by Wyatt, Dani
“I told her about the blonde.” Michaela juts out a hip and crosses her arms over her chest. “The one you’re with all the damn time.”
People are stopping to stare as they wander into the coffee shop and if things keep escalating it’s only a matter of time before someone does call the cops.
“Blonde?” My head spins.
“Yes. Blonde. With a kid.” Michaela snaps at me, giving me another few jabs of her tiny fist. “I see you. My apartment is over there—"
“Stop that, it’s annoying.” I block her next shot. It’s not helping us get whatever this bullshit situation is under control. “You hit me again, and I’m going to tan that little ass of yours as soon as we get home.”
“I’m not going home! I’m leaving. You can have your life with her. I was just a little kinky fantasy. You got what you wanted from me, took from me I should say.” When her voice cracks, so does my heart.
“I’ve seen you with her since I moved in. My apartment is on Main Street. I’ve seen you guys, like, a dozen times together. So, when my friend told me what happened last night with you, she needed to know. Cheating ass—” Michaela stops on that last word when I cock my head to the side and give her a death stare.
“Both of you. Take a fucking breath.” I look at Brinna, whose eyes are searching my face. I can see in them, my little girl. Scared and wishing whatever is happening would be over, and I’m about to give that to her.
“Is it true? Are you with her, the blonde?” Brinna’s voice is tinged with sadness and hope.
“No.” I shake my head, darting my eyes from Michaela’s doubting face to Brinna’s. “Fuck no. I mean, yes I’ve been with her, but no not like that.”
I let Brinna’s hand and arm go, reaching up to cup her wet cheeks in my hands.
“Then who is she?”
I sigh, this is not how I wanted this to go. In my heart, I never wanted Brinna to know about my issues. The fact that when I met her four years ago, I probably couldn’t have completed a second-grade math test. That it’s taken me this long to regain the parts of me I lost on that street in Kabul. And not just my cognitive skills.
“She’s my accountant.” I manage, then on a deep breath I add, “And my tutor.”
The looks of confusion on both the girls’ faces tell me at least they heard what I said and the tension seems to dissipate for a moment.
“Tutor?” Michaela repeats, squinting one eye. “I bet, she tutors you.”
I shoot a glare at Michaela and she flips me off. Brinna’s eyes scan my face as my thumbs move slowly over her cheeks, wiping away the last of the tears there.
“Babygirl.” I shake my head, then bend hers forward and set a kiss on her forehead. “I would never, in a thousand lifetimes, hurt you. Cheat on you. Fuck, I told you, since the first time I looked at you, I’ve never thought of anyone else. The very idea that I’d be seeing anyone else is crazy. You are it for me.”
I adjust her head, so her eyes are on mine. The thought of how they reminded me of sunflowers that first day tightens my chest. So sweet. So innocent. Looking up at me now, desperate for me to make it all better. And I will.
“So you and the blonde lady—” She swallows hard. “And the kid.”
“She’s helped me since I got back from deployment. She was Emily’s accountant. That fucking bomb blast, it not only left the physical damage, but it fucked up my head too. I didn’t want you to know. I wanted to be the man you deserved. It’s taken me all these years to relearn stuff that the concussion took away. She’s the one that has taken care of the finances, invested our money, helped me figure out a business of my own so I can take care of you. Of us.”
“But we have money. A house. Everything we need.”
“No. That’s not me. Lamb.” I inhale her deeply through my nose, closing my eyes and trying to find the words so she will understand. “A real man takes care of what’s his. I need you to know I can provide for us and not just rely on what Emily left. I need you to be proud of me, too.”
The last sentence hits home. I see a flash of surprise cast over Brinna’s face as the truth of that statement settles in me as well.
“I am proud of you. You could have told me. I could have helped you all along. I love you, Daddy,” she whispers that last word and the burning in my eyes returns.
“And I fucking love you, Lamb. Forever. This was all just a misunderstanding. And my stupid pride. But baby, you could have just asked me. Did I not tell you I wanted to know everything? I wanted all of you? And yes, that includes any insecurities. Any questions about me. Communicate everything to me, my sweet girl. I want it all. If you think it, feel it, give it to me. Anytime of the day or night.”
The wind picks up and swirls her hair around our faces. That scent of her that seeps into my soul drives my need for her to its limits.
“So, what? All is well? Life is good? No one is running away, no one is cheating? You two want to give me something to work with here?” Michaela chimes in, and I draw back slightly from Brinna.
“All’s well.” My girl directs the words towards her friend. “No more running away.”
I clear my throat and look down at her. “That’s right. New rule.” I nod and swallow before finishing. “No running away. Ever. Got it?”
“Got it.” She smiles and my heart twitches along with my cock. “I love you.”
Michaela shrugs. “Just like that? Wow, okay you’re easy. But okay. Good. So, now what?”
“Now I’m going to get Brinna home.” I turn to my girl. “Then I’m going to take care of these cuts, and a few other parts of you.” I reach down for her hand and when she grips mine back with a smile on her face the last bit of raging fear drains from me. In its place, a new responsibility rallies in me. A responsibility to prove to her I am the man I say and give her time to trust me in our new relationship, so nothing like this will ever happen again.
