Negotiation: Daddy P.I. 0.5

by E J Frost

  But that’s a selfish-bastard thing to do, particularly when she’s going through the inconvenience and irritation of a trans-continental flight for me. If her phone goes off in security, they might confiscate it.

  Instead, I dial my sister, Lizbeth, and when it goes to voicemail, Miranda. It’s evening her time. She should be up no matter what shift she’s on.

  She picks up on the second ring. “Darling, how are you?”

  I squeeze my eyes closed. I hate when she calls me that. I didn’t like it when we were together, and I hate it now that we aren’t.

  “Tough day,” I tell her, opening my eyes and pacing to the suite’s huge picture window. I take in the panoramic view of the city. There’s so much twisting inside me, it’s hard to take any pleasure in the scenery, but it gives me something to look at. “I had to interview a widow.”

  “Oh, my poor darling. I know how much those upset you.”

  “Yeah.” This was stupid. Her sympathy feels false and sickly. I should make an excuse and hang up.

  “Tell me all about it,” Mir coos.

  “There’s nothing to tell.” There’s a lot to tell, but none of it is going to be to her. “It just reminded me that life’s short. Carpe diem, you know. How’s everything? How’s the baby?”

  “She’s wonderful. Did you get the ultrasound I emailed you?”

  I didn’t see the ultrasound, because I’ve stopped opening Mir’s emails. This call’s reminding me why. “That’s great. Have you decided on a name yet? Jennifer still the top contender?”

  “No, silly darling. That was last month. Now it’s Augustine.”

  I hate that name. Mir has her fucking pretentious moments, and this is one of them. “I’m still rooting for Trudy. That’s a name you don’t hear much anymore.”

  Mir gives a delicate snort of derision. It tightens my gut almost as much as Reggie Black’s parting sneer. “I’m very fond of Augustine. Such a classic name. But we’ll see. I’ll probably go through a dozen more before September.”

  “Sure, okay, well—”

  “Logan, don’t be glib,” she says quietly. I know that tone. She’s about to cut my balls out from under me. “You called because you’re hurting. I know how much you open yourself up when you interview victims. You make yourself vulnerable to take in their pain. You’ve told me so. Talk to me.”

  “It’s nothing.” A lie, when I promised not to lie to her. But she broke that promise long before I did. “I just hadn’t checked up on you in a while. I had a quiet hour, so I thought I’d call.”

  “You had a quiet hour? You never have a quiet hour. Where are you? Are you in Europe? Can I meet you somewhere? I can still fly.”

  “No.” I’m almost as far from her as it’s possible to be. “I’m in L.A. Heading to Mexico. I’m on a job.”

  “Then you’re jet lagged as well. That’s a lethal combination. I’ve seen you like this before, darling. Are you with anyone? Someone you can work it out on? Do you have time to find a bottom? There are plenty of clubs in L.A. Do you want me to make some calls for you?”

  I rub my hand over my face. I haven’t told her about Emily. Or any of the women I’ve dated since Mir ended things six months ago. Maybe it’s time. “I’m with someone.”

  She’s silent for a moment. “That’s good. Who is she?”

  “No one you’d know. I met her at a conference.”

  A kinky conference. Mir doesn’t need to know that. Although she’s been a bottom almost as long as I’ve been a top, she still looks down her nose at our lifestyle. My lifestyle, since she’d never admit that she’s part of it. Kink is just a hobby for Mir. Like knitting or fucking flower-arranging.

  “She’s a submissive? A service submissive?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And a masochist?”

  “Yes.” I feel myself closing up like a clam. I don’t want to tell her anything about Emily.

  “Can I speak to her? Girl to girl? I promise I won’t say anything to embarrass you. I’ll just tell her what you need.”

  I need to hang up, is what I need. “She’s not here. She isn’t arriving until tonight.”

  “No? Then tell me all about her, darling. What does she look like? Is she blonde and blue-eyed?”

  Mir is blonde and blue-eyed. I didn’t consciously go for a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman in picking Emily, but maybe my subconscious compass was pointing as far away from my former lover as possible.

  “No, she’s dark. Small. She’s kind of elfin-looking, actually. Not a Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings, elf. She’s a wood elf. Like an ElfQuest elf.”

  “You know I have no idea what you’re talking about when you stray from the classics, darling,” Mir says dismissively.

  No, she doesn’t. Mir’s never read a comic book. Never sullied herself with anything that might reek of popular culture. Would Emily know what an ElfQuest elf is? I don’t know. She loves fairy tales, but the ones she reads are more high-brow than comics. She likes Lego Batman and watches Japanese manga porn, though. I can hope. I pull the phone away from my face, flip over to messages and type Emily a quick text.

  “Darling, are you still there?” Mir asks.

  “Yeah, sorry, just a notification coming in on my phone.” Fuck, yes, an excuse to get off this call. “Mir, I have to go. The client wants to debrief.”

