“Good girl.”
“All right!” Sounding much perkier than before, Millie beams as she pulls the cuff from my arm. “Blood pressure looks good. Now we just need your temperature.” Millie cranes her neck tolook around me, as if she’s trying to see if she’ll get caught doing whatever it is she’s about to do. “Mr. Hawthorne, um, are you going to be mad if I take Natalie’s temperature orally?”
“Why would I be mad? All I care about is keeping her healthy.”
Millie’s smile widens as she pulls out a digital thermometer and sticks it in a plastic sheath. “Open wide and hold this under your tongue.”
I do as I’m told and the machine beeps a few seconds later with a reading of ninety-six-point-nine and Millie frowns.
“Hmm. Can I see your hands for a second, Natalie?”
“Why?” Evander’s voice is sharp, sharper than I’ve ever heard it. “Is something wrong?”
The smile Millie flashes him is obviously meant to be reassuring but judging by how tightly he’s gripping me, it falls short of the mark. “Just checking a few things, Mr. Hawthorne. Natalie?”
Dread settles in my stomach as I hold my hands out. Millie runs her thumbs over my nails and hums. “Do you just prefer short nails?”
“I don’t really have a preference but they break all the time anyway, so I keep them trimmed. Why?”
“Nothing alarming, but I think you might be a bit on the anemic side. I’m going to have Doctor D add a couple tests to your blood work. But don’t worry, this is an easy fix even if your iron levels do come back low.”
“Oh. Um. Okay.”
Suddenly, I’m feeling very much like a scared Little girl as Daddy pulls me closer to him and presses another kiss to my hair. “Everything will be fine, kitten. Daddy’s right here. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
Sympathy flashes in Millie’s eyes as she leans forward to give my knee a squeeze. “I know Doctor D can seem… not very nice.But heisactually very good at his job. Whatever the issue is, he’ll have you fixed up in no time. I promise.”
“Pinkie-promise?”
Grinning, she holds up her littlest finger. “Pinkie-promise.”
I hook my pinkie with hers and it does, surprisingly, make me feel a bit better. Pinkie-swears are sacred, after all, even as an adult.
With that handled, Millie hurries out of the exam room and Daddy gives me another hard squeeze. “My brave Little girl,” he murmurs.
“I don’t feel very brave right now.”
“Bravery isn’t never feeling scared, kitten. It’s doing what needs to be done even when you’re down to your bones terrified.”
Okay, he might actually make me fall in love with him if he keeps that up. Despite everything, the punishments, the humiliation he’s put me through, nobody’s ever made me feel quite so…safe.
A shadow falls across the floor, pulling my attention away from the incredibly dangerous man holding me on his lap. I look up, and find Doctor D once again standing in the doorway, that same wicked smile on his lips. And I can’t help but think he might be even more dangerous than my own Daddy.
“Hello, little Natalie. It’s time for your exam.”
Chapter Thirteen
Natalie
Have I mentioned that Ihatedoctors?
Even without Doctor D’s extra dash of assholeishness, this is the last place I want to be.
“Is that really necessary, though? Like, I’m sure there are other ways to keep people healthy without all the poking and prodding.”
Completely ignoring my protests, Doctor D shifts his attention to the man behind me. “Evander, would you mind…” He pauses, his lips turning down in a frown. “Why is she still dressed? Didn’t Camilla take her temperature?”
“She did,” Daddy confirms.
