“Okay.” Corbin reached over and turned off the shower. “I guess we should make our walk of shame and get dressed.”
“My clothes need to go in the dryer.” I reached over to grab a towel once he opened the shower curtain.
“I’m sure there’s some stuff here you can wear.” He started to help me dry off before I had a chance to wrap the towel around my shoulders.
I don’t even get to wear my own clothes?
We dried off and tied off the towels so we could walk through the house without giving the workers a visual show to go with the one they likely heard. None of them looked at us when we headed to the stairs—maybe it wasn’t as unusual for them as it was for me. I found a loose t-shirt and a pair of rather baggy pajama pants in one of the rooms upstairs after a little digging. I wasn’t sure who had left them behind, but I hoped it wasn’t his father’s mistress—they seemed clean at least. Once we were dressed, we went back downstairs, got another cup of coffee, and I was able to move my clothes over to the dryer.
“I need to go to my apartment and pick up a few things.” I sat down beside Corbin on the couch.
“Okay.” He nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
“I can handle that on my own.” I raised an eyebrow.
“No need.” He shook his head back and forth. “It’ll be faster if I come. We can go on Wednesday.”
“Why can’t we go today?” I tilted my head inquisitively.
“I want to get some work done around the house after the workers leave. They spend a lot more time inside the house on Wednesday, and it’s hard to work with them running around cleaning everything. We can make a day of it—maybe go to the museum again to see some of the other exhibits after we stop by your place.” He looked over at me and smiled.
“That could be fun.” I forced a smile and nodded.
Apparently, I can’t even leave the house without an escort now that he’s my Daddy—this is going to be difficult.
I decided not to push the issue. Corbin laid out a plan for us to follow and didn’t seem to be open to negotiation. He made it seem innocent, but I knew that it was part of his possessive nature. I didn’t know if he even realized it or not. He wasn’t going to be able to put me in a bubble forever, even if he wanted to. Once the summer was over and school started, I would have to leave the house on my own—and I had no idea what he would do after the house was officially sold to the Andersons. He would probably want to go back to Chicago—but I couldn’t leave Los Angeles. I wasn’t that close with my mother, but I didn’t want to leave Los Angeles. I certainly didn’t want to move across the country—nor did I want to transfer to another college after my first year. Finding balance in my new life with Corbin was going to be harder than I expected.
Hopefully we can find a way to compromise…
* * *
Two days later
“The workers are here. Are you ready to go?” I looked over at Corbin as he balanced his weight so he could slide on his shoes.
“Almost.” He nodded. “Is the car here?”
“They just pulled up.” I motioned to the door.
I had been cooped up in the house with Corbin for two days, and I was looking forward to our excursion. Spending time with him was great, but it was starting to become very clear that we were oil and vinegar. There were nuances I didn’t see when I was going back to my apartment after every date—bad habits that weren’t so clear through the rose-colored glasses I wore when we were falling for each other.
Corbin liked to drink whiskey in the evenings, and while he wasn’t a drunk, I definitely thought it was a bit alarming for him to do it every single day. He also smoked cigars when he drank—which wasn’t very appealing. After we made love each night, I would drift off to sleep—and he would stay beside me for a little while—but then he would go downstairs to satisfy his other cravings. I tried to ignore it, but when he returned to bed a few hours later, the smell of whiskey and tobacco lingered on his breath. I forced myself to tolerate it when he wanted to make love to me one more time before he went to sleep, but it was still a distraction.
“This car doesn’t have much room.” I tilted my head as we approached. “If I’m going to be staying with you for three weeks, I need to pick up a few things…”
“I’m sure it will be fine.” Corbin opened the door for me.
The car Corbin arranged to pick us up was smaller than the one that picked me up for our first date. It seemed like a strange choice for someone who could have arranged for a limousine. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was intentional—if he was somehow restricting the space I had as some strange manner of control. I let the concern pass—it wasn’t like I was moving in with him. The trip to my apartment was fairly uneventful. I packed what I could in a suitcase and then filled a garbage bag with the rest.
I wanted to bring a few personal things to make it feel like home, but there wasn’t enough room in the trunk. My laptop and stuff that I needed to work on for school over summer break was put in the front passenger seat. I was nervous about leaving all of that in the car while we went to the museum, but Corbin said the driver would be there to watch over it, so my things would be safe. I hoped he was right.
It actually doesn’t look like there are many people here…
“Why don’t we grab lunch at the cafe—it wasn’t open the last time we were here.” Corbin took my hand as we approached the museum.
“Yes, well—that was because we came at night.” I smiled and nodded.
We walked into the museum, and it looked like we were the only people there except for the employees. I thought it was a little strange—but I just assumed others were already look at exhibits—or at the cafe. A guide met us near the entrance and escorted us to cafe, which seemed to confirm my suspicion that it was a bizarre day at the museum. The cafe was completely empty except for the people behind the counter, and they seemed eager to serve us. Even when we came at night, there were quite a few people around—and we didn’t get our own guide.
