The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection

by Frost, E J

  “Mmm, this is a tasty burger,” I tell her, and I know she gets the Pulp Fiction reference by the way she grins. Busted. “Now, what’s a little girl doing watching such a grown-up movie?”

  Emily turns crimson and becomes very involved in her lunch.

  I lean in and whisper into her ear. “Uh-oh. Someone’s in trouble.”

  “You, Daddy,” she whispers back.

  “Nope, not me. This is all you, and you are busted, little girl. What do you think the consequences are for watching movies that are not age-appropriate?”

  Emily swallows. “Belphegor?”

  “No. You’re going to owe Belphegor ten all on his own if he doesn’t like his name. I think a bare-bottomed spanking might help you stick with age-appropriate entertainment in future.”

  “Yes, Daddy,” she whispers, not taking her eyes off her salad, but a smile peeks through her blush.

  Teresa asks Emily a question and I let her return to her conversation while I finish my burger. Michael and I make plans to meet at Pink Pearl’s offices for lunch on the shore day in Cabo. He suggests trying to take the brick back onto the boat in both pill and liquid form. I readily agree. If the screening picks up the pills but not the liquid, that tells me something, too.

  “Do me a favor and put the pills in a prescription pill bottle,” I say to Michael.

  “You think that’s how our unfortunate friend got them back on board?”

  I shrug. “Not sure, but the cleaner remembered seeing several pill bottles, and it would be a brave security officer who challenged a guest bringing his prescription medication back aboard after a shore day.”

  Michael nods sagely. “Agreed. What did Dan think of that?”

  “I haven’t discussed it with him, and I won’t until after Cabo.” I give Michael a hard look. They may be family aboard the boat, but if Michael starts talking out of turn, he could really screw up my investigation.

  “Understood.” He looks unfazed. As a doctor, he should understand confidentiality; I don’t think he’s the leak. “What’s next?”

  “Sunday,” I say. “Day of rest.”

  “Oh.” Michael shrugs a little sheepishly.

  I actually intend to work tomorrow, but it’ll be analysis rather than interviews. Hopefully, Emily won’t mind working on a Sunday, because I’d like her help reviewing the CCTV footage if it has come through. “What about you?”

  “I’m going to help out in the clinic in the morning. We’ll have the usual parade of hangovers and sunburns. But the Sunday Showcase is not to be missed. Some of the staff have amazing talents.”

  “We’ll look forward to that,” I say, marking it on my mental calendar.

  Chapter Six

  Emily

  After we finish lunch, we detour to the bathroom to remove Morris and rub more analgesic into my thighs, which are burning more than my sphincter. I’m happy to have the plug out, but kind of sad, too, which is all kinds of confusing. When I tell Logan that my body’s confused, he just smiles and kisses me on the forehead. He can’t know how I feel about the plug, can he? Is it a Dom mind-reading thing?

  Once I’m tidied up, Logan walks me to the Lido deck to meet Vashi. I’m looking forward to the book-and-girl-talk, but I also wish I was going back to the cabin with Logan. He made me feel so wonderfully little at lunch, ordering for me and setting limits about what movies I’m allowed to watch. If another of my Doms had tried that, I’d have laughed at him behind his back and watched what I wanted when he wasn’t around.

  Logan is different. It’s not just that I want to obey him. It’s not even that we’re spending the next two weeks together, which is more time than I’ve spent with any of my Doms since Lew. When he set the limit, it went up like a concrete barrier in my mind. I won’t watch porn or even R-rated movies anymore. Not without his permission.

  Why not? I’m submissive. Pleasing my Dom fills a deep need in me. I know that, but it’s never gone beyond a long weekend. When my Doms aren’t around, I do what I want.

  This is something else. This is something new. I don’t know what it is but I long for it. Logan said he’d create a safe space in which I can be little anytime. That’s what it feels like he’s doing, and I want it so badly it’s a physical hunger aching in my belly.

  I cling to him when we get to the Lido deck, even though it’s nearly three. He doesn’t try to disentangle himself or reprimand me about being late. He just hugs me and kisses me and teases me about having salmon-breath until I’m starry-eyed and giggling and ready to throw my heart at his feet. How is he doing this to me? I’ve only known him for six days.

