Page 52 of Double Daddies
When Damian spoke, his commanding tone froze her in place. “Ah, babygirl, that’s a big no-no. You never hide what belongs to us from our view. Pull up your skirt, please, and lie back down with your legs spread.”
The world spun around her as panic clawed at her chest as she stared at them. Her tormentors… her fuckingDaddies.
Her thoughts scattered as fragments of pride, defiance, and regret swirled together until she couldn’t distinguish between them. Things could have been very different if she hadn’t been so stupid as to vandalize their helicopter.
Each breath became more difficult than the last. Rising on unsteady legs, she didn’t bother to hold back the tears spilling down her cheeks. Her heart thundered as the full magnitude of her own actions registered. She had no one to blame but herself… except she didn’t have the strength to pay the price they demanded… not like this.
With a broken sob, she ran.
Chapter Twelve
Double D Acquisition’s private plane
Elle
Drake caught her around the waist within moments. Elle instinctively twisted against his grip as she tried to break free. His grip was firm and warm against her skin.
“Enough.” The curt order cut through the air. Elle froze, and all the fight dissipated from her from that one cold word.
“The one thing I’ll never tolerate from you is running from us, Elle. We’re your Daddies, which offers you the courage and freedom to talk to us. I know this has been a harsh kickoff, but the quicker you adapt to being our Little, the easier it’ll be.” He brushed a tender hand over her cheek. The gentle touch was at odds with his earlier dominance. “Talk to me, babygirl. Why are you running?”
The warmth of his palm lingered on her skin, sending tingles down her spine. His shift from stern disciplinarian to caring protector made her head spin. Her throat tightened as memories of his commanding presence during her punishment flooded back. She drew in a shaky breath but kept her eyes lowered.
“I can’t do this.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “This is... it’s too much, and from what I saw on the internet, this isn’t even half of what you’re going to expect from me. Just now… Amanda… I... I just can’t.”
“Amanda is your nanny, babygirl, and we trust her implicitly. She would protect you as fiercely as we would when in her care.”
“That may be, but she just… you just made her…” Elle swallowed the words as visions of how her body had responded to her newly appointed nanny flooded her mind. “I’m sorry… I can’t. It’s too much.”
Drake’s fingers curled under her chin to prod her face up. With an enigmatic expression, he watched her with an intensity that made her pulse quicken.
“Do you want us to turn the plane around, Elle?” His voice carried a dark undertone that contrasted with the patience in his gaze.
She jerked in surprise as she stared at him with wide-eyed disbelief and hope fluttering in her chest.
“You would do that? After all the effort to get me here... you would just take me back and let it all go?”
“That’s not what I said. I asked if you wanted to go back to Texas.” His jaw tightened, drawing Elle’s gaze to a muscle ticking beneath his skin. “Unfortunately, returning without honoring the agreement you made does carry consequences.”
“Yes, Elle... the vandalism isn’t going to dissolve into thin air.” Damian’s voice cut through the tension, coldly and matter of fact, as if sending women to jail was an everyday occurrence to them. “Of course, it would also mean Elle’s Delicacies will close its doors at the Texas Tower.”
Her mouth fell open as the brief flicker of hope extinguished in a heartbeat. Heat rushed to her cheeks as anger and frustration surged through her.
“You would really do that? How cruel can you be? Dangling the possibility of returning in front of me, only to yank it away with more threats!”
“No threats, Elle. Reality. Vandalizing our property to the repair value of almost a million dollars was your own doing. The bakery and Texas Towers... that’s all business.”
Her shoulders slumped in defeat as the burden of her actions pressed down on her. She had sealed her own fate…with buckets of fucking pink and silver paint. She wrapped her arms around herself, seeking comfort that she knew wouldn’t come. Not here, and definitely not from the Double D Duo.
“No... I don’t want you to turn around.”
“At this point, we need assurance from you.” Drake’s voice held no anger, only disappointment. She was caught off guard at how his reaction caused the ache in her chest to intensify. An unfamiliar urge to erase that disappointment from his voice and please him scared her.
“I don’t understand,” she hedged, attempting to buy time while her mind raced to process this new reality.
“We need your full commitment that you will reform to our expectations... as our Little.”
“Since I still don’t know what it really entails, all I can commit to is that I will try,” she said after a pause, but couldn’t keep her voice from trembling.
