Daddy's Sweet Girl (Montana Daddies, #3)

by Roberts, Laylah

  And none of it seemed quite real.

  Was she...was she really his girlfriend? Stress flooded her, making it hard for her breath. A weight pressed against her chest. She didn’t deserve any of this. She wasn’t anything special.

  Why her?

  Abby, stop. You’re here. He wants you.

  He’d made that clear. And she wanted him. More than she could have ever imagined. In ways she’d definitely never imagined.

  She grabbed Boss Hog, hugging him against her. Yeah, her life was a mess. But she also had something good for the first time ever. And she wasn’t going to let her self-doubts get in the way, was she?

  Well, she was going to try not to.

  HE GLANCED AT THE STAIRS for the hundredth time. What was she doing?

  He shouldn’t have let her leave his sight so soon after taking her into bed. When she’d ducked off to get dressed, he’d felt like she needed a bit of time to herself. But giving her too much time could backfire on him. He just hoped like hell she wasn’t going to attempt to pull away from him.

  Well, if she did, he’d just drag her back. Because he wasn’t letting go. Maybe he hadn’t thought he’d want this sort of relationship, but once he made up his mind about something that was it.

  Just as he was about to go up and get her, she appeared in the doorway.

  “Hi,” she said shyly.

  Relief filled him. All right, she didn’t look like she’d spent the last twenty minutes devising a way to leave.

  “Hey, baby girl. Everything okay?”

  “Sort of.” She gave him a wry smile. “I guess as good as it can be with everything that’s happened.”

  “I get that.” He held out his hand to her. She walked slowly over and slipped her small hand into his. He drew her close and kissed her lightly. “It will be okay. I promise.”

  She leaned her forehead against his chest. “I know I should tell you I can handle this on my own. But the truth is, I’m totally out of my depth and have been for a while.”

  “There is nothing that says you have to handle this yourself. It doesn’t make you weak or less to ask for help, Abby.”

  She leaned back. “Do you ever ask for help?”

  “All the time.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Are you lying to me?”

  “Nope. I know when to ask for help.” He thought about that. “Most of the time, anyway. My big brother is a nosy bastard who is known to pester me until I tell him what I need help with. Some of my guys can be the same,” he said, thinking of Zeke the other night. “But there are times when I don’t ask for help even though I should, when I bottle things up. That’s usually when the nightmares get to me.”

  “You have nightmares?”

  “Yeah. I was a SEAL, baby. I saw some truly awful things. But some of the worst things that happened were when I got home.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He sighed. “This really isn’t a conversation to have before breakfast. Come on.” He led her to a breakfast bar stool and lifted her up. He glanced down at her feet with a frown. “Where are your socks?”

  “Oh, we didn’t buy any.”

  “Right. That was an oversight. We’ll get you some. And some slippers.”

  “I don’t need them. I’m fine,” she said quickly. Too quickly.

  He reached down and grabbed one of her feet in his hand. She squealed and had to grab hold of the counter to keep herself from flying backwards. “Kent!”

  “Sorry, baby. Your feet are freezing. Of course, you need socks and slippers. We’ll get them later. Along with a few other things you need that we didn’t get. Like hair ties and bath things and any other girly stuff my baby needs.”

  She rolled her eyes but smiled.

  “Wait here. I’ll go get some of my socks for you.” He raced upstairs and grabbed a pair of warm socks for her. He strode back into the kitchen and then crouched in front of her. “Foot,” he demanded.

  “I can put them on myself.”

  “Foot,” he repeated.

  She poked her foot out and he slid the sock on. He let that foot go and she held out the next foot before he could ask for it. Strange the sense of satisfaction you could get from making sure your baby had warm feet.

  He moved back around the kitchen counter and popped some bread in the toaster. “There anything you’re allergic to?”

  “No. Nothing. You didn’t have to cook for me again.”

