"Touch me. Please touch me."
I slide my hand down her stomach, over her hip, to the edge of her panties. "Here?"
"Yes—"
I slip my hand inside and find her wet and ready, and I have to grit my teeth to keep control.
"Fuck, Maren. You're soaked."
"For you," she gasps.
I circle her clit slowly, watching her face, learning what she likes. When I slide two fingers inside her, she cries out and arches into my hand.
"That's my girl," I murmur. I work her with my fingers, my thumb on her clit, until she's trembling and close.
But then—
"Daddy?"
Lilliana's voice drifts through my bedroom window across the way.
We both freeze.
"Daddy, where are you?"
Fuck. Fuck.
I pull my hand away, and Maren makes a sound of protest that would be funny if I wasn't so frustrated.
"I have to—" I can barely form words.
"Go," she says quickly, sitting up. "Go. She needs you."
I'm off the bed in seconds, adjusting myself in my jeans and trying to look like I wasn't just fingering my daughter's nanny.
"This isn't over," I tell her.
Her smile is pure sin. "I hope not."
I kiss her one more time, hard and fast, then flee into the storm.
Lilliana's standing in the hallway in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes. "I had a bad dream. Where were you?"
"Just checking on something outside." I scoop her up, and she tucks her face into my neck, and my heart squeezes. This. This is why I've been so careful. "Want to sleep in my room tonight?"
She nods, already half asleep again.
I carry her to my bed and tuck her in, then lie down beside her, staring at the ceiling while she snuggles against my side.
My lips still tingle. I can still taste Maren, still feel the softness of her skin, the way she gasped when I touched her.
And now we have three days snowed in together, knowing exactly how good it feels to give in.
I'm going to finish what we started. I'm going to make her mine in every way that matters.
But for now, I hold my daughter and remember why I've been so careful. Why every decision I make has to be the right one.
Because Lilliana deserves a father who puts her first. Always.
