Page 50 of Melt For Us, Daddy
“But you always have your coffee by seven. No later.”
One corner of Cordelia’s mouth kicked up in a smirk. “That’s okay. I had a much better pick-me-up this morning.”
“Cordelia!”
Throwing her head back, Cordelia let out a long, loud laugh at Ivy’s squeak of horror. “What? You taste so much better.”
“Oh my god, you are impossible.” Face flaming, Ivy turned back to the fridge and yanked out a bottle of milk. She doctored her coffee, but to Jacob’s surprise, she set it in front of Cordelia instead of keeping it for herself.
And when she tried to move away, Cordelia snagged her around the waist, pulling Ivy down into her lap. “Maybe I am impossible,” she conceded, nuzzling at Ivy’s neck. “But you’re not freaking out over our routine, so I’ll call it a win.”
“I wasn’t freaking out. I was just surprised, is all.”
“Mmm. Well, you’re not the only one feeling a little off balance today. I left my vitamins upstairs. Would you mind running up and grabbing them for me, blossom?”
“Yes, um, Ma’am.” A fresh blush rose to Ivy’s cheeks as she tried to slip off Cordelia’s lap.
But Cordelia held on tight, one brow raising in that look he was starting to associate with someone being in trouble, and Jacob’s heart beat faster at the sight.
“Who am I, Ivy?” Cordelia asked softly.
“Oh. Umm. You want me to call you that… here? In front of everyone?”
Without taking her eyes off Ivy, Cordelia pitched her voice up for everyone in the kitchen to hear. “Is anyone here going to be upset if Ivy here calls me Daddy, the way she’s supposed to?”
Merlin and Kestrel exchanged a glance and shrugged. “No skin off ours,” Kestrel said.
Everyone, save for Ivy, turned to look at Jacob and his own cheeks heated in response. “She calls you Daddy? Isn’t that, um, for men?”
“Oh my god,” Ivy groaned. “I’m going to go get those vitamins now before I die of embarrassment. Let me go, Cordelia.”
“You are going to sit right there until Daddy tells you otherwise, little girl.” Shifting her gaze to Jacob, she pinned him with a hard stare, and it was all he could do to keep from squirming. “To answer your question, Jacob, yes. Traditionally, ‘Daddy’ is a term used for men. But some women enjoy being called Daddy, and as I’ve very recently learned, I happen to be one of those women. As we said before, you have every right not to consent to being exposed to our kink. So if this really makes you uncomfortable, please tell us so we can do our best to keep it private.”
Did it make him uncomfortable? Looking down at his coffee again, he tried to figure out how he felt about it. There was nothing in the Bible, as far as he knew, that explicitly stated a woman couldn’t be called Daddy.
And even if there was… he was starting to have a lot of doubts about that particular book. Or at least the interpretations he’d been taught his entire life.
“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable, I don’t think. More confused than anything, I guess. I don’t, um, really understand any of… this.”
“Yeah. I get that. It’s hard, isn’t it, when you’ve been told your whole life things are one way and then you get out into the real world and find out it’s all so much different?”
Relief washed over him and he risked a glance up to find Cordelia smiling at him. “It’s hard, but I’m learning. And I-I don’t really see how what you two do together can be wrong. Whenever you look at each other, all I see is love. And I just don’t know how that kind of love, what you guys have, can be wrong.”
“Because it’s not. I know that’s hard to wrap your head around.” Reaching across the table, she linked her hand with his and held on tight. “And I’m so fucking proud of you for not just accepting what you’ve been taught without question. That’s a hard thing to do, Jacob.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Eyes flashing with approval, she pulled her hand back. “You’re welcome. Now, blossom, you may get up and go get my vitamins if you ask me properly.”
Ivy sighed, and Jacob nearly laughed at how dramatic she sounded. Like his Sarabeth when someone told her they couldn’t play with her. “May I please go upstairs and get your vitamins… Daddy?”
“Yes, baby. Go on.”
Draining the last of his coffee, Merlin rose from the table. “We need to go do our rounds, check in with Holden. But we’ll be right outside if anyone needs anything.”
They disappeared, leaving Jacob and Cordelia alone in the kitchen. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other until he worked up the nerve to say what was on his mind. “Um. Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything you like. If it’s too personal, or if I can’t answer it for any reason, I’ll tell you. But I’ll never be angry with you for asking.”