  “Got to make certain my baby is well fed. She needs her energy.” He leered at her playfully, delighting in her giggle.

  He buttered some toast then cut it into fingers. He placed a boiled egg in an egg cup and cut off the top before grabbing a teaspoon. “Here you are baby. Toy soldiers.”

  She stared down at the plate he put before her like she’d never seen food before.

  “You’ve never had toy soldiers before?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Well, you’re in for a treat. You grab a piece of toast and dip it in the runny egg yolk, see?” he demonstrated then held the piece of toast to her mouth. “Open up for Daddy.”

  Her breath caught but she didn’t protest, opening her mouth so he could feed her.

  “That’s my good girl,” he said warmly.

  She smiled then took the piece of toast from him and dipped it once more. He grabbed his own plate and they ate in comfortable silence. The peace felt nice. No stress. No worries.

  When she finished her cup of coffee, he got up and poured her another one and she smiled her thanks.

  “Shoot,” she muttered, pushing away her plate as she glanced at the clock. “I didn’t realize it was so late. I need to get to work, can you take me? Oh no, what am I going to do about a uniform? Both of mine were wrecked. Gloria is going to be furious.”

  He frowned at that last statement. Surely Gloria should be more worried over Abby than a couple of uniforms.

  “I don’t want you going in to work today,” he said calmly.

  “What?” She whirled towards him. “What do you mean you don’t want me going to work? I have to.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not safe.”

  “Not safe? But I’ll be surrounded by people all day. Besides, we don’t know that I’m in any danger.”

  “Abby, your brother is missing. Your house was torn up. You’ve been threatened. You’re also no longer paying off your brother’s debt to one of the most dangerous men in the state. I don’t care if you’re going to be surrounded by people all day or not. The only way I could assure myself of your safety was if I was to spend all day watching you and I can’t do that.”

  “But I...I can’t just take the day off.”

  “Sure you can, just call Gloria and tell her what’s going on. Wait, what do you mean I’m no longer paying it?”

  “I mean, you’re not paying your brother’s debts to Markovich anymore.”

  “But I have to.”

  “Why?” He grabbed up their plates and took them to the dishwasher.

  “I can do that.” She came up behind him. “You cooked. I should clean.”

  “I got this, sweetheart. Why don’t you go call Gloria and tell her you won’t be in?”

  “I can’t, Kent. I need the money. I can’t just stop paying the debt. Mr. Markovich will get angry.”

  “Let him. I’m furious with him. It was never your debt to pay in the first place. He had no business taking money from you. I get that he doesn’t have any morals or scruples but his days of taking you for a ride are over. And so are the threats being made against you because of Max’s fuck ups. From now on, his shit doesn’t touch you.”

  “That sounds great in theory, but—”

  He turned to her and grabbed her lightly by the upper arms. “It’s not a theory, it’s reality. I promise you that. Now call Gloria, tell her you won’t be in.”

  “Kent, she won’t like it.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Kent! This is my job.”

  Okay, he could see they n
eeded to have a chat about this. “Did you agree to be mine just a few hours ago?”

  “Well, yes, about that...”

  “Oh no, you’re not taking it back.”

  She frowned at him. “I wasn’t going to take it back. I was just going to say that if you change your mind—”

  “I’m not changing my mind, Abby.”

  By now she had his shirt clutched in her hands. “But if you do—”

  “Abby,” he growled.

  “Because I know I’m not good enough for you, so if you do—”

  “What did you just say to me?”

  “That if you change your mind—”

  “Not that. The other part. About you not being good enough for me.”

  “Oh. That.” Her cheeks flushed red. “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? You’re gorgeous, smart, handsome, look at your house. My house is its poor, several times removed cousin from the wrong side of the tracks. Just like me...wait, Kent! What are you doing?” she squealed as he grabbed hold of her and lifted her onto the counter. He laid her on her stomach with her legs hanging over the edge.

  “Kent! Put me down.”

