by Madison Faye
“Uh-uh.” He shook his head as he dipped the spoon into the soup and then lifted it to her mouth.
“You are not going to feed me!” Helena protested.
In response, his lips flattened, and his dark eyes narrowed as his face took on an expression of stern disapproval. It was something she should probably be intimidated by, so why on Earth did she feel a fluttering between her legs? Sensing that arguing with Jacob would get her nowhere, she let her shoulders slump in defeat.
“Good girl.” He waved the spoon in front of her lips. “Now, open wide for Daddy.”
Helena screwed up her nose. Daddy? That was unexpected. Perhaps he was being playful, although that seemed out of character for a man who made brooding a fine art. She made no comment on it. Instead, she obediently opened her mouth and took the warm, delicious soup he offered her. At first it felt awkward but, as he continued to feed her, it began to feel like the most natural thing in the world. His praise as she dutifully took each mouthful made her smile. It was a long time since anyone had taken care of her like this. Given half a chance, she could get used to it.
“Better?” Jacob asked.
“Much. In fact, I think I’m ready to head home.”
“You will be staying here for the foreseeable future.”
“What?” Helena’s incredulous tone was a response to the note of command in his. “Like hell I will.”
She tried to get out of the bed, but Jacob moved fast, those huge hands of his pinning her shoulders to the bed. Her breath hitched, and her pulse began to race. Having him this close, his masculine scent invading her senses, was exhilarating. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her like she desperately wanted him to.
“My brother asked me to take care of you until your twenty-fifth birthday and that is what I am going to do. You will live here with me, so I can keep a close eye on you.”
Helena wanted to push back against the authoritative tone he’d adopted but decided to try to reason with him instead.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said softly. “I barely know you.”
“But you want to.” He raised his hand to cup her cheek and, to her horror, she found her treacherous body leaning in closer to him. “Don’t you, Helena?”
“No.” Her denial was weak.
“Don’t try to hide it, sweetheart. I caught you taking a sneaky peek.” Jacob moved back and ran an appraising eye over her. No doubt, he missed none of the tell-tale signs of arousal. Her eyes were glazed with desire, her face flushed and the pulse at her throat was beating furiously. “You’re desperate for my cock, aren’t you, little one?”
“I… uhm…” Helena’s cheeks reddened. No man had ever spoken to her like that before. It excited her.
“Don’t worry,” Jacob said, “you’ll get what you need soon enough. For now, though, I want you to be a good girl for Daddy and get some rest.” He leaned forward to place a surprisingly chaste kiss on her forehead. “When you’re better, we’ll go over the new rules I’ve set for you and see to your punishment for putting yourself in danger.”
Mouth flapping open in shock, Helena watched as he got up and walked from the room. Embarrassment that he’d seen how attracted she was to him gave way to disbelief at what he’d just said. That he intended to set rules for her and to punish her was outrageous. Then there was the mind-blowing fact he’d referred to himself as Daddy more than once. What the hell was that all about? Flopping back on the pillow, she closed her eyes. Suddenly, rest seemed like a very good idea. With Jacob Brentwood bursting into her life and trying to take over, she was going to need to conserve her energy.
Chapter Three
Helena shuffled from one foot to the other as she waited for Jacob to finish speaking. It had taken two days to convince him that she was well enough to leave her room and now she wished she hadn’t bothered. While he thought she was fragile, he’d treated her with great tenderness. Sure, there had been plenty of suggestive remarks that let her know he wanted her body, but he’d been so attentive, ensuring she was being properly taken care of. Now, as she stood before him in his study, an overwhelmingly masculine space, his dominance was fully on display once more. She forced herself to pay attention as he reeled off the ridiculous list of rules he expected her to abide by. If he thought she was going to sit, roll over, and bark on demand like a good little pet, he was very much mistaken.
When he finally stopped talking, he gave her an assessing look as though trying to work out if she’d taken everything in.
“Repeat the rules, Helena,” he instructed.
She couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Would it kill him to say please? Seeing his jaw twitch impatiently, she flashed him a saccharin smile and promised herself she would find a way out of his fortress of a home soon.
“No swearing, no alcohol, no skipping meals,” she said quickly. “Get a proper night’s sleep, don’t leave the house without permission and one of your apes trailing after me.” She took a moment to enjoy the scowl on his face as she disparaged his no-doubt highly trained bodyguards. “Don’t receive visitors who haven’t been vetted by your security team, spend two hours a day studying company reports and learning about the people who work for me.”
Although his other rules were pretty galling, the one about studying the business empire her parents had built up bothered her the most. It seemed that Jacob, on some mission from his big brother, was intent on turning her into the perfect little CEO. Nobody had ever asked her what she wanted, but she had no interest in assuming control of her parents’ company. She had other, less grand ambitions. She had no idea how to tell Jacob that without coming across as an ingrate who was happy to take the company’s money but wash her hands of it otherwise.
“And?” Jacob quirked a brow, reminding her that she hadn’t repeated everything he’d told her.
“And I must accept your right to discipline me if I break any of the rules put in place to ensure my wellbeing.”
“Sorry, whose right to discipline you?”
Helena grimaced. He was really going to make her say it. “Daddy’s.”
“Good girl.” Jacob got up from his chair and stalked toward her. “Was that so hard?”
Helena shook her head in direct contradiction to what she was thinking. She made no moral judgements about the type of relationships people enjoyed. If a woman wanted to call a man who nurtured and protected her Daddy, Helena saw nothing wrong with that. In fact, if she was honest, the security that came from such an arrangement appealed to her.
It had, however, been difficult for Helena to refer to Jacob that way because it demonstrated a willingness to cede control to a man who would test her limits in every way possible. She wasn’t sure she was ready to do that. Although his dominance appealed to her, she was an independent woman. How was she supposed to reconcile her innate desire to submit to Jacob with the need to be in charge of her own destiny?
She shivered in anticipation as Jacob brushed past her and took a seat on the sofa.
“Come lie across my lap like a good girl,” he said. “Time for your first spanking.”
Helena gritted her teeth. She’d known this was coming, but she’d pictured him just grabbing her and pulling her down over his knee while she made token protests. He was making her come to him and that changed things. She wasn’t being forced into anything; if she complied, she was actively submitting.
Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked toward him with the sort of brisk efficiency she might employ when marching into an important meeting. Hoisting her skirt up over her waist, she quickly lowered herself over his knee and got into a position where she was reasonably comfortable.
“Well, you’re all business,” Jacob said with obvious amusement.
“Just get on with it,” Helena snapped.
“As you wish.”
Her face flamed as he pulled her panties down, but she was determined not to let her humiliation show. As his hand cracked across her rounded buttocks for the f
irst time, she pursed her lips. Okay, that was not as bad as she’d feared it would be. In fact, it was quite pleasant, sending a little ripple across her bottom that enlivened her senses. As Jacob fell into an easy rhythm, striking one butt cheek and then the other, she felt a delicious burn deep in her flesh that brought with it an unexpected thrill. She shifted her legs and hoped that Jacob would not see that she was soaking wet.
“Such a cute wee arse.” The touch of his fingers across her bottom made Helena tense up as she felt a stirring of desire deep inside. He gave her a gentle pat. “Relax, or this is going to hurt a hell of a lot more.”
Wiggling from side to side, Helena loosened her muscles. As she settled, she felt something hard poking into her abdomen. A smile formed on her face as she realized Jacob was as affected by this every bit as much as she was. Good. There had to be a way to use his obvious arousal to her advantage. As pleasant as the last two days had been, she had a life of her own to lead. All thoughts of manipulating him into letting her leave flew from her mind as his palm connected with her heated flesh, making a much greater impact than before.
“Owwwww!” she shrieked. “That hurt.”
