Chapter 12
Holden
“ S o what’s really going on?” he asked the moment the exam room door shut behind them. “I know damn well there’s nothing wrong with my billing information. Why did you need to talk to me alone?”
“You always have been too observant for my own good,” Naomi grumbled, shooting him a glare. “Frankie’s cleared for exercise, as I said, but you’re going to need to keep an eye on her. She signed off on me having access to her files from the rehab center she was in before and from what I’ve been reading she tends to use exercise just as much as the more traditional purging when she feels she’s eaten ‘too much’.”
Fuck. “How do I know if she’s overdoing it?”
“Unfortunately, there’s not a straightforward answer to that. For starters, I’d suggest not letting her do more than thirty minutes of cardio a day for a while. Beyond that, just pay attention to her moods, her attitude toward working out. If she seems desperate to go for a run or something, talk to her about it. Odds are, if she’s wanting to work out to offset something she ate, she’ll try to hide that from you. Don’t let her.”
“I won’t.” Getting Frankie to talk when she was determined not to was a battle, but he was a goddamn Marine. He’d never walked away from a fight in his life and he wasn’t about to start when his babygirl’s life was on the line.
“Good. And make sure she makes that therapy appointment, sooner rather than later.”
“Consider it done.”
Naomi opened her mouth, then paused, clearly weighing her words. “I’m going to ask you something and I don’t want you to get all growly alpha male on me about it.”
His amusement at her wording was tinged with a hint of wariness at the fact she’d felt the need to issue a disclaimer in the first place. “I’ll do my best.”
“Have you called Dr. Jen yet?”
“No. I’ve been busy.” It was an excuse, and a lame one at that. And judging by the withering look Naomi sent him, she knew it just as well as he did.
“You need to get yourself into therapy right alongside her. As I said before, this is going to be hard on you, too. You’re going to watch her struggle and you’re going to wonder if you’re doing more harm than good at times. And when she inevitably backslides, even a little, you’re going to take the weight of that on yourself. You shouldn’t, because it won’t be your fault, but I’ve known you long enough to know that you won’t believe that. Not at first. Find yourself someone to talk to, if for no other reason than to help you help her. If not Dr. Jen, then somebody. ”
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been in therapy. A man didn’t spend years in the middle of hell, taking lives and risking his own without needing to talk some shit out. And if Naomi was pushing it, then she genuinely believed it was the right choice. “All right. I’ll make the call.”
Relief washed over Naomi’s face. “Good. The nurse should be done with Frankie now if you want to get your girl and take her home.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
Turning, he strode back down the hall to the exam room, where he found Frankie sitting on the table, scowling down at her arm.
“What’s wrong, little siren?”
“If I wasn’t anemic before, I am now. They took like six gallons of blood!”
Swallowing a laugh, he crossed to the table, gently taking her arm in his hands and lowering his head to press a gentle kiss on top of the band-aid at her elbow. “There. All better.”
When he looked up, he couldn’t quite manage to smother the laugh that bubbled up at the look of pure shock on her face. “Did you… did you just kiss it and make it better?”
“I did.”
“That’s… really sweet. Nobody’s ever done that for me before.”
His heart cracked clean in half at her admission. “Nobody? Even your parents?”
“No.” Her shrug was more nonchalant than it should have been as she slid from the table. “My parents weren’t exactly the touchy-feely type and neither were any of the nannies they hired. They were more concerned with finding people who would help me achieve the excellence they demanded than with any kind of nurturing.”
Monsters. He’d never met the Legares, but as far as he was concerned, they were fucking monsters. Who treated a child so coldly, so callously? Especially their own daughter?
Shoving aside those thoughts, and the fury they brought with them, he slid an arm around her waist as he led her to the front door. “You were a good girl for Dr. Williams, little siren. What would you like as a reward?”
Mischief sparkled in her eyes when she grinned up at him. “I don’t suppose skipping that spanking you promised me is an option.”
Little brat. But goddamn it was good to see her feeling more and more like her old self. “It’s not… but I’ll give you a choice.”
“What kind of choice?”
Outside, he paused, pulling her against him, wrapping one hand around her ponytail to tug her head back. “You can either take the spanking I promised at home, or we can go to Club BDE tonight. The catch is, if you choose door number two, your punishment will remain a secret until we get to the club. So, what’s it going to be, little siren?”