  Finally, he kisses my forehead. “Should I let you in on a secret, baby doll?”

  “Yes, please.” I tighten my arms around his neck and wish I never had to let him go.

  “There’s a game waiting for you when you get back to the cabin. A naked game. Go to your cabin first, take off your clothes, and brush your teeth, fish-face, then knock on the door. I can’t wait to play with you, Emmy.”

  I nearly climb him in excitement. “What kind of game?”

  “Wait and see, Miss Impatient. I have to set it up now. Behave yourself.” He gives me a long kiss, followed by a swat on the butt that has me hopping in his arms.

  “I will, Sir. I will.” I’d promise him anything in this moment.

  “Good girl. Where are you going to sit?”

  “In the shade.”

  “That’s right. Are you talking about naughty books with Vashi?”

  My eyes widen. He’s not going to ban me from reading naughty books, is he? That’s practically everything in my e-reader.

  “Yes, Sir,” I admit, my voice gone very small.

  “Then remember your words.”

  I sigh with relief and bury my face in his chest, inhaling his warm scent. “I will, Sir. No bad words.”

  “Have a good time, baby doll.” He gives me another kiss on the forehead, and I take that as my cue. He’s not going to let me hold him here forever, as much as I want to. Besides, he needs to go set up this game.

  A naked game.

  I can’t wait.

  I kiss his chin and unwind myself. As I step away, he grabs me up in his arms and gives me a hard, deep kiss that leaves me breathless and reeling when he finally puts me down.

  I weave my way deliriously out onto the deck. Vashi is already reclining on a lounger, under the huge, white, triangular sail that shades one side of the pool. The smiling, round Indian man I saw her with at dinner is sitting at the bottom of her chaise, rubbing her feet. I flop onto the empty lounger next to her and look back at the doorway. Logan’s still standing there, watching me. He grins when he sees me looking, gives me a two-fingered salute, and turns back through the sliding doors into the restaurant.

  The Indian man holds his hand out to me. “I’m Shaan,” he says when I shake it. “Niall said your scene this morning was hot. If that kissing was any indication, I’m sorry I missed it.”

  Vashi gives a gasp of mock outrage. “Please forgive my partner, Emily. He has no filter.”

  Shaan laughs, a deep, rolling laugh almost as good as Logan’s. “Very true, my lotus, very true. I’ll leave you girls to talk about books. We’ll be back for you at four.” He lifts her feet in his hands and plants a kiss on each big toe, which has Vashi wriggling in embarrassment.

  Is this what five years together looks like? It’s certainly not how Ash and I looked; we hardly touched each other by the end. I haven’t seen many long-term, Dom-sub couples interact. The dungeon parties I’ve been to have been for scenes and hooking-up. I haven’t seen much of this playful tenderness.

  Vashi sighs as she watches Shaan go. “We have had a very good day today,” she tells me with a brilliant smile. “What of you, Emily? Have you enjoyed your first full day on the cruise?”

  I nod. My orgasm counter for the day is already full and it’s only three in the afternoon. “It’s been amazing.”

  “Niall said your scene went very well un
til the end when some idiot tried to touch you.”

  “Uh-huh.” But my daddy protected me. Again. Daddy-daddy-daddy. “We left the scene monitor tearing him a new one. I don’t think he’ll try that again.”

  Vashi rubs her hands up and down her arms, bared by another gorgeous sari, this one blue and gold. She’s wearing gold jewelry to match, including bracelets on each wrist that clink together as she rubs her arms, and one of those cool nose-to-ear chains hung with tiny charms. I don’t have a nose piercing, but I’d get one if I could get away with wearing one of those.

  “I would be most upset if a stranger tried to touch me after a scene,” she says.

  “It didn’t upset me.” Maybe it should have? But I never felt unsafe. Logan was right there. So was Vashi’s Dom. It just annoyed me. “Niall was great. He sat next to me while Logan was getting me dressed. It was like having a big, brick wall suddenly park itself between me and the rest of the room.”

  Vashi laughs.

