“That was delicious, darlin’,” he whispered in her ear. “A meal fit for a king. I had no idea you could cook like that. All this time you’ve lived here, and I didn’t know you could cook? Have you been hiding that from me, little girl?”
She giggled, and shifted on his lap. His cock hardened, pushing against her little bottom, and his stomach clenched with desire. She was so pretty, so sweet, and something in him said mine.
Placing a callused finger under her chin, he lifted her gaze to his, and when her eyes met his, he smiled. “You’ve been dishonest, not telling me that you could cook like that. Should I flip you over my lap and spank your naughty little bottom? Should Daddy punish his little girl?”
A faint pink flush crept along her chest and neck, and her cheeks flamed. She swallowed, then licked her lips, shaking her head, then nodding, then shaking it again. “I don’t want to be punished, Daddy,” she whispered shyly.
He reached a hand to the edge of her top and slowly drew his thumb across her collarbone. She shivered and drew closer as he leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Maybe Daddy should bend you over the couch, lift the skirt of your dress, and spank your little backside?” As he spoke he lifted the edge of her dress and smoothed his hand along her warm, soft legs, higher up her thighs, until she moaned. Without conscious thought, he leaned over and took her mouth with his, a gentle but chaste kiss, his embrace tightening as she yielded to his gentle claiming. He pulled his mouth off hers long enough to tuck a soft wisp of hair behind her ear.
“No, Daddy. I don’t want you to punish me,” she said, but the soft sighs and way her mouth parted belied her words.
“No?” he asked.
She shook her head, and tucked her chin under his, her soft blonde curls tickling his chin. “I want to please you,” she said in a soft whisper. “I want you to be happy with me.”
His heart warmed at that, her eagerness to please him drawing forth a yearning in him he’d never felt before.
“Baby, you do,” he said. “You cooked me dinner. When you got in trouble the other day, you leaned over my knee and took your spanking. You’ve listened to what I’ve said and followed my lead. That pleases me, Daisy.”
What he really wanted, really needed, was her honesty.
How could he be her daddy if she wasn’t transparent with him?
“We have ten more days, honey,” he said. “In that time, I want to get to know you better. I feel like a little gem has been hiding here right in front of me, and I just now discovered the precious treasure in my midst.” He paused. “And I want to make that treasure mine, darlin’.”
She nodded. “I want that, too,” she whispered. “So badly. I’ve never… known anyone like you, Shane. I’ve dated boys before in school, but they were silly and selfish and nothing like you. You take care of this ranch. You’re responsible and dependable, and I’ve been watching you ever since I came here. You never noticed me, though. I thought I must’ve looked like a little girl, and you’d never pay me any mind. But now that you are, I want to… earn your approval. Show you I’m a woman, not a girl.”
She’d bared more to him in the short two days since he’d taken her across his knee then snuggled her on his lap than she had in months of living under the same roof. Who was this little girl? What were her wants, and hopes, and dreams? Could he be the man she needed?
“I’ll do my best, darlin’. Would you be my girl?”
With a soft, wistful sigh, she snuggled her head up on his chest. “Yes, Daddy.”
Chapter Ten
“I can’t go tonight, Malcolm,” Daisy said, her tone final. For the past five days, she’d been working hard to clean house, cook for Shane, and keep herself the hell away from Malcolm. He’d lost the money she’d loaned him, and now it was her job to replace it. She’d do that without his help, thank you very much. But when her phone rang when her thoughts were on Shane, she’d not even looked at the caller ID before answering. Now Malcolm had the audacity to invite her to the football game?
No way.
She hung up the phone and her stomach flipped. The Lazy Kettle needed someone for evening entertainment for the weekend, and the week after that. If she were hired, she’d be able to earn enough money, combined with her part-time shifts at the grocery store, to make it all back and then some, even if it took her two months. They were going to call her for an audition.
The only problem was, Shane still didn’t know a thing about the stolen money and her scheme to replace it. What she didn’t need was Malcolm interfering.
The door clanged shut and Shane’s deep voice rang through the house. “Daisy?”
Her heart pounded at just the sound of his deep, commanding voice. She shoved her phone in her pocket guiltily. “Up here!”
She could hear him taking the steps two at a time, and when he reached the top of the stairs, she yanked the door open to meet him in the hallway.
“Hello, Shane,” she said brightly, maybe too brightly.
The past five days had been amazing. Every day, he’d worked the ranch, and every night, she’d cooked him dinner. Over dinner, they talked about everything and nothing, the foster homes she’d grown up in, the good and the bad. How she’d never been very interested in school, but loved her music classes, and how Abby had always encouraged her to sing.
“Sing for me?” Shane had asked the night before, but she wanted to have a little more time to get comfortable before she sang just for him. Singing for an anonymous audience was one thing, but singing for… what was he? Her boyfriend? Crush?
The man she was falling in love with?
Singing alone, while only he watched, and the most important thing in the world was earning his approval? Well, that was something else altogether, and she couldn’t quite get up the courage yet.