“Did you…” I started putting the pieces together.
“What?” He tilted his head after we placed our order and walked to our table.
“Why are we the only people here except for the ones that work for the museum?” I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
“I rented the museum for the day.” He smiled and shrugged. “I thought it would be fun to have the place to ourselves.”
“Really?” I blinked in surprise “Why spend all of that money? We would have still been able to see everything—I doubt this place is that busy.”
“No, but now it’s just us.” He took my hand and smiled.
I don’t even get to escape my bubble when I’m outside of the house…
The food at the cafe was good and being able to spend the day in the museum with Corbin sounded like it should be fun, but I couldn’t shake the lingering concerns. The signs had been there from the beginning, but I ignored them while I was paying off my debt to him. He didn’t even have to type things into his phone to control me anymore—he could manipulate the world around us while I was simply a spectator.
Maybe some women would have seen what he did as sweet gestures, but I wanted to be a part of decisions that involved the two of us. I expected the give-and-take to go both ways. I had that when I was paying off my debt—the option to decline was always on the screen. It cost me more points to say no, but I got to choose, rather than just being told what to do. I didn’t grow up with a Daddy, and my mother wasn’t around enough to fill her own role, much less the one that was missing.
“You seem distracted.” Corbin looked over at me as we walked through the exhibits.
“No, I’m fine.” I shook my head back and forth. “I guess I’m just not a fan of medieval history.”
“We’ll move to one of the other eras.” He smiled and nodded.
“Sounds good.” I forced a smile.
I succumbed to Corbin in a moment of emotional weakness and painful self-reflection.
He brought the girl I was underneath the veil I wore for the world to the surface. He made me question all of the things I thought were true. In that moment it felt right, and I didn’t regret it, but I couldn’t just stay broken. The emotional cleansing I got when I was over his knee was a temporary high. There was more to life than that, and deep down, I knew my independence wasn’t something I could simply put on a shelf where it could be forgotten. I was trying to be the kind of oil to his vinegar that he thought that I was, but it didn’t change the fact that we were still separated on a cerebral level.
“Is Viking history boring too?” Corbin raised an eyebrow after I barely looked at two exhibits we passed.
“I’m sorry.” I stopped and looked down at the floor. “Maybe I’m just not in the mood for the museum today.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “What would you like to do? We can go somewhere else…”
“How about that?” I motioned to a poster on the wall at the end of the exhibits.
“The county fair?” Corbin raised an eyebrow.
“Why not?” I shrugged. “It could be fun.”
“If that’s what you really want to do.” He shrugged.
“I think it is.” I nodded quickly.
“It’s a bit of a drive…” He tilted his head and sighed.
“That shouldn’t be a problem, right? We have the whole day to ourselves…” I squeezed his hand.
“Okay.” He smiled. “Let’s go.”
Maybe I’m letting my thoughts get away from me.
I was worried that Corbin would be upset when we got to the car, but he seemed to be fine with a trip to the fair instead of spending the day at the museum. He suggested that we drop my stuff off at the house before we went, and I was okay with that. It would be a lot more relaxing if I wasn’t concerned about all of my worldly possessions. After we dropped my stuff off, and returned to the car, Corbin raised the privacy shield so that the driver couldn’t see us and started kissing me. Despite my growing concerns, I couldn’t escape my desire for him. His lips always lit a fire—his hands felt so good on my skin—and my body reacted to his touch in a way that made my head spin while I tingled from head to toe. That part of our relationship never felt wrong, and when the car finally came to a stop at the fair, I had a craving for more than cotton candy or funnel cake.
“What do you want to do first?” Corbin opened the door and helped me get out of the car.
Climb back in the car and finish what we started…
“Um.” I looked around. “Let’s try the ferris wheel.”
“Okay.” He nodded and led me to the ticket booth.
All of the smiles I had to fake at the museum were replaced by authentic ones after we bought our tickets and rode a few rides. Kissing Corbin on the ferris wheel while the world was beneath us was amazing. Watching his normally stoic demeanor turn to genuine excitement while we were being spun in the Gravitron made me laugh. We rode it twice because we both liked it so much. I felt like a kid—well, the kid that I never got to be. I always wanted to go to the fair, but I never had anyone to take me. Daniella and I talked about it a couple of times, but we lost interest once we were old enough to drive. We took a break once it started to get late in the evening, and our dinner was an array of delicious fair food—all deep fried—even the pickles. We bought way more than we could ever eat, but we sampled all of it.
“Did you save room for a funnel cake?” Corbin tilted his head to the side and smiled.
“Of course I did!” I nodded quickly.
“I’ll be right back…” He patted my hand and walked over to the funnel cake stand.
I had eaten funnel cake a couple of times at a bakery near campus that I visited more often than I should have, but it didn’t begin to compare to an authentic funnel cake from the fair. As soon as the first bite landed on my tongue, I knew I would never be able to settle for anything less than the real thing. After we finished our funnel cake, we walked off some of the calories, and then we rode a few more rides. Corbin seemed to be enjoying himself. He was extremely affectionate, held my hand, stole a few kisses when the opportunities arose and told me more than once that he couldn’t wait to get me home. The worries that had been bothering me evaporate—and I was reminded why I fell for him to begin with.