  “Of course. You’ll call me later, won’t you? I want to hear all about this new girl.”

  I grit my teeth. “Sure. I might not get another break today, though. This job’s pretty full-on.”

  “Business first. That always was the way with you. Take care of yourself, darling.”

  “Yeah, you, too, Mir.”

  My balls unclench as I end the call. That’s the last time I’m ever calling Mir after a tough interview.

  Just as I’m shutting off my phone, Emily pings me back.

  Are you questioning my geek credentials, Sir? Of course, I know what an EQ elf is. I have first editions. Signed.

  Thank God for her. I laugh and rest my sweaty forehead against the cool window glass.

  Favorite character?

  Winnowill, duh.

  The super-sexy, super-evil villain of the original series. A very dominant villain.

  Did you want her to spank you?

  Not as much as I want you to spank me, Daddy.

  Oh, yes. That’s my baby doll. God, I need her.

  You’re going to get your wish.

  I want to say more. I want to tell her how desperate I am to see her. How being away from her for three days has been completely miserable. I know I’m as messed up as I am right now not just because of the jet lag or Mrs. Black’s ugly vulnerability or thinking about my sister in a way no brother should for the first time in a decade. It’s because I need my little girl. I shouldn’t need her so much, after just one real date. But the scene and the sex and our time together was so good, so intimate, it opened me up in ways I haven’t been open in a long time. Texting and video-calling her during the days we’ve been apart just crow-barred me further open. Phone sex before breakfast didn’t actually give me any relief; it just dialed me up to eleven. I need her so much every muscle aches with it.

  She doesn’t want me to be needy. She wants me to be in control. So, instead of raw truth, I give her coated platitude.

  See you in a few hours, baby doll. Looking forward to it.

  Me, too, Daddy.

  I stare at those words for a long time, standing in the window of the fancy hotel my client’s booked for me, which I would never have laid out for on my own, looking out over a city built on greed and idolatry, counting down the minutes until Emily arrives.

  Glossary of Slang and Unusual Terms

  Arse: (British) ass.

  Bastard: (British) rarely used in the literal sense, but rather as a generic term for a man, often affectionately.

  Binkie: (British) blanket (usually used by/for children).

  Bottom: (BDSM) in an older, stricter sense, the person who is penet
rated during a kinky scene or activity, but this term has evolved to be synonymous with submissive and is used primarily when there’s no power exchange between partners.

  Bum: (British) ass, buttocks.

  BDSM: an acronym for bondage and discipline (BD), Dominance and submission (DS), and sadism and masochism (SM); covers a huge range of

  Dominant: (BDSM) the person who holds and exercizes control over another in a kinky activity, usually within the context of a power exchange; abbreviated Dom; the female version is Domme; synonymous with top.

  Fanny: (British) vagina.

  High Protocol: (BDSM) a formal set of behavioural rules for a submissive, enforced by a Dominant; always restrictive and frequently punitive.

  Kecks: (British) male underwear.

  Knickers: (British) female underwear.

  Maman: (French) mother.

  Masochist: (BDSM) a person who derives sexual pleasure or emotional gratification from receiving pain and/or humiliation. Not synonymous with submissive or bottom, although some submissives and bottoms are also masochists.

  Master: (BDSM) the person who holds and exercizes control over another in a kinky activity, within the context of a power exchange.

  Mate: (British) buddy, friend (often used in distinctly unfriendly situations to try to calm someone down).

  Mum: (British) mother.

  Sadist: (BDSM) a person who derives sexual pleasure or emotional gratification from inflicting pain and/or humiliation on another. Not synonymous with Dom or Top, although some Doms and Tops are also sadists.

  Safe word: (BDSM) a word or phrase used by a participant in a kinky scene to alert other participant(s) that the person is having a problem and needs the activity to stop, at least momentarily.

  Scene: (BDSM) a kinky activity, usually with a distinct beginning and end, as opposed to the lifestyle, in which kinky activity may take place at any time or even all the time; the scene usually refers to the BDSM community.

  Shibari: (Japanese) rope bondage (literally, to tie decoratively); used in the West to describe the Japanese bondage art Kinbaku.

  Slave: (BDSM) the person who surrenders control to another in a kinky activity, within the context of a power exchange.

  Submissive: (BDSM) the person who surrenders control to another in a kinky activity, usually within the context of a power exchange; abbreviated sub; synonymous with bottom.

  Subspace: (BDSM) a state of altered consciousness induced in a bottom or submissive by kinky play.

  Sybian: (BDSM) a masturbation device; sometimes used to force orgasms.

  Ta: (British) thank you (usually used by children).

  Tawse: (British) a leather strap with two or three tongues, traditionally used to punish (Scottish) schoolchildren.

  Tea: (British) used for both the beverage (also called “a cuppa”) and the evening meal.

