24. Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ECHO
E cho was on edge as she walked to the clubhouse. Someone was watching her, and it wasn’t Daddy. She couldn’t see him anywhere, and she couldn’t see any of his men.
Who was watching her?
The hairs on her arms stood on end as she felt an eerie sense come over her. Someone was watching her. They had been since she left the clubhouse several days ago. Any time she walked out in the open she could feel someone’s eyes on her.
It could be some Springfield Sinners members who Daddy put on her without her knowledge. But why wouldn’t they show their face? Whenever she worked at the bar they didn’t hide. It was the same when she went to the coffee shop.
But this felt different.
Maybe it was because Daddy wanted them hidden so people didn’t think she was weird? Or maybe there was a threat and Daddy wanted them to be in the shadows to see who it was. But that wouldn’t make sense; Daddy would tell her if she was in danger, right?
Someone bumped into her, her skin started to crawl as they grabbed her arms to steady her .
“Shit. Sorry,” the man apologized. “Sorry!”
As he walked off, she started to itch. She needed to get to the clubhouse fast so she could get rid of her crawling skin. Another person ran into her, and she looked back. Why were people running into her? Couldn’t they see the open sidewalk next to her?
“Could you tell me where the library is?” the man asked, touching her arm.
She bit her lip, trying to contain a whimper. Her entire body was tingling.
“Down the road three blocks, and it will be on your right,” she forced out.
“Thank you so much.”
Echo quickly turned around and speed-walked to the clubhouse. Daddy said he had a room he stayed in, which meant he probably had a shower. She needed to get in there and wash their touch off her.
“Echo,” several people called out as she walked into the clubhouse.
But she didn’t pay any attention to them. She needed to find Xavier or Levi. They would know where his bathroom is.
“Girly?” someone called out. “Are you okay?”
“Echo?”
She whimpered as she started to scratch at her skin.
“Shower,” she whispered. “Shower.”
“Echo?” another MC member said.
She continued to walk to Daddy’s office. He had to be there. He would know what to do.
“Daddy?” she mumbled as she walked into his office, but the room was empty.
Tears filled her eyes as she continued to scratch. She needed hot water and quickly.
“Echo?” Xavier called out. “What’s wrong? ”
“Daddy?” She looked at him, tears running down her face.
“He’s not here, but I can call him.”
She nodded and continued to scratch her arms.
“Shower.”
“Shower?”
“Need shower.”
Something flickered across his face, and he nodded. “Come on, Echo. Your Daddy’s room is right over here. There is a shower in it.”
She followed him to the room, not really paying attention to her surroundings.
“Your Daddy will be here soon. Do you need me to stay?”
Echo didn’t respond as she made her way to the bathroom, turning on the water to the hottest setting. Without thinking, she started to strip her clothes. The only thing on her mind was getting in the hot shower.
“Shit, girly. What’s wrong?” Xavier asked.
She had her bra and underwear on as she hopped in the shower. The people touched her clothes, not her undergarments. And in the back of her mind, she knew Xavier was still in the room. She would never be ready to get naked in front of anyone else.
“Little One?” Xavier called out. “Answer me.”
She hummed and hissed as the hot water cascaded down her. It hurt so badly, but it felt so good. Echo sat in the bathtub, letting the hot water scald her. With every passing minute, the crawling and itching started to stop.
“Where is she?” someone yelled. “Where the fuck is she?”
She knew it was Daddy, though she couldn’t bring herself to call out or get out of the tub. She pulled her legs closer to her and laying her head down on her knees.
“In here!” Xavier shouted.
Quick footsteps became louder with each passing second .
“She’s been in there for a couple minutes, just sitting under the water,” Xavier softly explained.
“Shit,” Daddy mumbled. “Little Bit?”
She didn’t react. Her skin was going numb, all the crawling and itching stopping completely.
“Echo,” Daddy said. “Look at me.”
But she didn’t.
“Echo. Now.”
She lifted her head and looked at Daddy. Worry filled his face. He took everything in before reaching for Echo and hissing.
“Shit.”
Echo watched as he turned off the water and picked her up.
“Oh, Little Bit,” he whispered. “Daddy is here.”
“I’ll get some lotion,” Xavier said. “Do you want Doc?”
“Yes, but tell him to be quiet,” Daddy replied.
He held her close as he stood to his full height.
“Daddy’s got you now,” he whispered. “Daddy is gently going to dry you off and put some lotion on.”
She blinked several times as she watched Daddy sit her on the toilet lid. He carefully started to dry her skin, working from her feet to her head.
“Can you talk to Daddy?” he asked. “Tell Daddy what happened.”
Opening her mouth, she stopped herself as an unknown man walked into the bathroom. She shied away, covering her body up.
Daddy placed the towel around her. “Doc.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice soft.
“Echo was in the shower with scalding water. Can you look her over for me?”
She shook her head. “No touching. Please no touching. I…no touching.”
Daddy ran his hands through her hair. “Shhh, you’re okay. Doc isn’t going to touch you. He is just going to look at your skin.”
“Please, no touching. Can’t do it again.”
Doc raised his hands in the air. “No touching. I just want to look.”
She looked back at Daddy who nodded.