“We can go to the club? Really?”
“Yes, baby. Really. But there will be?—”
“Rules. Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “There’s always rules with you.”
“There are, and one of them happens to be not rolling your eyes at your Daddy.”
Pink slashed across her cheeks. “Sorry, Daddy.”
“Good girl. Now, which is it? Spanking at home or an unknown scene at the club?”
Worry crept into her expression, dulling the excitement. “Can I ask a question, first?”
“Always, baby.”
“Um, is this like… real trouble? If you’re really upset with me, I’d rather just get spanked at home.”
Tugging her head back further, he bent to brush a kiss across her lips. “A fun punishment, and very much a reminder about who is in charge in this relationship. But no, you’re not in real trouble and I’m not upset with you.”
“Okay.” She smiled, first with relief, and then with a sultry sort of knowing that had his cock hardening in his jeans. “The club, then. Definitely the club.”
“Then the club it is. But first, you need food and a nap.”
“Such a Daddy,” she muttered, and because he was still watching her, he clearly saw her rolling her eyes yet again.
“Oh, little siren. You have no idea.”
Frankie
Excitement and nerves were currently doing battle in her stomach as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped one of Holden’s giant fluffy towels around her.
She’d barely spoken to anyone but Lottie since she’d been released from the hospital, and she knew Lottie had given everyone the bare minimum information to keep them from descending on Holden’s house.
Should she tell them the truth? They’d want to know, and she couldn’t really blame them. But telling them also meant ripping open those old wounds, exposing her weaknesses and flaws to people she genuinely cared about and respected.
Keeping the real reason behind her hospitalization a secret would be more work in the long run, though. And, if she was being perfectly honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep it a secret. She loved her club friends and after seeing the support they’d given each other over the past months, she wanted to be able to lean on them.
Legares don’t need anyone to lean on.
And there it was, her father’s voice in her head, lecturing her on the evils of revealing her weaknesses to the people around her.
Before that voice could take hold, she deliberately turned away from the mirror and stomped out of the bathroom into Holden’s bedroom.
Where she stopped short at the sight of her clothes laid out on the bed. Apparently Holden had been keeping himself busy while she’d been in the shower.
Taking a tentative step closer, she ran her fingers over the thigh-high white stockings she’d bought on a whim and only worn once. Those, with the pink flared skirt and sheer white top combined for a look that was innocence and seduction all at the same time. Not at all the usual sex-kitten attire she generally wore to the club.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you speechless before.”
Looking up from the clothes he’d carefully laid out on the bed, she raised a haughty eyebrow, hoping it hid the pounding of her heart. “You went through my things.”
“I did. Figured it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission,” he answered with a cocky little smirk that did nothing to calm the rebellion stirring in her chest.
“Uh-huh. And I suppose you think I’m going to wear this?”
“No.” Pushing away from the doorframe, he slowly crossed the room, capturing her chin in his hand and nudging her head backward. “I know you’re going to wear it.”
“Because you’ll spank me if I don’t?”
“No. Because it would make your Daddy very happy if you wore the clothes he picked out for you. And you enjoy pleasing your Daddy, don’t you Francesca?”
The low rumble of his words seemed to shoot straight to her clit. “Sometimes.”
His smirk widened, just a bit. “Then let this be one of those times. I won’t force you, but it would make me very happy if you wore what I picked out.”
Goddammit. If he’d gotten all bossy and demanding she could have easily fought him on it. She would have lost, sure, but at least then it wouldn’t feel like simply surrendering . But she was helpless against his steady, simple words.
“I’ll try it on, but I reserve the right to change my mind.”
“Fair enough. I’m going to grab a shower. If you’re a good girl and you’re dressed by the time I’m done, I may have a surprise for you.”
“What kind of surprise?”
Chuckling, he leaned down to drop a kiss on the end of her nose. “The kind only good girls get.”
With that, he stepped away and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving her to contemplate the clothing he’d left behind. Sighing, she tossed her towel on the bed, inwardly smirking at that little rebellion and the scolding she’d get for it when he was done, and reached for the socks.
