He steps forward again. I step back.
“Have you been naughty?” he breathes.
My eyes widen. I don’t want to tell him the truth. Not because I can’t take the physical pain of a spanking. No, I need that pain—yearn for it in the middle of the night. But I can’t take the pain of his coldness, bent over some hard surface while his body is far away, two feet of distance except for his hand against my ass.
I shake my head, lips pressed together.
“No?” he asks, drawing out the word. Another step forward.
Another step back. “I…I don’t…”
The backs of my legs hit the daybed, and then I’m falling backward. He’s right on top of me, kneeling over me, his presence a delicious shadow blocking out the light. I have a brief thought that the old bed might not support his weight, pure muscle, and so much of it—there’s an ominous creak. Then his mouth is on mine, his hands are pressing my wrists above my head, and all thought leaves me.
“Don’t hurt me,” I whimper.
“Only a little.” His voice is dark and seductive, promising I’ll like whatever he does. “You’ll be a good girl for me, won’t you?”
“I wasn’t good.” I bite my lip, and tears fill my eyes. This is when it will change. This is when he will change. “I touched myself. Between my legs.”
His lids lower. He puts his free hand on my thigh, slipping between my legs through my skirt. “Here?”
My hands clench into fists. “Umm…a little higher.”
He pushes higher, bunching the fabric so it’s at the top of my legs. “Was it here?”
My cheeks are burning hot. “Kind of. And kind of… higher.”
“Ah,” he says gravely. “Did you touch yourself under your panties? Did you make yourself wet, little one?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “I knew it was wrong, but I—”
“But you wanted to feel good.” His expression seems both sympathetic and severe. “Little girls just want to feel good, don’t they? Did you think I’d be mad?”
My eyes widen, and I nod.
He shakes his head slowly, not breaking eye contact. “You didn’t have anyone else to make you feel good, but now I’m here. I’m going to be the only one to touch your pretty pussy. Right?”
My breath catches. “Yes, Daddy.”
“I’m going to be the only one to make you feel good.” He pushes my skirt up, and I press my legs together. He pries them apart. “Don’t be afraid.”
“It’s scary.” I don’t just mean him touching me or fucking me. I mean trusting him to be my Daddy. I mean letting myself be a little girl. The way he’s acting now, tender and open and even a little vulnerable—it feels like a dream. It was my dream for so long, and now it’s come true.
His face is solemn, gray eyes soft as snow. “I know, little one. You are the bravest little girl I’ve ever met. You taught me how to be brave too.”
Brave? All I’ve ever done is run away—from Harmony Hills, from the Grand. Ivan is the one who stands his ground, who makes an entire city yield to his demands. “You’re not afraid of anything.”
Gentle hands pull down my white panties. His eyes darken as he stares between my legs. My skirt is still on, just pushed up around my waist. I try to close my legs, but he’s holding them open.
“I was afraid of you,” he says softly. “Afraid of how much I wanted you. Afraid I’d corrupt you.”
“You didn’t,” I say because he needs to know. He tried to protect me in his house. I was the one who had to start working at the Grand, to reclaim some kind of power over my life.
He leans down and presses a kiss on my clit, almost chaste. “I did, but not because of who I am or what I do for a living. I corrupted you by giving you pain without the pleasure, by punishing you but never rewarding you. I thought it could keep you safe from my desires, but in the end it only made it worse.”
He’s opening himself, making himself vulnerable to me, and it only makes me love him more. This is the Daddy I always wanted. This is the Daddy I need.
My sex is pulsing, and I want nothing more than his mouth on me. My legs are shaking where he’s holding me open. “So you’re not…you’re not going to punish me?”