He’d talked about his family, the traditional parents who’d raised six children, and how he was the eldest of the brood. It explained a lot, she thought, how protective and responsible he was. He told her about the first time he’d ridden a horse, and how his whole world had changed, how natural it felt sitting on the back of something so magnificent and powerful, and how training horses and caring for them fulfilled a need deep inside him.
“When I was little, I knew even then, that I was called to tame wild things,” he said, over a piece of cherry pie the night before. He’d winked at her then. “Are you my wild thing? I like taming you best of all.”
She’d laughed, then, but there was a ring of truth in what he’d said. Daisy always had been an impetuous, headstrong girl, and though she had a gentle nature and trusting disposition, she sometimes acted the part of a wild child. But now… now that Shane’s approval was of such great importance to her, she often thought before she acted. What would he think? What would he do? Was her decision the right one?
It was why even now, her guilt plagued her as he smiled at her on the landing.
“How’s my little Daisy tonight?” Shane said, smiling broadly. He was back from the ranch much earlier than he normally was, and she’d hardly begun dinner.
Her tummy dipped at the possessive tone of his voice.
His Daisy.
His.
“I’m good,” she said, as she led him away from his room, afraid somehow that if he went in there he’d know that she was scheming, that she was deceiving him even now. It killed her keeping this from him. But if she told him the truth… if she confessed to having allowed the theft, and now planning to go behind his back and get a second job to pay for what was gone… what would he do?
He’d spank her, for one. And though the memory of being spanked by Shane made her feel warm and a little shy, she hated the idea of earning a real punishment. She wanted nothing more than for him to like her… no, to love her.
“Problem is, I’ve only just begun dinner. Potatoes are scrubbed and the chicken is marinating, but I’m a good hour away from actually having it done. You’re early tonight!” She ended on an accu
satory note. How was she supposed to cook dinner for him if he showed up early?
“Now, Daisy,” Shane said in his calming, deep voice. “You’ve been working awfully hard, darlin’. I think it’s time I took you out to dinner. What do you say?”
“You’re taking me out on a date?” she asked, her voice unnaturally high as her nerves churned.
He grinned, those blue eyes of his smiling at her with that grin she adored. “Honey, we’ve been ‘going on a date’ every night for a week, but in the privacy of our home here, haven’t we?”
Well, for goodness’ sake, he was right.
“And it’s a daddy’s prerogative if he wants to spoil his little girl every once in a while, isn’t it?”
Her heart pitter-pattered in her chest as she dipped her head shyly and nodded. “My girl’s been working her little fingers to the bone, cooking and cleaning, and now I think it’s time for a little break. Don’t you, honey?”
“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “Why, yes, I do!”
He laughed then, and pulled her over to him so he could kiss the top of her head. “Go and get ready then, but don’t take more than a few minutes, or they’ll be giving away our seats to someone else. Okay?”
“Yes, Daddy. Where are we going?”
“That’s a surprise, honey. Now git.” He spun her around and gave her a playful smack on her bottom. She scooted back to her room, her cheeks flushed at the reminder that he was in charge. The sting went right through the seat of her jeans, and she clenched her legs. She wanted him to touch her, and more than a little smack on the backside.
Nothing looked right to wear. Nothing! It looked silly, or too tight, or too little girlish. How did a girl dress when spending a night out with the man she hoped would be hers forever? The only one whose head she ever really cared to turn? To top it all off, she didn’t have many clothes to choose from, having gotten out of foster care just the year before, and growing up impoverished, she’d mostly only allowed herself to wear the clothes Abby gave her as hand-me-downs, or a few small things she’d picked up on special. Nothing was sophisticated yet classy enough, and Shane needed sophisticated and classy.
“Daisy!” Shane yelled up the stairs. “You’ve been up there for fifteen minutes. I said to be quick about it. Now how much longer are you gonna be?”
She could tell from the tone of his voice he was growing impatient, and she didn’t blame the man. He was also a veritable bear when he didn’t eat, so she needed to make up her mind fast.
“Um, two more minutes, Shane!” she yelled through her door.
“Two! I’m counting!”
Damnit. He would, too.
Grumbling to herself, she tugged on a pair of tight-fitting, dark-colored jeans that accentuated her pretty curves but slimmed her full thighs, a look that she quite liked. But what to wear for the top? She pulled on a bright blue halter-top Abby had given her, but the back was bare and she knew without even asking that Shane wouldn’t like it. In fact, she’d hazard a guess that the reason Abby had given it to her in the first place was because Clay didn’t approve.
“I want no one’s eyes on you but mine,” Shane had said to her just the night before. It was sweet, but… damn, she needed something to wear.
She yanked the blue top off and grabbed a white button-down blouse, but when she buttoned it up, she noticed it was wrinkled in the back, and she did not have time to iron. Out went that one, and she tried on three more tops, when finally, she hear the clomping of irritated boots outside the door.
“Open up.”
Uh oh.
Well, for goodness’ sake, he couldn’t wait another minute?
Her phone buzzed with a message.
Audition open tonight in one hour, if you can come then.
Oh, no.
“Just a minute.”
“Now, young lady.”
Oh, no. He’d pulled out the young lady.
She trotted quickly over to the door and yanked it open, only to find a very irritable, scowling Shane staring back at her.
