing and walking over the last couple days, not enough time sleeping, and absolutely no time warming up stiff muscles.

I reached over and tucked some hair behind her ear. “You can’t fix Daytin, baby. Only she can do that. Just like you did it on your own.”

“I didn’t,” she said quickly. “If it wasn’t for Kaleb—”

“Don’t.” Cutting her off, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her against my side. “Don’t downplay what you did. He was there when you needed him, yes. But you didn’t have to get clean, or stay clean, all this time. Some part of you was ready for help. Some part of you was done with that life and ready for a real one.” I kissed the top of her head. “Addicts like us don’t get clean until we know it’s time.”

She tensed and slowly lifted her head.

“I told you, didn’t I?” I gave her a small smile. “The papers didn’t over-exaggerate much when it came to me and my drinking. Kaleb was there for me, too. I know how important that support is, but you’re the one living with it. All but dying those first few weeks as you need that drink, that drug so bad, it hurts.”

“Sometimes, it still hurts,” she said, the words thick. “Today, in the cell, I was closer to giving in than I’d been since I first went through withdrawal.”

“And now?”

She sighed. “Now, I guess you’re right. Daytin has to figure it out on her own. I just…” She hesitated, tucking her chin. “I wanted to do something right, you know? Kaleb was always there for me. He stood up for me, with me. I wanted to be the strong one for once.”

“You are strong.” Stroking my hands up her forearms, then down, I said, “You’re stronger than you think, or you wouldn’t be here.”

She reached over and covered my hand with hers. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” She turned and threw one leg, then the other, over mine until she was straddling me. She ran her fingers along my lips, then my jaw. “Help me forget for a while, Jacen.”

“Gladly.”

I rose, lifting her with me, ignoring the pain in my leg and the strain on my shoulder. She was worth it. Carrying her into the bedroom, I laid her flat on her back and murmured, “Let me take care of you.”

Piece by piece, I stripped her clothing away, revealing pale skin and slim, toned muscles. I let my fingers linger, trace little patterns as I smiled up at her. I wanted all her focus to be on me, on how my touch made her feel, but even if distraction hadn’t been my intent, I would have enjoyed taking my time with her.

“You are so beautiful,” I said as I leaned over her, flicking my tongue against one nipple, then the other.

I used my mouth and hands on every inch of her except the one place she wanted me the most, and soon her skin began to flush. Her breathing sped up and I knew if I felt for her pulse, it would be fast. Her eyes had darkened to almost sapphire, and what I saw in them made me even hotter and harder than I already was.

As I rose up above her, she reached for me, and when I didn’t let her pull me down on her, she tried to curl one leg around mine, but I wrapped my hand around her calf.

“You’re teasing me again.”

“I’m distracting you,” I reminded her as I slid my hand down to her ankle. I took her other ankle in my free hand and spread her legs apart, putting them on either side of me.

She squirmed a little, her cheeks going pink as I lowered myself between her legs. It was…charming. Then her mouth parted as I studied her, as I pressed my lips against the soft skin of her inner thigh. She gasped as I sucked on her flesh, marking her while she squirmed and thrashed.

One hand glanced off my shoulder as if she wanted to stop me, but then thought otherwise. The other hand fisted in my hair lifted my head.

The insane little push/pull was enough to drive me up a wall, because I could feel how much she wanted me...and what I could do.

When I licked her, she cried out, a low, keening noise that made me want to do nothing but spend the next hour with my face buried between her legs.

When I flicked my tongue over her clitoris, she started to shiver, tiny little quakes that ran through her entire body.

But it wasn’t until I began to place hot, open mouth kisses against her pussy that she gasped and shoved both hands into my hair, holding me in place. I was glad to stay. I didn’t stop until she cried out, the sound harsh and ragged as she climaxed.

While she was still shuddering, I flipped her over onto her stomach and pressed a kiss to her left shoulder, then her right. She made a small sound as I started a path down her spine. It was an elegant curve, graceful and sleek like the rest of her, and when I brushed my mouth over the small of her back, a hitching sigh escaped her.

“Please,” she murmured, looking over her shoulder at me.

I palmed her ass, squeezing the firm muscles before working my hands up her back. She had so much tension, even after an orgasm, that I was determined to do everything I could to help her relax.

“Just relax, sweetheart,” I murmured in her ear. “Let me do all the work. I’ll take care of you.”

I took off my own clothes quickly, tossing them onto the floor and then moving back over her again. I eased inside her, my groan mingling with hers as we came together.

I’d never felt like I fit anywhere, not really. Not as a kid. Not as an adult. I’d always adapted to fit my circumstances, to show the face people expected to see. The closest I’d ever been to myself had been when I’d been with Kaleb and Camry, and even then...

But I’d never felt more real than I did when I was inside her.

I propped myself on my elbows as I moved in and out with smooth, steady strokes. When she started to push back against me, I shifted and slid one hand underneath her.

“I want you to come for me, baby. Come until you can’t think about anything but what I make you feel.”

I found her clit swollen and slick, and her body jerked as I began making slow circles over it. I nipped her shoulder, earning a whimper, and then started to work on making her scream my name until she forgot what had her so stressed.

Later, when she was dozing in my arms, I lay there wondering just how much trouble I was in.