Page 10 of Break Me, Daddy

Holden grinned and pulled her ponytail through the neck of her shirt, smoothing her hair back into place as much as possible without a brush. “Caught that, did you?”

“Mmhmm. If she has admitting privileges, I assume she’s been here enough to know the way back to the parking lot. So what did you talk about?”

“You. What you’ll need from me once we get home, that kind of thing.”

“Oh.” The heat that had just begun to fade from her cheeks came rushing back. “You don’t have to take care of me, Holden. I just need somewhere to stay for a little bit.”

Grabbing her chin, he forced her head back, dark eyes flashing. “Who am I, Francesca?”

Her breath caught in her throat. “D-Daddy.”

“Damn straight. And it’sDaddy’sjob to take care of you. You are more than welcome to come stay with me, as long as you need, but you will have rules. And what happens when my naughty girl breaks the rules?”

“I get spanked,” she whispered, and despite everything she’d been through over the past thirty-six hours, her core clenched in response.

“That’s exactly right. So we’re going to go home, lay down some ground rules, and then you’re going to take a nap. When you get up from your nap, you’re going to call your therapist and make an appointment. The earliest one she has. Understood?”

Dammit. She’d hoped, although she’d known it was in vain even before he’d laid down the law, that he’d let the whole therapy thing slide. The last thing she wanted to do was go crawling back, to admit she’d failed in more ways than one.

But looking at him now, she realized there’d never been a chance in hell he’d let her get away with that. “Yes, Daddy.”

“That’s my good girl.” Softening his grip, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “We’re going to get through this together, baby. I swear. Daddy’s got you.”

And for him, it really was as simple as that. She needed him, so he’d be there.

Her vision blurred, obscured by the waves of emotion crashing over her. “I don’t deserve you,” she whispered, her voice thick with the tears she was trying so hard to hold back.

“Nonsense. You deserve everything, little siren.”

Bowing his head, he captured her lips in a long, slow kiss. God, she’d missed this. The taste of him, that easy, natural dominance that called her to give in, to surrender herself completely. Letting go of all the doubts and worries at least for now, she did exactly as he bade her to, emptying her mind of everything that wasn’t him as she surrendered with a soft whimper.

His arms came around her, holding her tight without crushing her, and even through the fog of lust she could tell he was holding back. Treating her like a china doll that might break if he was too rough.

She wanted rough. Wanted him to take her to her limits and then beyond. Wanted, more than anything, to shatter in his arms the way she had before.

But to her disappointment, he broke the kiss, lifting his head to smile down at her. “I’m going to go check on that paperwork so we can get you home. Where you belong.”

Home. Where she belonged.

With him.

For now.

Chapter4

FRANKIE

It took a few hours longer, much to Holden’s growing agitation, for her to be released. Long enough, much toheragitation, for him to decide it was time for lunch pretty much the second they walked through the door of his house.

“Ham or turkey?” he asked, giving her a none-too-subtle nudge into a chair at his charming little kitchen table.

“I don’t suppose ‘neither’ is an option.”

Pausing in front of his fridge, he turned to raise an eyebrow at her, sending a delicious little frisson of fear up her spine. “Neither is an option if there’s something else you’d rather have. But you are going to eat, Francesca.”

Wiping her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans, she weighed her options. “Can I have just the turkey? No sandwich?”

“I can do that. Turkey and cheese roll-ups?”

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