Relief swelled his chest and then dropped to his cock. Injecting sternness back into his voice, he prompted, “You would like that very much, who?” He needed to hear the title from her lips because titles meant something.
The rose-tinted flush on her face would never get old. He never said he didn’t have a bit of a sadist in him, and he’d be willing to bet if he ran a finger along the slit of her pussy, he’d find his girl was enjoying this, too. Because that blush wasn’t embarrassment alone. It was arousal. He recognized the signs.
She couldn’t hold his gaze, but she still said the words he wanted to hear. “I would like that very much, Daddy.”
“That’s my good girl.” The words settled over both of them like a promise.
She beamed at him. It was too much. He had ached to taste those pouty lips for hours. He wouldn’t take it too far. Just one quick kiss to formalize their verbal contract, to seal it. But not enough to lose himself.
He curled both hands around her jaw, framing her face. Her eyes widened. Threading his fingers through her hair, he stepped into her space and slowly lowered his mouth to take hers. The kiss was electric from the start. He needed more than the chaste brush of lips he’d planned. His control slipped a notch. Then another.
Gentle yet insistent, he traced his tongue along the seam of her lips, teasing and enticing her. With a moan, she parted her lips for him, her eyes darkening to a deep teal. She moaned, filling his mouth, and he was lost. Fuck. She tasted like heat and innocence and temptation.
Need blazed through him, setting him on fire. His tongue swept into her mouth, tasting her. He knew he should stop, pull back so he didn’t frighten her, but he was swept up in a tidal wave of desire. He hadn’t felt this untethered in years.
He wanted to devour her. To own her. He wanted to give her so much pleasure she wouldn’t be able to think. Every shadow that had ever touched her, he wanted erased.
A voice in the back of his mind warned him that his lizard brain was taking control, and reptiles rarely made sounddecisions. This was moving too fast. It was too soon, and she wasn’t ready.
Hell, neither of them was ready. Yeah, he needed to step away. Being her Daddy meant protecting her… from others, from herself, and from him.
Especially from him.
But then she nipped his bottom lip with her sharp teeth. And damn if he didn’t love a little bite. His reason fractured, and his lizard brain took over. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her to the bed.
She fit against him as if she’d been built for that exact purpose… small, warm, and entirely too right in his arms.
She clung to him. “Connor?” Her voice trembled with uncertainty.
But it was too late for questions. He was a fucking Tarzan. There was a cosmic symmetry to it, since her middle name was Jayne. The breathiness in her voice stoked the flames already consuming him. If she kept saying his name like that, he’d never recover.
“Who am I, Trouble?” His voice was deep and raw with need.
“Wh-what?” Confusion flickered across her face.
“What do you call me?” He needed to hear her say it again because this wasn’t just sex. The word mattered.
“Oh. Daddy.” Embarrassed, she nuzzled her face into his neck like a kitten.
That was good. He’d have her purring soon. Not yet, though. Right now, he needed her lips again. When he took them, fire streaked through him like lightning, straight to his cock. His entire body ached for her. He’d never been this close to losing control.
He traced the line of her jaw with his tongue. “Tell Daddy what you need, babygirl.” Her gasps and whimpers were killing him. He’d give her everything she asked for. Every single thing.
She blinked slowly and tried to obey him. “Daddy, I need… I need… I don’t know what I need, but I…”
His teeth, scoring her neck, silenced her. “That's all right, babygirl. Daddy knows what you need.”
His reason made one more attempt. He should stop this. She was Winnie’s sister. For all intents and purposes, she was the fucking client. The cardinal rule was that you never slept with the client. And he never had. Never even been tempted. What was it about this girl? She wasn’t a temptation. She was an inevitability.
Time to slow things down. To give her time to think and make sure this was what she wanted, before they crossed a line neither of them could uncross.
Growling in frustration, Connor rolled off her. “We need to hit pause here. I need to make sure you know what you’re doing so you can say yes and mean it.” Even if it killed him.
He stood and drew the covers down, turning her toward the back wall and pulling them all the way up to her chin. They needed the distance because his body wasn’t listening to reason.
Struggling to turn over, she said, “I do know what we’re doing.”
The rasp of desire in her voice almost had him snatch the covers back down, knowledgeable consent be damned. But he’d never been that kind of guy, and he damn sure wasn’t going to start with Bliss.