“What is going on in here?” he asked, hands on his hips. “You said you’d be a minute, and that was twenty minutes ago. I’m so hungry I could eat the legs off the table downstairs. We aren’t goin’ to the Ritz, Daisy. You just need to put on some clothes so we can get outta here!”
“You don’t understand,” she said, turning her back to him and grabbing a pink top from the top of the pile. Without thinking, she yanked off the white top and spun around, putting the pink one on. “I needed something that would look right and none of these do. They’re either too tight, or too long, or the wrong color, or all wrinkled! And I—ohh!” The breath whooshed out of her as he swept her into his arms.
“You’ll try a cowboy’s patience with making him wait for his dinner? Bad move, honey,” he said, as he pulled her onto his lap. “And now you’re gonna make me stand here and watch as you pull off that top and your breasts bounce all over the place while you put on another? Uh uh. That deserves punishment, little girl. I think someone needs spanking.”
But he wasn’t putting her over his knee. His mouth was at her bare collarbone, kissing so gently, warm arousal fluttered through her. “Ohhhh. Oh, Shane,” she whispered, as his mouth dipped lower and he kissed the swell of her breasts.
“You’re beautiful, Daisy,” he said, as his tongue caressed her naked skin, and heat pulsed between her legs. “So beautiful. And I’m gonna do everything I can to make you mine.”
Her breath caught in her throat as he smoothed his thumb over her satin-covered breasts, making her nipples harden, need pulsing through her body. “It isn’t right how gorgeous you are. I think someone as beautiful as you ought to be punished for driving a man like me wild.” And before she knew what was happening, he’d flipped her straight over his knee. The coarse fabric of his jeans brushed up against her bare belly seconds before his large, heavy hand fell on the seat of her jeans.
“Naughty little girl,” he lectured, with another sharp pop on her backside. “Keeping her daddy waiting. Making him starve. Then teasing him with her naked breasts.” He tsk-tsked as he spanked her again, one hard spank following another. She gasped, the sting of the spanking stoking her desire. She wanted him. She needed him.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said, playing her part easily. “I think you’re right. I think I do need a good, hard spanking to teach me my lesson.” But she wanted to be bared even more to him. She wiggled her backside, earning her another sharp spank, wishing that instead of turning her on with a spanking he was stripping her on her bed. Another spank followed another until her bottom was on fire and she whimpered a bit.
He turned her back over on his lap and leaned down, his lips meeting hers. “If I keep going, I’m gonna strip you,” he said in her ear, his voice as warm and sensual as silk. “Then once you’re fully bared to me, there’s no telling what I’ll do. I don’t trust myself, Daisy. So why don’t you put some clothes on now, and let’s go get some dinner.”
“I don’t have anything to wear,” she whispered.
“Why not?” he whispered back.
“I never spent money on clothes. These are mostly from Abby. My favorite top got shrunk in the wash, and now nothing fits right.”
“Ahh,” he said, leaning down and torturing her once again by kissing her neck. “Does Daddy need to take you shopping then, honey? After we eat?”
That would be divine. But how could she accept money from him? Not when she’d been so bad, letting Malcolm take what belonged to Abby and Clay.
“Maybe someday,” she whispered, wiggling on his lap and pushing herself up so she straddled him. She couldn’t help herself. She leaned in and pressed her mouth against his, a heated kiss that made him harden beneath her, and something in her sang, rejoicing in the knowledge that she had that power over him, that he cared about her like that. “Let’s order takeout, Daddy.”
He slapped her ass, making her squeal and squ
irm with need.
“Naughty little girl, trying to tempt her daddy.” His deep, husky voice only stoked her desire.
“Why, yes, Daddy, I am,” she said, unrepentant. And it would be nice if he didn’t take her to the Lazy Kettle, a voice at the back of her head told her.
Her heart lurched. Oh, shit. How was she going to get away from him?
“You know, I don’t feel so good,” she said, though it killed her not to stay right here on his lap. She wanted him to kiss her, to lay her on the bed and make out with her while his large, warm body pressed up against her. And then they’d…
No. No, she couldn’t even go to dinner with him, damnit.
“I… my stomach. Shane, I don’t think I can go at all. Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, and at least that part was completely true. She was sorry. How had she gotten herself into this predicament?
He pulled her in front of him so that she sat staring at him, and held her at arm’s length.
“You don’t feel good?” he said, looking curious and a bit confused. “A minute ago, you were fretting about what to wear, and now you’re sick?”
She nodded sorrowfully, not able to meet his eyes.
Gently, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “What hurts, baby?”
Daisy felt her heart twist, and she wanted to take it all back. She wanted to make it right.
“My stomach,” she said, holding onto her waist, and by now, she was so fraught with nerves over lying to him that she really did feel a little nauseous.
“Alright, then, honey. Let’s get you to bed. I’ll get you something to eat, but I want you resting if you’re sick. Okay?”
She nodded miserably, as he pushed her gently off his lap and led her over to the bed. He turned down the covers and she climbed in, but she was still dressed. “Take ‘em off, honey,” he said. “I won’t touch you. Promise.”
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