As she dressed, a feeling she hadn’t experienced in months settled over her with every pull of the fabric into place. Calm, the kind that started in her chest and seemed to spread down to her stomach and from there out to every limb. The kind of calm that only seemed to come from choosing to submit herself to her Daddy’s will.
Staring at herself in the full-length mirror, she twisted and turned, examining herself from every angle. She looked… cute, she decided. Cute, but sexy. It wasn’t a bad look, not that she was going to tell Holden that. As much as she enjoyed being his babygirl, she drew the line at letting him dress her on a regular basis.
Cute? Look at that fat hanging over the top of the skirt. You’re disgusting. You can’t wear this out in public.
Panic wrapped insidious tendrils around her chest, squeezing until she couldn’t draw in enough air to fill her lungs. Tears pooled on her lashes as she pinched the skin right above her skirt.
“Fuck me. You look even better than I’d imagined.”
Blinking back the tears, she turned away from her reflection and forced a sly, seductive smile. And those tendrils of panic immediately loosened at the sight of Holden, wrapped in nothing but a too-small towel, his hungry eyes raking down her body. “Like what you see, big guy?”
Holden cocked a brow, a smile curving his lips as he tugged the towel free, letting it fall to the ground. “What do you think?”
“Awww. Is that all for me? You shouldn’t have.”
“Keep it up and I’ll put you on your knees and show you how to properly use that smart mouth of yours, little siren.”
“Promises, promises.”
“Speaking of promises…” Naked, with his impressive erection jutting out in front of him, Holden walked over to the tall, thin dresser beside the door to the bathroom and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a thin scrap of white lace and silk and held it out to her. “Put this on.”
Curious, she accepted the underwear, holding them up to see what was so special about them. They were heavier than they looked, but she wasn’t sure what that could possibly mean. “This is my surprise?”
“Put them on, Francesca.”
Heat infused her entire body at his stern words. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl.”
He stood by, watching as she stepped into the panties and pulled them up into place. There was something hard in the gusset, but she only had a moment to wonder what it could be before the vibrations hit.
“Oh my god!”
Pleasure flooded her, driven by the vibrations right against her clit. Closing her eyes, she stood still, letting the sensations wash over her. Driving her closer and closer to?—
Nothing. Right before she reached that peak, the vibrations stopped. Eyes flying open again, she glared up at him. “Hey! What’s the deal?”
“Orgasms are for good girls.” Grinning, Holden held up the small remote in his hand. “Did you forget you’re being punished tonight, little siren?”
Shit. She actually had forgotten. “But Daddy, that’s mean!”
“Good. Maybe you’ll be on your best behavior tonight if you know Daddy can bring you right to the edge with just the touch of a button.”
“Maybe I’ll just take the panties off, then.”
“Go ahead. But if I catch you without them on, you’ll get a repeat of your last punishment at the club. Only this time I think I’ll use the stocks Braden is so fond of and leave you there for a while, with your red, hot bottom stuffed full of rubber cock and my cum drying on your freshly spanked skin.”
The first and only time she’d been punished at the club, he’d strapped her to a cross, spanked her raw, then fucked her ass with a giant dildo before putting her on her knees and fucking her mouth. And as much as it had sucked at the time, just the memory was nearly enough to send her tumbling over the edge without the help of her magic panties. “Would I get to come, at least?”
“I think you know the answer to that question, little siren.”
Right. Orgasms were for good girls and as she’d learned before, if she was naughty enough to earn a public punishment, she would definitely not be allowed to come. “I’ll leave them on,” she grumbled, pushing her bottom lip out in a pout.
“That’s my good girl. Go do your hair and finish getting ready while I get dressed and then we can head to the club.”
“Yes, Daddy. Um.” Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Do you want me to wear my hair a certain way?”
The joy that lit his smile was more than enough to make up for her discomfort. “That high ponytail thing you do, where you wrap a bit of your hair around the holder and you curl the ends.”
“Okay.”
Sliding an arm around her waist, he pulled her close, dipping his head to capture her lips. “Thank you for asking, little siren. You are a very, very good girl.”
Fueled by his praise, she all but ran to the bathroom to finish getting ready. And grinned at her reflection as she pulled her hair up exactly the way Daddy liked it.