“It was meant to,” Jacob replied with barely disguised amusement. “I can practically hear you plotting, you know.”
Helena hissed out a breath. The man must be psychic because there was no way he could read her so well already. As his palm continued to strike her now flaming backside, the pain intensified. Each smack stung more fiercely than the last and now she was beginning to understand what it was to be punished. He’d lulled her into a false sense of security with those initial taps and then unleashed this torment. Her mind had no idea whether it was experiencing pleasure or pain. Her highly sensitized pussy thrummed with longing to be caressed even as her bottom ached. Squirming on Jacob’s lap, she let out little whimpers of discomfort.
“You feel it now, don’t you, sweetheart?” Jacob asked.
“Yeeeeesss!” Helena wailed as his hand smacked down on her bottom once more.
“Yes, what?”
When Helena didn’t respond, he cupped her right butt cheek, which she imagined must be black and blue by now and squeezed hard. Helena yelped and would have shot right off his knee if he hadn’t put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
“Yes, Jacob.”
He made a tutting sound that carried with it heavy disapproval. He slapped her again, hard across both buttocks. Stinging pain radiated out across her flesh and intensified the arousal building in her treacherous body. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
“What do you call me when you’re being punished?” he asked.
“Daddy,” Helena sobbed. “I call you Daddy.”
Her tears were falling in earnest now and she sniffed mournfully. Jacob made sympathetic noises and rubbed her back, soothing her. As his fingers moved lower, finding their way between her legs, Helena wriggled, impatient for his touch.
“My, my, someone enjoyed their first spanking,” Jacob said as he pulled her up to straddle his lap.
Seizing the initiative, Helena reached down and quickly unfastened his pants, freeing his hugely erect cock. She wrapped her hand around the thick shaft and began to make a careful study of him. She mapped out every inch, tracing the line of every vein, taking her time to get to know him as she slowly trailed her fingers down to the base of his cock. Jacob groaned in pleasure as she cupped his balls gently, weighing them in her hand. She had never explored a man’s body like this and she found it fascinating. There was such incredible strength there but also a weakness in his obvious desire for her.
Looking into Jacob’s dark eyes and seeing the desperate need there, Helena smiled. She could give them what they both wanted. Raising herself up, she moved closer so the head of his cock pressed against her tight channel. It had been too long since she’d felt a man moving inside her and she wanted to savor every moment. As she began to lower herself onto him, feeling the most agonizingly delicious stretch as she opened up to take him, Jacob seized her hips and held her still. Poised on the brink of something wonderful, she whimpered in frustration. She tried to move, to press herself down onto his steely shaft, but his grip was firm and the implacable look on his face told her what she should have known. There was no way he was going to allow her to set the pace.
Expecting him to throw her down on the sofa and drive his cock ruthlessly into her welcoming depths, she was startled when he lifted her and placed her on the floor between his feet. She looked at him in question as he shifted, drawing his pants further down his legs.
“Naughty girls don’t just take what they want,” Jacob scolded, “they take what their daddy gives them.”
Fisting his cock in his hand, he looked at her expectantly and Helena understood immediately what he required of her. She bit back her disgust and shuffled forward. She’d only done this once before, for her ex-boyfriend, Lawrence, and it had not been a pleasant experience. But, if she was going to have any chance of getting off tonight, she knew that she would have to try to please Jacob. She might not be particularly good at this, but surely he would recognize and reward effort. As though it was a challenge she had to conquer, she glared down at the glistening purple head of his cock and breathed in deeply.
“Take it slowly.” Jacob wouldn’t have to be a mind reader to sense that she was unsure what to do. “Lick around the head.”
Helena flicked her tongue out over the bulbous head of his cock. It was soft, fleshy, and moistened with a little pre-cum that had leaked out. There was an almost salty taste to the droplets of liquid, strange but not unpleasant. She wrapped her lips around the head of his cock and sucked lightly. Emboldened by Jacob’s groan of pleasure, she took more of his length into her mouth and ran her tongue along the underside of his cock. Her own body hummed with desire as Jacob began to thrust his hips. Mouth completely full, her cheeks puffed out and she struggled to breathe as his shaft hit the back of her throat.