“Promise?” she asked Daddy.
“I promise, Little Bit.”
She stayed still and took a deep breath, waiting for Doc to look at her. Was she going to regret this? Was he going to end up touching her? Would that send her over the edge?
“I’m going to slowly lift the towel so Doc can see your skin. Only for a couple of seconds while he looks at it,” Daddy gently explained and raised the soft towel.
Her whole body went stiff, and Doc came closer. She was anticipating him touching her. She needed to be prepared.
. Her breathing picked up as Doc stayed really close, looking at her skin.
“Slow breaths,” Daddy commanded. “Such a good girl. Another slow breath.”
She looked at the doctor, his eyes roaming over her.She shivered as he assessed her skin, not liking it one bit.
“Eyes on me.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his.
“Good girl,” he purred. “Such a good girl for Daddy. Ah, I didn’t say you could look away. Keep your eyes on me. Now, take a slow breath in. Good girl.”
She shivered and continued to look into his eyes, taking a slow breath when he told her to.
“All done,” Doc declared, taking several steps back.
Daddy pulled the towel around her again and she relaxed a little.
“See, wasn’t so bad. You were very brave.”
She smiled. She was brave for him , wasn’t she?
“What’s the verdict?” Daddy asked, looking over at Doc.
“It doesn’t look too bad. Put some soothing aloe vera lotion on a couple times today. If it gets any worse or starts to blister, call me.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
The kind man walked out of the bathroom and Daddy looked at her. His right hand held her towel gently while his left came up and cupped her cheek.
“Let’s put lotion on and get you into something soft. Then we’re going to have a talk,” Daddy said, his tone leaving no room for arguments.
She nodded and allowed Daddy to pick her up, cradling her to his chest as he walked out of the bathroom.
“I’ve put the lotion on the nightstand. Let me know if you need anything else,” Xavier told Daddy as he left the room.
Daddy gently placed Echo on the bed and slowly took off her bra and underwear. She didn’t protest or make any noise. She just let him take care of her.
“Such a good girl,” he praised. “ My good girl.”
His hands carefully rubbed her skin, distributing the lotion onto her burns. He did this for several minutes, making sure to get every part of her.
“There, all good. We’ll do it in a couple of hours,” Daddy said. “What do you want to wear?”
What did she want to wear ? She knew her skin was going to be agitated. Echo looked at Daddy and down at his shirt. It looked really soft and worn in. Plus, it smelled like him. Would he allow her to wear it?
“Echo?” Daddy asked. “Do you want me to pick something for you?”
She took a deep breath and tugged on his shirt. His eyes flicked down before looking back at her.
“You want my shirt?”
She nodded.
Without hesitation, Daddy pulled the shirt over his head and got her into it. She leaned down, taking a big deep breath with it and relaxing.
Yep, it felt exactly like him, which she loved.
Daddy cracked a smile before he got serious. “All right, Little Bit. We need to talk.”
She shook her head.
“Yes, Echo. It’s important we talk about this. I need to know what happened.”
She didn’t want to talk about it, though.
“Echo, I don’t want to force you, but I need to know. Why did you get into such a hot shower?”
Daddy picked her up and placed her on his lap so she was facing him. She stayed extremely still, knowing if she moved, she would awaken the beast. Echo wasn’t wearing any underwear, and she was sitting right on top of Daddy’s cock.
“Echo.”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“You’re okay,” he gently told her.
Echo took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“I was touched several times when I was walking to the clubhouse after work. I just couldn’t handle it and got overwhelmed. I needed to get their hands off me. I went to your office, but you weren’t there, so I needed a shower,” she explained, not looking up.
She figured the feeling of being watched was from his men following her to keep her safe. Did she like it? Absolutely not, but it was kind of a sweet gesture. He wanted to keep her safe when he wasn’t around to watch over her.
“Shit,” Daddy mumbled. “I wasn’t there for you.”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” she whispered, trying to reassure him.
“No.”
She looked up at Daddy. “No?”
“No. It’s not okay that I wasn’t there for you. I should have been. I should have kept them away from you,” he growled.
Her eyebrows pinched together. He didn't mention anything about his men. Maybe he didn’t want her to know she had people following her. Well, he needed to figure it out because she could feel them staring.
“It’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around him. “It’s in the past. I wasn’t exactly paying attention as I walked.”
Which was unlike her. Normally, Echo was looking at her surroundings, making sure she was safe. What had changed?
Daddy.
He was making her feel safe, guarded, loved.
She sighed and snuggled into his chest. She had said she loved him, and he still hadn’t said it back. Did he not hear her? Did he not feel the same? Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth?
“Echo,” he warned. “You need to pay attention to your surroundings when I’m not with you. Anything could happen.”
She scoffed and pulled away from him. “Sure, anything can happen, but nothing has happened to me in Springfield. I’m safe here. Because of you and the people you have watching me.”
Yeah, she gave up not telling him that she knew he had people watching her. She was safe, and he was making sure of it.
“Echo.”
“What?” she asked. “I feel protected. I can’t see them but, I can feel their eyes on me.”
“Baby.”
“Yes, Daddy?”
“I don’t have anyone watching you.”