Page 47 of Protected By Her Daddy

My arms give out, and I lose my balance, tipping onto my side, my face smooshed into the pillow, my body quivering. He collapses on the bed behind me, spooning me, uncaring that he’s smearing his fluids all over us.

“I love you more than anything in this world,” he rasps, kissing the back of my neck. “Are you okay?”

“Mmhmm. Can’t move,” I mumble into the pillow. Every part of me is wrung out from two blistering orgasms.

I’m vaguely aware of Gabe leaving the bed as my eyelids flutter closed, and I hear water running in the bathroom.

“Come on, sleepyhead. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Gabriel plucks me from the bed and carries me into the bathroom.

I peel one eye open to see he’s run a bath, thick foamy suds covering the surface. “Didn’t we just shower?”

“Yeah, but I dirtied you up again. Plus, the warm water will relax your muscles and help with any soreness,” he says, placing me in the tub. “Scoot forward.”

I do as he asks, and he climbs in behind me, settling me between his open thighs, so I’m leaning against his chest. I sigh as I immerse myself in the hot water and then again as he massages the tension from my shoulders.

“I love my husband’s aftercare,” I murmur, basking in his touch like a cat lazing in the summer sunshine.

He lathers shampoo between his palms and massages it into my hair. “And I love looking after my wife.”

We fall into a comfortable silence, broken only by my sighs as he rubs my scalp.

“Do you ever think about your parents?”

His hands still for a second. “What makes you ask that?”

I shrug. “I often think about my dad. I wish he’d been around to see me grow up. Things would’ve been so much different. I think he’d be happy to see me now.”

“In the bath with a billionaire?”

I burst out laughing. “No, you idiot. Married. In love.” I tip my head back as he rinses my hair.

“My mom would’ve loved you,” he says, working the conditioner into the wet strands.

“Just your mom? Not your dad?” I joke.

“Stepdad.”

I turn to look at him. “I thought?—”

“I never knew my biological father. He left when he found out Mom was expecting me. My mom met James Burns when she was six months pregnant, and they were married three weeks later. James fell in love with my mom the first time he laid eyes on her. And she loved him. It didn’t matter to him that she was carrying another man’s child. He raised me as his son. Taught me the importance of hard work and the value of respect. Until it all went wrong.”

“What happened?” I whisper.

“He ran a manufacturing company and had several warehouses. But when they caught fire, he lost everything. No insurance,” he says grimly. “He had to sell the house. We went from a comfortable existence to poorer and poorer neighborhoods. That’s when I met Ed.”

“How old were you?”

“Eight,” he says, rinsing the conditioner from my hair. “My stepdad never came to terms with his losses. Never forgave himself. Just sank further and further into depression and became a shadow of his former self. Mom worked long hours in an elderly care home, and as soon as I was old enough, I got a job to help out. Night shifts at a loading depot. I got home from work early one morning to find two fire trucks outside my house.”

I gasp, covering the hand resting on my thigh, knowing what’s coming next.

“Faulty wiring started the fire. My mom and stepdad were both dead in their bed. Smoke inhalation. The fire investigator said they never woke up. Did you know that smoke inhalation is one of the leading causes of death in residential fires?”

“No, I didn’t know that,” I say sadly. I shift, turning to straddle his hips so I can see him. Leaning forward, I press my forehead to his, feeling closer to him than ever. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago. The landlord of our rented property had to pay damages, and I invested the money.” His smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “That’s when I decided to join the Navy. Ed, too. We’d been through thick and thin together by that point. His father was a piece of shit. Ed hated him, and he jumped on the chance to enlist. When I left the SEALs, I used the money I invested to set up a small security consultancy and landed a few military contracts. I brought Ed in with me, and the business grew from there. That’s how Burns SafeGuard was born.”

I stroke my hands through his hair, massaging his scalp. “You are the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”

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