Page 42 of XOXO, Daddy
“Would you listen to what I want from this? Would you give me that?”
“Okay.” I breathed.
“I want to give you care so badly now, I think I might die if I don’t get the opportunity to give it to you.”
“What?”
“Willow, you went to a different club, and a man took advantage of you.” I could hear him struggling to remain calm.
“I know.”
“You say know, but you kept it from me.”
“I didn’t want to keep it from you. But what was I supposed to do?” I tried hard to keep my tone from being whiny and little. It was still so easy to go to that place with him.
“You were supposed to come to me right away! Hell, if I’m being honest, you were—” he stopped short.
“I was what?”
“You weren’t ever supposed to be at another club without me. If I had been there, this never would have happened.”
“Adam, that’s not fair.”
“You were taken advantage of!”
“I handled the situation.”
“Your beet red ass would beg to differ,” he scoffed. “Will you please allow me to care for your wounds, at the very least?” His kindness moved me. Nodding my head, I allowed him to grab the cream from his cabinet, then he laid me out on the bed on my tummy so he could rub the cream into my sore, aching bottom. His tenderness nearly brought tears to my eyes.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I righted my clothing, turning to sit next to him on the bed again.
“Why did you go there, Willow?” he asked with such soft sadness it tore at me.
“I didn’t know what to do with the lonely feeling in my heart.”
“You should have come to me. And for the record, I will deal with Nathan.” His voice nearly growled at the man’s name, and I smirked. “What’s so funny about that?”
“Well, I already did.”
“You did?”
“Yes. I was quite proud of myself, actually. As soon as I got out of that room, I found a Dungeon Monitor and told themeverything that had happened. They reported it to Club Obsidian as well. So, I doubt we will see him again.”
“I’m proud of you, prin — er, Willow.” He stopped himself from leaning in to kiss my forehead. I felt the pang of longing and loss tear at my chest. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to not call you princess?” he sighed heavily.
“Adam… I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Why not?” His earnest questioning tugged at my heartstrings.
“Because I can’t be the reason you and Alyssa are at odds. I don’t think I could forgive myself for coming between the two of you, especially since she is the only family you have left,” I explained. It felt hard to breathe, the longing making my chest tighten so painfully.
“Before I took you home, I asked Alyssa to stay at the house so we could talk. Once you were home safe, I sat down with her and explained everything. She was caught off guard, walking in on us like that, and I helped her process her feelings. I also made it very clear that it wasn’t appropriate to barge in unannounced, regardless of the situation, unless it’s an emergency. So we wouldn’t need to worry about that in the future.”
“So she knows what we’ve…” I trailed off, not wanting to say the words aloud. The idea of my high school best friend knowing the intimate details of my kink relationship with herfatherfilled me with embarrassment and shame.
“She knows aboutme, Willow. She knows who I am, and what I am looking for in a relationship.”
“I just… I don’t know how this could ever work, long term. I basically grew up in this house, Adam.”
