Page 44 of Submitting to Daddy
Bubbles fizz up over the carved word, pink and angry—but clean.
I gingerly pat it dry with the clean washcloth, dress it gently with the gauze, and tape it to her skin with slow, meticulous care. She watches me in silence, her eyes glassy and bloodshot. When I finish, I close up the first-aid kit and place it on the floor.
Standing beside the bed, I trail my fingertips up the center of her throat. The belt marks are faint but visible. I can see where the pressure left shadows on her skin: a map of my dominance. I kiss each one.
Inspecting her wrists, I find them both raw from the zip tie. I lift them to my lips and whisper apologies against the tender bruises I left behind. Not because I regret punishing her, but because I know the weight of being punished by someone you love.,
I climb back into bed and pull her gently up to my chest. Instinctively, she curls into me, her head tucked beneath mychin, her fingers fisting the sheet and her breath warms my skin.
“You’re mine,” I whisper into her hair, kissing the top of her head. “And there’s nothing I won’t do to keep you safe. Even from yourself.”
She makes a soft sound—a soft whimper—and I wrap my arms around her a little tighter.
“You don’t know what you’ve done to me, Madison.” My voice is a dark rasp. “What I feel for you… This isn’t a fairytale love. It’s a fucking obsession, devotion so deep it borders on madness.”
Her fingertips dig into my chest as she pulls herself tighter to me.
“I’ll kill for you. I’ll bleed for you. I’ll forgive you again and again if I have to. But make no mistake, firecracker, I’ll never let you go.”
She shifts against me, and I can feel her heart racing, the thud beating against my chest.
“You’re the first thing in my life I didn’t want to ruin,” I softly confess. “And yet… that’s exactly what I did with you. I took your life. And selfishly, I’d do it again—without hesitation—if I knew that it meant I’d get to have you.”
A soft sigh passes over her lips, her body melts into mine, and I realize she’s asleep. I stare at the ceiling as her soft breath blows across my chest, my fingers absently stroking the length of her spine.
She’s going to destroy everything we’ve built.
I’m not going to prison over a tight little ass.
Enzo’s voice and Nikolai’s warning ring in my ears. They won’t understand. They won’t care about the depths to which I love her or the lengths she would go to prove her loyalty.
They’ll only care about her badge. Her secrets. Her lies. And the threat she poses to them.
I don’t sleep—not for a long time.
Tonight, I punished her, forgave her, branded her, and reclaimed her.
But tomorrow…
Tomorrow, I’ll have to fight for her.
Madison shifts against me, and I open my eyes to find the sun barely filtering through the curtains. Her breaths are light and feathery. She’s warm in my arms, her body tucked into mine like she belongs there. Like she always has. I watch her sleep for a moment before pressing a kiss to her shoulder.
Her skin is marked—last night’s faint bruises having grown darker. The gauze over her chest is stained crimson and in need of being changed.
She stirs when I move to sit up, blinking groggily. “Cillian?”
“I’m here, firecracker.” I brush her hair back and look down at her. “We need to clean you up again.”
She nods, but her body flinches as she tries to sit. I wrap an arm around her and help her up gently, guiding her toward thebathroom. She’s sore, of course she is. Not a single complaint passes over her lips, not even when I peel back the bandage on her chest.
When we step into the shower, her eyes tighten and her jaw clenches as the warm spray hits her chest.
“You don’t have to be tough for me.” I dab the tender wound with a clean cloth. Wringing the cloth, I let the water cascade down her chest. It runs pink for a moment before fading to clear. “I know it hurts.”
I wash the rest of her, tenderly kissing every mark her punishment left on her skin again.
She presses her forehead against my chest, and the water sprays over us both. My finger tips her head up to meet my gaze, and I brush the wet hair from her face and cup her gorgeous face. Pressing my lips to her forehead, I say the words I’ve been dreading since last night. “We have to go see them.”