“And I’m going to take care of parts of you, too.” She softens more on a giggle, and her other hand reaches over to grasp my forearm, laying her head against me.
“All’s well that ends well. You two gonna hoof it back through the brush, call an Uber or let me be your chariot?” Michaela snaps her tongue in her cheek. “Because y’all are making me a nauseous at this point.”
Chapter Ten
Brinna
“OUCH.” I WINCE AND squint my eyes shut.
I’m sitting on the bed in what used to be his bedroom, which he now says is ours, with my legs straight out. I’m naked from when he brought me to the master bath and stripped me, then gave me a quick warm bath and washed my hair before carefully drying me and brushing out my mess of tangled tresses.
After that, he took his time inspecting every inch of my body for damage and looking as though he may cry as he inventoried every cut and every thorn stuck into my body from my trip through the brush. Then he carried me to the bed, laid me down and spread my legs, eating me to so many orgasms I lost count and had to plead for him to stop.
He did, then brought his hard cock to my lips and ordered me to suck like a good girl, which I did eagerly. He patted my head, telling me how good my mouth felt on him, and I loved hearing the sounds of pleasure he made, especially knowing they were because of what I was doing to him.
It didn’t take long before he pulled out, grabbed me by the hair and ordered me to open my mouth and stick out my tongue. He shot jets of his hot release into my mouth and on my face, then onto my bare breasts.
He spent the next few minutes rubbing his cum into my skin, telling me again how I was never to leave the house again without wearing him on me or inside me, at his discretion of course.
Now, we’re both right here, and he’s sitting on the side of the bed, tending a second time to each scrape and splinter. Even though it hurts, I secretly love how he’s taking care of me, just like a father would his own daughter.
“Baby, I’m sorry, but I have to take care of these, or they may get infected.” Ace is concentrating so h
ard his forehead is deep with furrows. “Sometimes love hurts, Lamb, isn’t that right?”
His wry smile distracts me momentarily until he plucks the small splinter of thorn out of my calf with the tweezers and I hiss a breath through my teeth.
“Is that the last one?” I pout.
“Yes. That’s the last. A little peroxide and I think we’re all set for now.” He reaches over to the nightstand and wets a new cotton ball with the brown bottle of disinfectant, bringing it to the fresh drop of blood on my skin. “Don’t ever run from me again, you understand?”
His softer tone from earlier turns stern, and his eyes darken as he finishes cleaning the last wound before tossing the cotton ball into the waste can he brought to the side of the bed.
“I already told you I wouldn’t. Don’t you ever make me think I have to share my Daddy,” I reply, knowing it’s probably not what I should say. But it’s the truth. “I couldn’t believe when I thought you were also with that other lady. I just came unraveled. I mean, I was going to run away, but also change my name and disappear. That’s how crazy it made me feel. I couldn’t take it. Whatever this is between us, it’s changed me. I’m lost without you.” Tears prick my lower lids at the thought.
“Lamb.” Ace shifts on the bed so he’s facing me and pinches my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “You will never, ever share me. Got it? I’m yours, and you are mine. There is nothing and no one in this world that could shine brighter than you in my heart.”
“And we will never be apart, right?”
He shakes his head. “No, never. I thought I would come undone when I thought I’d lost you. Or you were hurt. Or whatever. And I promise you will never lose me.” The tone in his voice drops and I shiver at the depth of truth in his words. “I hate every one of these marks on you. You’re mine and I take care of what’s mine.”
He trails a finger over a deep scratch on my thigh.
“I’m sorry.”
“The only marks I want on you are from me.”
“I like your marks. I like thinking people may see them and wonder where they came from. Maybe somehow, deep down, they know someone put them there. It makes me feel safe. Isn’t that strange?”
He pets my hair, his eyes wandering down my naked body. I love how he touches me however he likes, wherever he likes, with no hesitation. His possessiveness would probably make other women feel like he’s some domineering asshole, but they are so very wrong. I feel like a princess. Set on a pedestal and cherished in a way I never imagined.
“Not strange to me at all, Lamb. My marks remind you of who you belong to. They remind you of Daddy’s touch. That even when we are apart, I am never far from you. That you give yourself to me. All of you. The pleasure, sometimes the pain. It’s an honor you allow me all of you. That you show me that trust. I push you, because I love you. So, you can see how strong you are.”
“I like that.”
“Good girl. Now, it’s nap time.”
The first peep of protest from me and Ace has a hand on my throat. “Not a good time to argue, little one. Did Daddy not just have to chase you down and bring you home? I think now is a very good time for you to do as you are told. Those ass cheeks of yours could very quickly be upturned over my knee if that would help you take your nap?”
I poke out my bottom lip, unsure if I want the spanking more than I don’t but see in his eyes he is weary as well. I opt for shifting up and into his lap instead.
“Okay. As long as you will lay with me.”
As I nuzzle into his neck, his beard nuzzles me back, and he lays me down, curling in behind me and pulling the down comforter up and over us. He’s fully clothed to my nakedness, but I still love feeling so small, curled into his massive frame like this.
