Page 32 of Daddy's Laws

“There you go. Let it out, baby.”

There was so much she wanted to say. So many things she suddenly wanted to tell him, things she’d never even shared with Liv. But the sobs racking her body made words impossible, so she settled for squeezing his hand as tight as she could manage.

When she’d finally cried herself out, he lifted her and settled into the bed with her stretched out on top of him. They lay there for a while, with only the occasional sniffle from her breaking the comfortable silence. Beneath her cheek, the steady beat of his heart lulled her to sleep.

CHAPTER12

Slipping out from under Shannon’s sleeping form turned out to be more difficult than he’d anticipated. Each movement was met with an adorable frown and her snuggling closer. Eventually, he was able to work one of the oversized pillows beneath her cheek and she happily cuddled up to it.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, princess,” he murmured, dropping a light kiss to her forehead.

Punishing her had also been more difficult than he’d expected. Each cry of pain, every tear, seemed to slice him open until he wondered if he was simply going to bleed out then and there. Death by a thousand cuts, as they say.

They’d made it through, but now he was more determined than ever to make her his. This deal where he was sort of in charge but not completely wasn’t working for him. He needed all or nothing from her.

But that was a conversation for after her nap. With another chaste kiss, he made his way downstairs to the office he’d abandoned after his call. At the time, he’d been planning to join Shannon in the ocean, maybe build a sandcastle or something to try and tease her Little out a bit further. He’d seen her peeking out now and again, and he wanted nothing more than to bring her to the forefront.

That had been before he’d stepped outside and watched his girl get dragged under by a wave. Little brat had taken ten years off his life in under thirty seconds.

Pushing the image of her disappearing under the water from his mind, he sat down in front of his laptop and shot off an email to his brand-new client requesting a video chat with her at her earliest convenience.

The call he’d had to take earlier had been from his firm, letting him know they’d approved his request to take on MaryAnn’s case pro bono. They allowed for so many such cases per year, and the publicity already surrounding the killings made it a particularly attractive case for the firm.

Less than five minutes later, he had a response from MaryAnn, letting him know she was available at any time, including immediately. Assuming Shannon would sleep for at least an hour, he set up the call.

MaryAnn’s face, which seemed to wear a perpetually worried frown, filled the screen. “Hello, Mr. Monroe.”

Everything about her, right down to the soft, sad voice just screamed innocence. Was it real or was it all an act?

One way or another, he was going to find out.

* * *

When she woke,the bed was empty and a soft, downy pillow had replaced Bryant’s chest under her. Rolling onto her back, she stretched, then winced when the tight skin of her bottom pulled uncomfortably.

Yup, she’d definitely be feeling this one the rest of the day. And she wasn’t the least bit mad about it.

Which was its own problem. She’d spent years distancing herself from a lifestyle she was convinced she could never have. Over the past few months, Bryant had been efficiently chipping away at the walls she’d put up around her heart, and in three days together, he’d practically reduced those walls to rubble.

And now here she was, in her drop-seat onesie with a thoroughly spanked bottom, feeling happier than she had in years. The question now was, what was she going to do about it? What did she want to do about it?

What did Bryant want to do about it?

She was still on her back, searching the textured ceiling Liv hated for answers when the door to her bedroom opened.

“Hey there, sleepyhead.”

Turning her head, she smiled at him. “Hey. Come in.”

With a tray full of fruit and crackers and cheese in hand, he nudged the door open. “I figured you’d be hungry.”

“Starving,” she confirmed, pushing herself up to a sitting position with a wince. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. How are you feeling?”

Heat flooded her cheeks at the reference to her freshly spanked ass. “Sore. But okay.”

“Good.”

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