You and me both, angel.
“But, I like it when you say it like that…” Her voice dropped.
The craving sharpened. Not just for the word, but for what it meant. Her choosing me as that. Letting me carry that weight for her.
“Good.” It slipped out under my breath.
Her eyes snapped to mine. “You can’t just say good like that.”
“Why not.”
“Because it’s weird, Vince. You know the stories. The jokes. Daddy issues.” Her throat worked. “I don’t want to be… that.”
My jaw ticked. “You think I’m volunteering to cosplay your father. When I say it, I am not asking you to be little.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Obviously not, but?—”
“Then listen.” My grip at her nape tightened, not enough to scare, just enough to hold her there with me. “Daddy is not about him. It’s about me. About us. My role. Your safety. That’s it.”
Her brows creased. “It still feels… wrong.”
“Madeline.” I let a little Crow steel bleed into my tone. “Vanilla couples use it. Half the kink forums in the world are full of people using that word. Couples. Subs. Brats. Perfectly functional humans who pay taxes and argue about coffee. You think they’re all broken.”
“No.”
“Exactly.” My thumb brushed her jaw. “It’s common. It’s not some taboo ritual no one’s heard of. People use it because it hits something true. Protector. Provider. The one who’s in charge so they can finally fucking relax. That’s what it means when it comes out of my mouth.”
Her lashes fluttered. “Protector.”
“Provider.” I tipped my head closer. “Mine.”
She blushed. And I loved it. That shade of pink in her cheeks. How that look of steel that she wore all day, disappeared.
I was already half feral for the word. But under all that, the truth stayed simple and ugly. Every Crow knelt for one woman. Earning Daddy from hers wasn’t a kink. It was holy. And I fucking wanted it.
“We can try, sir, master or just Vince. They don’t do what Daddy does to me.” No point lying. “But hear me, your comfort outranks everything. Always. If that word ever starts tasting wrong on your tongue, you tell me and it’s gone.”
Selfish bastard that I am, every part of me still screamed don’t take it from me. It had barely been mine and already I knew losing it would feel like someone ripping off a piece of skin. But I’d rather walk around raw than keep a word that hurt my girl.
My thumb traced along her throat, right where a collar would one day sit. Her pulse kicked under my thumb. I felt the swallow.
She stared at my mouth for a long moment, then dragged her gaze up.
“So…Daddy means I’m safe. That you’re in trustworthy. That you’re my protector. My dom and my provider. I’m yours.”
My chest did something ugly and holy at once. Every Crow instinct in me sat down and shut up.This.This was what I’d wanted. Not just a title. The recognition behind it.
“Good girl.” The praise came out rough. “Such a good girl for Daddy.”
This time it wasn’t tension. It was her body leaning into the word instead of away from it.
17
Vince
Her breath was still shaking when I kissed the corner of her mouth again, slower this time.
“This is how tonight goes,” I murmured, my thumb stroking her cheekbone. “I will talk you through every step. You don’t have to pretend to know what you’re doing. You listen. You hold on to me. And if anything gets too much, you sayred.Not sorry, no waiting, red. The second it leaves your mouth, I stop. No questions or disappointment.”
