“I haven’t unpacked yet,” I informed him. “Everything I have is in the suitcases in the closet.”
In the sliver of light streaming from the hall, I was able to watch John walk around the bed to the closet. I held my breath as I mentally cataloged what all was in the first suitcase. Most of the more questionable items had either been thrown away with promises to myself to replace them, or packed in the boxes that would arrive sometime next week.
“You have so many pretty things, sweetheart.” I rolled to my side and watched as he held up some of my favorite shirts. My cheeks burned when he found the skirt I’d been wearing the day we met. “Going to need you to wear this again sometime. Maybe I’ll have you model some of your favorite outfits for me.”
“I can do that.” My voice was slightly higher pitched than usual. My dick ached inside of my jeans. There was no way in hell he could help me change without coming face to face with the evidence of my arousal.
Would it turn him off?
Could I convince him to do anything about it?
Did Iwanthim to do anything about it tonight, or was I hoping he’d prove he was serious when he said we could take things slow?
“Ah, here we go.” He turned out the closet light and returned to me. The edge of the bed dipped when he sat, and I rolled closer to him. “I’ve never done this before, so you’ll have to help me out.”
“It’s no different than helping a woman get undressed after a long night at the bar,” I quipped. Certainly, that wasn’t something that was foreign to him. A man as good looking as he was probably had plenty of experience with drunken nightcaps.
“You’re so very wrong, princess,” he whispered. My eyes fluttered shut when he brushed the backs of his fingers over my cheek. His breath huffed against my skin, and I held my eyes closed, waiting for him to kiss me. And he did, but it was the sweetest, softest press of his lips to my forehead. “You’re nothing like anyone who’s come before you. You deserve to know how precious you are.”
“Then show me,” I begged. “I’m wide awake now, so maybe we can talk and then you can do all the wicked things I’d bet you’ve been thinking about all night.”
“We could, but we’re not going to,” he insisted. “For tonight, I’m going to help you get ready for bed, and then I’ll rub your back until you go to sleep. Tomorrow or the day after, we’ll get together when neither of us is sleep deprived and there’s no alcohol in our systems, and we’ll talk.”
“That sounds boring,” I groused. But really, it sounded like a level of bliss I’d never experienced. Other than Tanner, I don’t think I’d ever had a man in my bed who didn’t expect something other than companionship.
“Keep it up and you’re going to earn your first punishment,” he warned me, quickly adding, “At least, if you agree to it you will.”
“Daddy, you can do whatever you want to me.” And fuck it all, I meant it. He was already proving to be a good man, despite whatever had happened in the past between us. If Sam was right and he wasn’t typically with guys, his reactions made sense. But he wasn’t going to walk out of my room tonight without knowing how things would go if I had my way.
“Sweetheart, I’m going to ask you a favor, and I want you to listen to what I have to say before you get upset.”
I stilled, worried that I’d pushed him too far. If he’d meant to keep me calm, he’d failed. My heart raced, and I would have jumped out of the bed if I’d had anywhere to escape to. But maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I relaxed the slightest bit when John took my hand in his and raised it to his lips. “Okay, I’ll try.”
And then, I held my breath. My lips were pursed tightly so I wouldn’t blurt something out before he finished saying whatever was on his mind.
He didn’t let go of my hand. The gentle back and forth motion of his thumb against the side of mine gave me something to focus on. He wouldn’t do that if he was about to tell me he couldn’t do this. “First, I want you to know how inexplicably good it feels when you call me Daddy. It’s something I’ve never considered until recently but, without knowing it, you’ve helped me see that taking on that role for someoneissomething I want.”
“I hope that someone is me,” I admitted.
Shit. I told him I wouldn’t say anything.
John pressed a finger from his free hand to my lips. “And it very well may be. Right now, I think it’s a pretty safe bet. But I don’t want you saying it as a joke or taking this lightly. The next time you call me Daddy, I want it to be because I’veearnedthat role in your life. Until then, I’d prefer either John or Sir, if you don’t feel right using my name. Do you think you can live with that?”
Was he kidding me right now? The man couldn’t have said it better if he was speaking lines from a script. They were precisely the right words to burrow his way straight into my heart.
“I think I’d like that, John.” I bristled a bit at the sound of his name on my lips. Sir didn’t sound right, but neither did his first name. Maybe that was because he didn’t strike me as a John. That was a name for someone easily forgettable, and the past months had proven he was anything but.
“Good. Now, I’m going to help you get into your pajamas, and then I’ll lay next to you until you fall asleep because you asked so nicely.”
That sounded like the best night ever.
6
John
I woke up sweating my ass off with a weight on my chest. Not the metaphorical weight I’d gotten used to, but one that let out gentle huffs with every exhale. I opened my eyes and looked down to see Maverick using my chest as a pillow. His fingers twitched, curling in my chest hair as he wiggled around, trying to get comfortable.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable panic that I’d fallen asleep next to a man. It never came. In its place, there was peace for the first time in longer than I could remember. It had been, at least, since before things with Les started going to shit.