  Top: (BDSM) in an older, stricter sense, the person who penetrates another during a kinky scene, but this term has evolved to be synonymous with Dominant and is used primarily when there’s no power exchange between partners.

  Topspace: a state of altered consciousness induced in a top or Dominant by kinky play.

  Logan and Emily’s Contract – Version 1

  The contract that Logan offers Emily can be downloaded from my blog here.

  Please note that this contract is created by and intended for use only by my characters and is not intended as a template or manual for a caregiver relationship.

  Author’s Notes

  Thank you so much for reading! When I wrote the beginning of Logan and Emily’s story, it was really for me as a writer to get to know the characters before launching into the cruise investigation. I didn’t think anyone would want to read the story of them meeting and their first date. But friends encouraged me to make it available and if you’ve read all the way to the end, I hope that means you’ve enjoyed it, too.

  Logan and Emily (and their friends) have many more adventures to come. Logan and Emily’s books are the Daddy P.I. series (Daddy P.I., Daddy P.I. 2.0, etc.) while their friends books have separate titles (for example, Brenna’s story is titled Missing Ink). Although I intend for their friends’ books to be stand-alones, they will contain spoilers for the series and the series is best enjoyed in order.

  Please follow me on Amazon to keep up with releases and on social media, where I frequently post about what I’m working on, deleted scenes, free shorts, advance copies, and book talk!

  Facebook

  EJ’s Angels and Demons (Facebook reader group)

  Twitter

  Goodreads

  Also by E J Frost

  * * *

  Daddy P.I.

  Death. Pirates. And a Daddy Dom to the rescue.

  P.I. James Logan is used to being in charge, both in his personal life and in his investigations. When he’s hired to investigate the suspicious death of a passenger on an alternative lifestyle cruise, Logan swaps his gun for a flogger. All he needs is a good cover, and he knows just the sub to provide it.

  Author Emily Martin is no stranger to the lifestyle; she’s a veteran of emotionally unavailable Masters and see-you-later sadists. However, Logan’s no weekend Dom, and his dedication to being her daddy could just convince Emily to give full-time power exchange another try.

  But there’s no chance for a happily-ever-after with a killer at large. When the chase turns lethal, Emily must call on every ounce of courage to save her daddy.

  Will she be a Little too late?

  Daddy P.I. 2.0

  A movie star. A stalker. And a Daddy Dom to the rescue.

  P.I. James Logan has finally found his perfect submissive in little Emily Martin. He wants nothing more than to enjoy spoiling his babygirl as she adjusts to life with him in New York City. But nothing’s easy when you’re a Daddy.

  Logan’s best client, adult movie star Rick Errol, has a stalker, and what starts as an online trolling quickly escalates into attacks that could cost Rick his liberty and his life.

  Hunting Rick’s stalker is hard enough, but a Daddy’s work is never done. When Logan’s former flame claims he’s the father of her baby, Logan has to fight for Emily’s trust all over again.

  The need to protect those he loves is written on Logan’s heart and soul, but can he protect them all, or will he have to make a terrible choice?

  Missing Ink

  A thief. A bad tattoo. And a Forever-Dom to the rescue.

  Michael “Mac” McNally is drifting. Finished with the Navy, finished with his marriage, Mac is sleeping on the couch of his good friend, James Logan, while he tries to figure out his retirement.

  Brenna “DirtyGurl” Truelove is lost. Floundering after a series of not-relationships, Brenna can’t find satisfaction in scenes with one-night Doms or in Missing Ink, the tattoo business she’s worked so hard to build.

  When the drifter and the lost-girl come together over a bad tattoo, can they build something that lasts among the wreckage of his marriage and her trust in Doms? And can they catch the thief before he destroys Missing Ink?

  Snowburn

  Unleash the monster. Save the girl.

  Hale Hauser is a Company killer. Perfectly engineered, highly trained, superbly effective. But when ordered to assassinate his own kind, Hale rebels, and the Company buries him in a hole so deep that no one has ever escaped.

  After escaping, Hale hides on Kuseros, a backwater Colony on the Deep Frontier. He begins a new life as Sandringham Snow, pilot and smuggler. Hired by Kez, a local runner, to retrieve a box of black-market glands, Hale follows her through the maze of strange loyalties and twisted customs of Kuseros’ underground gangs. In payment, he takes the one thing only a woman can give him and discovers the one thing his new life is missing.

  But Kez has a secret, which will threaten them both. To protect her, Hale must unleash the monster. Can he control the killer inside long enough to discover the truth before it destroys them? Or will he lose everything just as he’s found it?

 
Neon Blue

  Demons. Can’t live with ‘em. Can’t kill ‘em.

  My name is Tsara Elizabeth Faa, and I have a demon problem.

  A very serious demon problem. My ex-best friend has summoned an incubus and left me to deal with him. Now he’s after my soul.

  Thing is, the more time I spend with him, the more I want to give it to him.