“Now, say it, Babygirl.” He grinds out the words into my ear. “Tell Daddy what you know he needs to hear.”
I rub my booty into his hardness and turn my head as far as I can so I can see his face.
“I love you, Daddy.”
I feel his body harden, then he releases a breath, and his arms tighten around me. It feels like we are one person right now and I hope this feeling never goes away.
“I love you too, my lamb. Always have. Always will. You just have no idea how much.”
With that, I cuddle in, and sleepiness overtakes me. The sound of his even breathing lulls me into slumber, to dreams of happily-ever-afters.
“NO!”
The police officer gives me a sympathetic squeeze on my shoulder, but I feel nothing.
You promised. You promised me we would be together forever.
“Ma’am. I’m sorry. It was a drunk driver.”
I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.
Sobs wrench from places inside me I didn’t know existed. I am in a tunnel. At one end is the blue uniform of the officer and his voice droning on about the accident. At the other end of the tunnel, I crumple to the floor. It feels like pillows and blankets are pressing down on my face and I’m suffocating.
Sobs turn my throat raw and make the muscles in my back spasm and cramp with the intensity.
Daddy, you promised. Now I’m alone. Again.
This time, I truly have no one. No one will come and save me...
Just before the tunnel closes and I’m enveloped in a pain that knows no end, a hand reaches up through the darkness and presses flat and warm on the left side of my chest.
“Lamb.” The word swirls along in the black light, and for a moment all I wish for is to disappear into the nothingness all around me.
“Lamb!” Louder this time. Another hand comes up and gently settles at the back of my neck.
The ground beneath where I lay begins to shake. Its hardness turns soft, and there is a flicker of light in the distance. I squint, trying to take a breath.
“Lamb, wake up, Daddy’s right here.”
I gasp, and the shaking feels like it’s pulling me. Pulling me into something that feels familiar, safe, and suddenly I can breathe again.
“Daddy.” I manage, and as soon as the word leaves my lips my eyes snap open and I see Ace’s worried eyes, bare inches from mine as he holds me against him. One hand is over my heart while the other cradles the back of my neck.
“Jesus, baby. You scared the shit out of me.”
The room is dark, a line of orange scraping across the horizon beyond the expanse of windows that line the back wall of the bedroom.
“Daddy.” I bury my head against his chest, throwing my arms around his neck and pulling with all my might. “You promised we would always be together.”
“We are together, Lamb. You had a nightmare, that’s all.”
He lifts his hand from over my racing heart, swipes the backs of his fingers over my cheeks, and I feel the wetness there.
“God, it was so real. You were gone. Just like Gran and Emily. You disappeared on me, just like my mom. My dad whoever he was.”
Ace rocks me gently and pulls me into the space between his legs as he sits up against the headboard. He leans me back in a ball against him and makes soothing sounds into my ear.
“I’m right here. I’m not letting you go. Not now, not ever. Your tears are going to be the death of me, maybe, but I’m going to fucking figure out how to make sure I don’t ever have to see you cry again.”
His arms curl around me, and my breathing evens out. My heartbeat slows, and I’m filled with the scent of him. It calms me, and I’m beginning to shake off the last remnants of the nightmare.
“You better not break your promise,” I scold.
“Okay, listen.” He releases one arm and reaches over to open the drawer on his nightstand. He fumbles inside before continuing. “I was going to wait until later today, but I honestly don’t want to fucking wait, so just to prove it to you...”
“Prove what?”
“Prove to you that we will always be together.” He pulls his hand back and inside is a white jewelry box. He takes a breath as he reaches forward and holds it in front o
f me, and I lean my back into his chest.
I can barely breathe again, only this time it’s not because I’m scared.
“Daddy is that...?”
“Marry me, Lamb. I need you to be mine in every way. I don’t want to waste another fucking day. I promise to be the man you deserve. To take care of you. To take care of us. So say yes, Brinna, say yes to our forever.”
He brings his other hand out and around to open the box, and the sparkling gold band catches the tiny bit of light in the room. It’s rose gold, embedded with tiny emeralds just like the cross I wear around my neck.
I can’t find the words, but I nod so vigorously my neck aches. Ace takes the ring out of the box and lifts my hand to slip it onto my finger.
“You’re mine, Lamb. Always have been. Always will be. Daddy loves you. More than you could ever know.” He strokes a hand through my hair, then plants a soft kiss on my head. “Now, kiss me goodnight.”
Epilogue One
Ace
ONE YEAR LATER
“Daddy...ohhh...I thought I was sore the first time...” She winces and tries to pull back as I lower her battered pussy into the warm bath, but I firmly press her into the water. It’s for her own good.
“Hey, you know the song, Little Lamb...Feels like the first time—” I try to carry the tune, but it just serves to make her giggle, which is in my top five favorite things in this world.
In no particular order they are:
Eating her pussy.
Fucking her pussy.
Taking care of her and everything about our life together.
Her laughs and giggles.
Hearing her call me Daddy.
None of that shit ever gets old, and I don’t think it ever will.
As I slip into the warm water behind her, I tug her close into my chest, take the washcloth and begin stroking gently between her legs.