  “Not that Niall is a big, brick wall,” I blurt, realizing what I’ve said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Vashi laughs even harder, her cheeks tinting pink. “Indeed, he is. A huge, red, brick wall.”

  That gets me laughing. “He reminds me of a Viking.”

  “Yes, yes!” Vashi exclaims, cupping her hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles. “When I first met him, I thought I’d fallen back in time. Shaan took me home to meet his partner, but they had confused the days, and Niall was not expecting me. He was planting trees in the back, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. He came to meet me, covered with dirt, carrying a shovel, and I screamed seeing this dirty Viking-man. I was sure he was going to kill me and bury me in the garden as fertilizer for his trees. I hid behind Shaan and would not come out. They had to tempt me with sandesh that Shaan had made for me before I could face Niall.”

  “But you fell in love with him anyway,” I say, enjoying the glow on Vashi’s face.

  “Yes, but it took much time. Immediately, I fell for Shaan. He is such a good man, with such a big heart. He loves everyone. He would give the last penny in his pocket to a stranger if they were in need. Niall—” She shakes her head. “Niall is not that way. I was afraid he would never feel anything for me. I did not even see his love for Shaan in the beginning. It was a small thing that made me finally see. Masala chai, that is an Indian tea. Niall does not like the smell of it. Cinnamon.” She waves her hand under her nose. “It makes him sneeze. But he made a cup every morning for Shaan. When I went to live with them, I would wake up to hear Niall sneezing, and then I would see the masala chai on the table. That is when I realized that Niall loved Shaan so much he would make this for him every day.”

  I blink back tears. That’s nothing I ever would have expected from the Viking-Dom. “Wow.”

  Vashi smiles mistily. “That is Niall. He does not speak the words. He does the things.”

  I have to wipe my eyes. Some of my Doms have spoken the words, but none of them have done the things. Not since Lew. Not until Logan. He’s already doing the things and we’ve only been together for six days.

  “I’m falling for Logan,” I blurt.

  Damn, where did that come from? I mean, yes, I am falling for Logan. I kind of realized it our first morning in L.A. But why am I telling Vashi? I’ve known her for two seconds.

  “He is a good man to fall for,” Vashi says encouragingly.

  “Is he? I mean, yes, he is, he’s amazing, but I don’t think he’s going to fall for me. He had this perfect sub he was with for years, and I can tell he’s still in love with her.” Even though he stopped wearing her watch, but still. “I think I’m doing the dumb sub thing.”

  “What is the dumb sub thing?” Vashi asks.

  “The dumb sub thing is where the dumb sub falls for the Dom because he’s such an amazing Dom, but the Dom just likes dominating her. He doesn’t actually love her. He’s just being a great Dom.”

  Vashi’s black brows draw together in a line. “Why do you think that is Logan?”

  “Because Logan is a great Dom. He puts five thousand percent into topping me.” I tuck my hair behind my ears, remembering our scene. “You should have seen him setting up the scene. He’s so meticulous. He talked me through everything, and he got so excited about it. It’s really easy to get caught up in his enthusiasm and think it’s about me. But it’s not. He’s just excited about topping.”

  Vashi folds her hands together, the henna on her fingers making complex patterns, and rubs her chin over her knuckles. “Niall is like this also. He plans every scene, all our times together. But there is more for him when he is with Shaan and me. I have seen him top others. It is not the same. It is the masala chai. He does the things for us that we enjoy the most. That is how he shows us he loves us. If you doubt Logan’s feelings, you must look for the masala chai. What does he do just for you? That will tell you how he feels.”

  A lump rises in my throat and I swallow hard. Touching my fingertips to my throat, I feel the metal of my necklace.

  The necklace Logan gave me. A memory chain, he called it. And a collar. I know what it is, even though he said it wasn’t. Even though I told myself it wasn’t. Neither of us were lying; it’s not a collar yet. But it could be. Logan didn’t want to panic me by offering a collar too soon. And if any of my other Doms had tried to collar me—not that they would have—I’d have run a mile.

  Nothing panics me about the thought of wearing Logan’s collar. Nothing at all.