“Relax,” he urged her. “You can take it.”
Helena took a moment to still her raging thoughts and found that, as her panic receded, she could breathe more easily. She kept her mouth wide as his cock glided back and forward over her tongue. As Jacob’s movements became more frantic, she was gripped by an overwhelming urge to reach between her legs and seek her own release. But, the moment her fingers touched her engorged clitoris, Jacob fisted his hand in her hair and pulled as a warning that she could not chase her own climax.
As his large hand wrapped around the back of her head, holding her in place, his thrusts became more erratic and she knew that he was close. A strangled sound escaped from his throat. Helena was surprised when he suddenly pulled out past her lips, which held their o-shape for a moment. Her eyes widened in shock as he moved with lightning speed to tear open her dress. Before she knew what was happening, she felt something splatter across her chest. It took her a moment to put two and two together. As Jacob slumped back in his seat, obviously spent, Helena raised a hand to where his hot seed had spurted across her breasts. Jacob sat up with a grin and leaned forward to smear his fluids across her skin.
“There you go,” he said pleasantly, “a little reminder.”
“A reminder of what?” Helena snapped, irritated at the way he’d marked her as though demonstrating ownership.
“That your pleasure comes from me and only from me.”
As she reached up to wipe the sticky semen from her skin, he grabbed her wrists in a grip that was firm but not bruising. Their eyes met, and their gaze held for several long seconds. An unspoken command and promise to behave passed between them and he let go of her. With great tenderness, he buttoned up the front of her dress and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“You can go and get some rest now.” The way he looked at her conveyed such tenderness that Helena could hardly believe he was leaving her hanging. She still had that impossible-to-ignore wet heat between her legs, but it seemed there was no reward coming to her. When she was alone, she w
ould do something about it. As though he’d read her thoughts, Jacob added, “And remember, your pleasure comes only from me.”
* * *
Jacob allowed himself a smile as Helena walked briskly from the room. He could tell from the stiffness of her shoulders that she was angry, and he supposed he couldn’t blame her. She’d clearly been desperate for him to get her off, but there was no way he was rewarding the little minx with an orgasm until he was sure she’d learned that patience was a virtue he expected to see from her.
He got up from the sofa and straightened out his clothing. At the memory of Helena’s soft lips wrapped around his cock, he felt a surge of desire. She was perfect for him. There was definitely a hint of wildness behind that restrained exterior. She was strong and independent, but also capable of submitting to him when required. Of course, he understood that for now she was simply playing along with his demands. She was trying to work him out just as surely as he was attempting to discover what made her tick. Eventually, she would accept that he was the one in charge and follow his rules without all the needless internal debate that he could see raging behind her pretty eyes.
Over the past two days, he’d had the chance to get to know her a little and what he’d learned so far surprised him. Far from being the spoiled party girl he’d thought she was at first glance, she was actually a very sober and responsible young woman with an impressive academic record. She had a bright future ahead of her, yet there was something about Helena that spoke of a lost little girl. If anything, she was too serious, taking the problems of the world on her own shoulders. She’d talked about her volunteer work and it seemed to Jacob that she was trying to fill a void, no doubt created by the death of her parents. She needed to put herself first once in a while and take time to relax. If ever a young woman needed a daddy to look after her, it was Helena.
Although he’d started to get a sense of who she was, there were still a couple of things that puzzled him. Every time he tried to engage her in discussion about her assuming control of her parents’ business empire, she shut down completely. It was clear to him that she had no interest in working for Carmichael Cosmetics, but he needed to hear it from her. He wanted to know why she would turn her back on the company her parents had worked so hard to build up. He was sure it wasn’t because she was lazy; her academic achievements proved she wasn’t afraid of putting in long hours.
