“Promise me,” I say, meeting her gaze directly. “Promise that you won’t run off again. Not without telling me. Not without letting me know you’re safe.”
She holds my gaze steadily, her expression serious despite being still half-dazed from what we just did. “I promise, Daddy.”
Chapter Eight
NOLA
I floatin the peaceful silence of Caleb’s arms, my body still humming from his touch. The marks he left throb pleasantly on my skin. Handprints warming my ass, fingertip bruises decorating my hips, the sweet sting of a bite on my neck.
Three days ago, I was homeless, desperate, sleeping on a friend’s couch with one suitcase to my name. Now I’m naked in a billionaire’s bed, his come drying between my thighs, feeling more at home than I have since Bea died and took my world with her.
Caleb shifts beside me, his hand tracing lazy patterns on my hip. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he murmurs.
Before I can respond, he’s moving, sliding out from under the covers and standing beside the bed. The sudden absence of his warmth makes me shiver, but then he’s leaning down, strong arms sliding beneath my knees and shoulders.
“I can walk,” I protest weakly, even as I loop my arms around his neck.
He lifts me against his chest like I weigh nothing, my naked body cradled securely against his.
“I know you can walk,” he says simply. “But I want to carry you.”
Something flutters in my chest. This is a different Caleb than the one who threw me over his shoulder earlier, who spanked me until I was wet and begging. This Caleb is gentle, his touch careful as he carries me through a doorway into what must be his bathroom.
“Oh,” I breathe, taking in the space.
Black marble stretches across the floor and climbs halfway up the walls. A glass-walled shower big enough for four people dominates one corner, multiple showerheads gleaming against matte black tile. But it’s the tub that draws my eye, a deep, freestanding oval of smooth stone, positioned beneath a skylight that reveals a patch of night sky dotted with stars.
“Seems excessive for one person,” he comments, following my gaze to the massive tub. A hint of self-consciousness colors his tone.
“It’s beautiful,” I say honestly.
He sets me down carefully on a heated marble bench, my skin prickling with goosebumps in the cool air. “Stay,” he instructs, though his tone lacks the commanding edge from earlier.
I watch as he moves to the tub, turning taps with practiced efficiency. Water thunders into the stone basin, steam immediately rising to fog the lower part of the skylight. He reaches into a cabinet, producing a bottle that he upends beneath the rushing water. The scent of sandalwood and something citrusy fills the air as bubbles begin to form.
“Bubble bath?” I can’t keep the surprise from my voice.
He glances back at me, one eyebrow raised. “Problem?”
“No, just... unexpected.”
A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “I contain multitudes.”
I bite my lip against a laugh. Of all the things I expected from isolated, controlling Caleb Asher, a sense of humor wasn’t on thelist. Yet here he is, quoting Whitman while preparing a bubble bath for the assistant he just thoroughly fucked.
When the tub is half-full, he returns to me, scooping me up again without warning. My breath catches at the casual display of strength, the way my body fits so perfectly against his. He carries me to the tub and lowers me slowly into the water.
“Oh God,” I groan as heat envelops me. The water is perfect, hot enough to pink my skin but not so hot it burns. Bubbles cradle my breasts, sliding against sensitive nipples as I sink deeper.
Caleb watches me with hungry eyes, something possessive and pleased in his expression. Then he surprises me again by stepping into the tub behind me, his long legs bracketing mine as he settles against the sloped back, pulling me to rest against his chest.
For a moment, we just breathe together, my back to his front, his arms loose around my waist. The water rises with our combined bodies, bubbles multiplying in the shifting currents. Above us, stars twinkle through the skylight, impossibly bright against the mountain’s dark sky.
“This is insane,” I say softly, watching a bubble float upward, catching the light before it bursts. “Three days ago, I was couch-surfing, one step away from sleeping in my car. Now I’m taking a bubble bath with my billionaire boss in a tub that probably costs more than every place I’ve ever lived combined.”
His arms tighten slightly around my waist. “And now?”
“And now you’re washing my hair and treating me like I’m... I don’t know. Precious or something.”