“We should play a few games before we leave.” Corbin led me over to the area with the carnival games.
“I’ve always heard that these were a scam.” I raised an eyebrow.
“Nah, you just have to be good enough to win.” He narrowed his eyes. “Let’s do the ring toss.”
“I’ve never done that before…” I shrugged and waited for him to pay.
“Which one wins the big teddy bear?” Corbin motioned to the gigantic overstuffed teddy bear hanging on the wall.
“That one?” The worker’s eyes lit up. “Well you gotta get all three rings on that red bottle in the back.”
It’s probably rigged—I doubt anyone wins that one.
“Okay.” Corbin nodded and tossed his first ring—which hit the top of the bottle and bounced to the ground. “Shit!”
“Sorry.” The carnival worker chuckled and shook his head. “You can still win your lady one of the smaller bears.”
Corbin didn’t seem to be enthused by that option, and I was pretty sure he purposely missed his next two shots so he could start over. I tried to land my rings and managed to get one on a bottle near the front, but it didn’t win me anything. Corbin immediately paid for more rings and started tossing them again—which resulted in another miss on the first shot. I was pretty sure the bottle was on a wobbly board which made it tilt when a ring landed on the top of it, but Corbin was too determined to give up. I tossed rings alongside him and managed to win a tiny little stuffed poodle on my third attempt, but Corbin only wanted to win the big teddy bear. On his fifth attempt, the first ring sailed and landed around the bottle in the back—a perfect shot.
“You did it!” I leaned against him and smiled.
“Two more…” He squeezed the next ring in his hand.
“You’ll be the first one to ever hit all three.” The carnival worker grinned. “No pressure.”
“Nah.” Corbin shook his head back and forth. “I got it figured out now.”
The second ring sailed—the bottle tilted when it hit the top, and his ring circled it a couple of times before sliding into position—it wasn’t a perfect shot, but it was good enough. A couple of the carnival workers that were handling the booths next to us walked over to take a closer look. I got the feeling that it was a big deal for him to land one—much less two. I put down my rings and watched as he carefully took aim—hesitated—and then took a step back. The two rings that were already around the neck of the bottle made the next shot difficult. If it wasn’t a perfect shot, then it was going to bounce off. Corbin let it sail—and it landed like a hole in one. It slid on the top of the bottle, had a bounce—and then spun in a circle before it stopped.
“Yes!” He pumped his fist and smiled.
“Holy shit!” I looked at him, and my mouth fell open in shock.
“Well damn…” The carnival worker looked visibly upset, as did the two others that had come over to observe. “I guess you won it.”
“That’s a really big teddy bear…” I stared as the carnival worker pulled it down and handed it to me.
“It’s a good thing we dropped your stuff off at the house,” Corbin chuckled and held my hand as we started walking towards the parking lot.
“Yeah, he’s riding shotgun,” I laughed. “How did you do it?”
“It’s a code.” He squeezed my hand. “Just like everything…”
“I—don’t understand?” I tilted my head inquisitively.
“When you program apps, you start with a string of code—and then you lay images on top of it. Every action leads to another action; then the code handles the process. It was the same concept. The right angle—the right trajectory—and then it was impossible to miss. It just took me
a few tries to figure it out.” He nodded.
“That’s a little more complicated than I expected.” I shook my head and laughed. “I’m just happy to have the teddy bear—maybe I can snuggle it after you leave me tonight.”
“Leave you?” Corbin opened the door once we arrived at the car.
“Yeah, every night.” I looked over at him once we climbed into the backseat. “You leave me alone in the bed so you can smoke and drink.”
“Only a couple of times…” he growled under his breath.
“Maybe if you agree to stay with me tonight, I’ll work off one of my debts after we get home.” I leaned against him.
“That’s quite tempting…” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Deal.”
Maybe I have more power in our relationship than I thought—I hope I don’t regret this offer when he has me over his knee.
Chapter Eighteen
Corbin
The next morning
I woke up next to Chloe, which was exactly where I wanted to be. The sun wasn’t in the sky yet, but there was enough light peeking through the clouds to create a shadow in our bedroom—even her silhouette was enough to make my cock throb and beg for one more taste of her tight pussy. Chloe got her second spanking before our passion fully erupted, and she seemed to enjoy it a lot more than the first one. It turned her on so much that she was begging for her Daddy to fuck her before it was over. After her first trip across my knee, I was worried that she wasn’t going to find pleasure in that aspect of our relationship, but she was coming into her own—the beautiful submissive nature was crying out for what her body truly wanted. She just didn’t know how to fully embrace it—yet.
“Are you already awake?” Chloe’s eyes opened, and she blinked a couple of times.
Indebted To A Daddy: Once Upon A Daddy Page 14