  “Nope,” he said grimly as he secured her flailing arms, pinning her wrists to her lower back. Then he grabbed hold of her sweatpants and pulled them down her legs. Next he grabbed her panties, tugging them under her ass.

  “Kent, what are you doing?”

  “I’m giving you something you desperately need, little girl.” He smacked his hand down on one cheek and she let out a yowl. He shook his head at her dramatics.

  He gave her other ass cheek a slap.

  “No, I don’t! I don’t need this.” She kicked her legs, trying to wriggle away.

  “Oh yes, you do. You need a hell of a lot more than I have time to give you right now too.” As he spoke, he continued to smack her ass with a steady rhythm. Smack, cry. Smack, cry. She was going to lose her voice if she kept up that sort of noise. And he might have to soundproof the entire house. He shrugged. If that’s what he had to do, he’d do it. Because he didn’t intend to give up spanking her. He also didn’t intend to go easy on her.

  “I do not ever, ever want to hear you put yourself down like that again. You’re not to speak badly about your body, about your mind or about where you come from. So what if you don’t have as much money as I do, does that make you less than me?”

  “N-no,” she sobbed out. By now her ass was a nice pink color, but he was going for a deep, dark red.

  “That’s right, it doesn’t. So why would you say that? Does having money make me a better person? Does it make me smarter? Kinder? More loyal? Well?”

  “No, Daddy!” she cried out.

  He moved his hand lower, down to her thighs. “You are just lucky that you have to call your boss and say you can’t come in or I would be getting out my paddle right now.”

  Her cries grew even louder.

  “But don’t worry, that will be coming later when we deal with your punishment for not coming to me when you were in trouble.”

  He laid two last smacks to the place where her ass and thighs met. She lay on the counter, sobbing her heart out.

  Aww, poor darling. Even though it wasn’t at all a hard spanking, she sounded like she was dying. He let go of her wrists, checking her bruised one and hoping he hadn’t injured her.

  “Baby, is your wrist okay? I didn’t hurt it, did I?” He helped her slide off the counter, cursing himself for not remembering about her bruises.

  “My...my wrist?” she managed to get out between sobs.

  “Yes.” He took gentle hold of her hand, turning it to study her wrist.

  “Why are you worried about my wrist when my ass is on fire?” she wailed.

  “Because you earned that hot ass. Denigrating yourself is one of Daddy’s big no-nos. In fact, I think now is a good time to go through Daddy’s rules.”

  “Wh-what?”

  “My rules for your behavior. Remember, you agreed to follow my rules,” he pulled her close, hugging her with one arm while he reached around and patted her ass gently with his other hand, “and accept my punishment for breaking them.”

  “But I-I didn’t know about that rule.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “I’m certain that we had a conversation that night I took you home after the incident at the Suck ‘n Blow where I told you that putting yourself down was always going to land you in trouble with me, did we not?”

  She shook her head. “I-I guess we did.” She reached around to rub her ass but he grabbed her wrist, very gently.

  “No rubbing allowed after a punishment spanking.”

  “A punishment spanking? Doesn’t that imply there are spankings that aren’t for punishment?”

  “There are. There are fun spankings. Or spankings given to release some sort of tension.”

  “A fun spanking, huh? It sounds like a thing you say to kids to get them to do something. Eat your sprouts, they taste sooo good.” She made a face.

  He laughed. “Not keen on sprouts?”

  SHE SHOOK HER HEAD, as she sniffled and rubbed at her dripping nose.

  “Here, baby.” Kent grabbed a couple of tissues from a box on the counter and she reached out a hand to take them. But he brushed her hand away and wiped her tears then he held the tissues up to her nose. “Blow.”

  Oh no.

  She just stared at him.

  “Blow, Abigail,” he said in that low, stern voice that made butterflies flutter in her tummy.

  She blew.

