Page 16 of Daddy's Little Librarian
“B-because my new Daddy says so,” she whispered, every knot in her stomach tightening strangle tight in an instant before slowly melting away.
“And my new Daddy,” Kurt told her firmly, “will keep. Me. Safe.”
She swallowed hard. Her mouth felt weird, like it was someone else’s as she parroted that back to him.
“Now, here are the rules.” He counted them off on his fingers. Like all the rest of him, even his fingers were huge. “Rule number one: You go nowhere without my knowledge and permission, is that understood?”
She nodded.
Arching both eyebrows, he waited, one finger still ticked.
Fidgeting with the seams of Bat Bear’s costume, she hesitantly said, “Yes, I understand?”
His eyebrows arched higher. She’d never had someone look at her with half this much severity, at least not without her panicking. “Yes, what?” he calmly demanded.
Her heart fell into her stomach. Her already shallow, strangling breaths quickened, growing even more shallow. “Yes, Daddy,” she whispered.
“Rule number two” —he added another finger— “all of your incoming house phone and cellphone privileges have been revoked. When either of your phones ring, I am the only one allowed to answer. You may make all the outgoing phone calls you like, so long as you aren’t placing phone calls to the rodent. From this day forward, if I find out you’ve called that man, there will be serious consequences. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Daddy.” Her knees buckled slightly. Her legs actually felt shaky and weak. She wanted to sit down right here on the floor at his feet.
“Are you safe at work?”
She nodded.
“Rule number three. I will take you to and from work. From the moment I leave until I return again, you will stay inside the building where there are witnesses who can protect you. If you leave for any reason without my knowledge and permission, there will be serious consequences. Do you understand?”
She was going to cry again. All of a sudden, it was like being back in the men’s room at the library and he’d just accepted the job of being her bodyguard. She was so happy, her voice quavered. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Rule number four. You do what I say when I say it. I do not tolerate arguing for argument’s sake, defiance or disobedience.”
She had to swipe her eyes dry again. It was hard to talk, so she nodded. “O-okay.”
“Break any of my rules in any way, and there will be consequences.”
She nodded, hiccupping and sniffling.
“Take a bath,” he told her. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He stalked out of the bathroom, stopping abruptly in the hallway when she followed him out. She almost ran into him, but jumped back half a step when he turned on her with a frown.
“What did I just tell you?”
“Take a bath?” she stammered, wide-eyed.
“What’s rule number four?” He held up the appropriate number of reminding fingers.
Scotti retreated another step, more stunned than scared. “I-I—”
“You do what I saw when I say it.”
“B-but…” She pointed through the bathroom in the direction of her bedroom. “I need clean clothes…”
He went from holding up his hand to catching hold of the back of her neck. “Turn around.”
He didn’t wait for compliance, but physically turned her until she was staring back at her own wide-eyed expression.
“Hands on the sink,” he told her.