  “He does a million things,” I tell her. A million perfect little things. Ordering for me. Tying my shoelaces. Playing hide-and-seek even when he thought I was insulting him on our first date. Caning me for our first scene on board because I told him I missed being caned. Inventing a naked game. “There’s masala chai all over the place.”

  Vashi grins. “This is good.”

  “This is very good,” I echo back at her and I actually feel reassured. My hateful internal monologue is silent for once; I haven’t succumbed to my insecurities.

  “What’s good?” a bright voice asks from behind me.

  Horrified that I’ve been overheard while I’m in the middle of confessing my feelings, I swivel on my lounger. Rose, from the treadmill, is standing behind me, a cocktail in one hand and the biggest dildo I’ve ever seen in the other. What the heck is she planning to do with that?

  “Uh, hi,” I say.

  “Hi! What are we talking about?”

  “Um—” I feel the blood rush to my cheeks in a tidal wave. She’ll have to pull out my fingernails before I tell her.

  “Tea,” Vashi says.

  I have to stifle a snicker.

  “Great! I’m just rounding up people for Cocksucking Class. You coming?”

  Cocksucking Class? There’s a class on cocksucking? Well, we are on a kinky cruise. But I’m not doing anything that involves a dildo that big.

  “I’m going to have to pass,” I say, reaching for my tote and pulling out my tablet. “Book talk comes first.”

  “Book talk?” Rose sputters.

  “Indeed, yes,” Vashi chimes in. “I have been waiting to tell Emily all about a book she must read. I am most eager. Cocksucking will have to wait.”

  I nearly fall off my lounger. Vashi has such a dry delivery that I missed her humor at first, but now that I’ve caught on, she’s too funny.

  “Okay!” Rose throws up her hands, a move made potentially life-threatening by the size of the dildo. “But you have to come tomorrow. Four o’clock in the Spa.”

  “Sure,” I say, just to get rid of her.

  “I will be there also,” Vashi promises.

  Pacified, Rose bounces away to terrorize others with her oversized sex toy.

  Vashi and I dissolve into giggles as soon as she’s out of earshot.

  “What the—heck?” I remember Logan’s rule in time.

  “Indeed. I did not know this cruise would be so educational. I will return home a most broadened woman.”

  I
gasp with laughter. “You would if you tried to suck that thing.”

  Vashi covers her face with her hands and laughs until she’s crimson.

  Once our giggles die down, I ask, “Are you really going to the class tomorrow?”

  “If you will go, I will go also. But, please, you must help me ask Niall. What am I to say to him? ‘Master, I wish to go to Cocksucking Class’?”

  That sets me off again. “To be a most broadened woman.”

  Vashi giggles helplessly.

  * * *

  We’re still giggling, although we have moved on to books, when Shaan and Niall appear to collect Vashi. Remembering her plea, I stand and curtsey to Niall.

  “Master Niall, can I have permission to see Vashi again tomorrow? There’s a class I’d like to go to, but I’m too nervous to go by myself. I’ll go if Vashi can come with me.”

  Niall’s sharp eyes track from me to his sub. “A class? On the boat?”

  “Yes, sir,” I say.

  “What kind of class?” he asks.

  “Cocksucking Class,” Vashi says softly, with an absolutely straight face.

  Behind Niall, Shaan lifts an eyebrow, then rubs his hand over his mouth like he’s stifling something—a groan or guffaw, I don’t know.

  “Yeh don’t need a class, a ghrá.” His voice, and his brogue, deepen. “Yeh already know enough to bring meh and Shaan to our knees.”

  “Yes, pukka sahib, but I would not want Emily to have to go by herself.”

  Dang, Vashi’s good. She comes off like such a perfect slave, but she clearly has both of her Doms wrapped around her little finger. I’m going to hit her up for Dom-tips. To back her up, I blink up at Niall with what I hope are the world’s biggest puppy eyes.

  He swears too softly for me to make out the word, but it’s definitely not English. If I get him to teach me Gaelic curses, would I be able to sneak them around Logan? That might be worth a try.

  “I’ll speak with Logan about a scene in which yeh demonstrate yer new skills.” He levels a finger at me. “Stop pervertin’ meh slave.”