  He wiped her nose. She checked his face for any sign he found that gross, but his expression didn’t change. He opened a drawer and grabbed a pen and paper. He held out his hand to her. “Come, we need to have a chat.”

  A chat? She didn’t want a chat. She wanted to go ice her hot ass. She was cursing the fact that she didn’t have a tiny bottom right now. She’d a big ass meant more fat to cushion the blow, right? Only there was also more surface area there for him to cover with that paddle he called a hand. Seriously. That thing should be outlawed. She glared at the offensive appendage.

  “Abigail, do you need to spend some time in the corner?”

  What? He wasn’t serious, right? She gaped at him.

  “I’d have sent you there straight away after your spanking but this conversation is important and I didn’t want to skip it or rush through it. But if you need some more time to reflect on your spanking and your reason for it...”

  “I don’t,” she said hastily, reaching for his hand and taking a step forward. She tripped and fell against him.

  “Whoa, easy, baby. Just walk with small steps.”

  She glanced down as he helped her stand and she saw that her pants and panties were down around her feet.

  Holy shit. How had she not realized she was standing in front of him half-naked? She bent down to grab her pants.

  “I didn’t say you could put your pants back on, little girl,” he said in a low voice that had her freezing.

  “I...I can’t walk around half-naked.” Especially not with her red ass on display.

  “Nobody is here but me.”

  “But what if someone walks past a window or comes to the door? I look like a baboon,” she wailed.

  He stared at her for a moment then he shook his head with a laugh. “Baby girl, you do not look like a baboon.” He tipped up her chin placing a light kiss on her lips. “You look like a naughty girl who has been properly punished. But if anyone comes to the door, you have my permission to pull up your pants.”

  “Well, thank you very much,” she said sarcastically.

  “You’re welcome,” he said seriously.

  Lord, help her from killing him. Please.

  Chapter Twenty

  Her prayers must have been answered, because she somehow managed not to attempt to squeeze his throat until he couldn’t breathe while he led her, with her taking small steps, over to the sofa. Once he was there, he sat and pulled her onto his lap.

  She squirmed. “Can’t I
do this standing up?”

  “Nope. One of the consequences of earning a punishment is having to sit on your hot bottom after. Now, let’s talk about your rules and then you can call your boss.” He set the notepad on her lap and started to write something along the top.

  Daddy’s rules for Abby.

  Oh crap. She got the feeling she was in trouble.

  “When it comes to safety, I am in charge, understand? You will obey any and all safety rules. These are a guide, not the definitive list.”

  Wonderful.

  “First, you need to tell me when you want to leave the ranch,” he told her.

  “Well, since I need you to take me because I don’t have a car that part is kind of a given,” she pointed out. “Oh, unless I ask someone else, I guess.”

  “If you ask someone else, the first thing they will do is check with me.”

  She frowned; not sure she liked the sound of that. “I’m a prisoner?”

  “Of course not. But even when you do have your car, which you won’t be driving again until it has new tires and has been checked by a mechanic to make certain it’s safe, I expect to know when you’re leaving a ranch.”

  “I’m a prisoner.” She stared at him, horrified.

  “Of course not.” He appeared appalled. Then thoughtful. “It’s something both Clint and I agree on. We like to know when people leave and arrive. It helps us keep everyone safe.”

  “And that’s important to you, keeping everyone safe,” she said quietly, having some insight into him now.

  “It is. Remember how I talked to you before about things getting bad after I left the service?”

  She nodded. He ran his hand up and down her leg, gazing off into the distance. “Well, I was really one of the lucky ones, even though I didn’t feel at home here on the ranch. Which was weird considering the happy childhood I’d had here. But it felt like there was nothing here for me. I wasn’t born to be a rancher. But at least I had Clint and Eden. A friend of mine, he didn’t have anyone. He went home only to have his old man get into a drunken rage and kick him out. All his friends apart from me and one or two others were still in the service. He went down to a bar and got drunk then he drove his truck off a cliff.”