Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
D eke drove back home, thinking about how life could change so quickly. The past two weeks had been amazing for Deke. That’s how long Suzi had been living with him.
Finally.
Finally, she was in his home, where he could take care of her. He’d loved every second of it.
The day she’d moved in, he’d showed her to her room. What he’d wanted to do was take her straight to his bed and make her his in every way he could. But he knew he couldn’t do that. She needed time, and he wanted the choice of whether to be his forever to be hers.
He led her up the stairs to the room across the hall from his own. He had no idea what to expect. Would she like the room? If she didn’t, he’d let her decorate it any way she wanted.
She’d walked in behind him, taken one look at the room, and yelled, “Shut up!”
“Suzi, baby, what’s wrong? It’s okay if you want to change it. You can decorate it, get all new furniture. paint it a different color. Whatever you want.”
She’d spun to face him and stomped her foot. “Don’t you dare change a thing. I love everything about it, Daddy. It’s perfect.” And then she’d thrown herself in his arms and burst into tears.
And that was what he’d learned to expect from his Rosebud. The unexpected.
She loved her room, from the lavender purple walls with white woodwork to the floor to ceiling bookshelves surrounding a desk complete with computer hookups to the queen bed built into the wall with the space lined with white wainscotting. But her favorite space, if her reaction was any gauge, was the wall of windows facing the distant mountains with the cushioned bench seat along the windows.
Once she’d calmed down, he carried her to the rocker in the lanai. She sat in her favorite position, straddling his lap, and talked to him about her childhood.
He had to work hard not to hate Suzi’s mother. Even if he took into account the tragedy of a young mother losing her husband when her daughter was a toddler and having to pull together a life for them and support them, it still didn’t excuse her denying Suzi a childhood.
“My mom would never have moved to Darling if it wasn’t for my dad,” Suzi told him between sniffles. “She was like a fish out of water here, and she didn’t have any desire to try to learn about the lifestyle or try to fit in.”
He got that. It wasn’t for everyone. But he didn’t get one thing. “Why did she stay after your dad died? Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled you grew up here, but she would obviously have been happier somewhere else. And if she’d been happier, maybe you’d have been happier.”
“I’ve wondered that, too,” she said. “I don’t think it would have mattered to my mom. Terri wanted recognition. She wanted her name to be at the top of every list. She still does. But I would have been lost. There’s no way she could have left me alone like she did without people like Vivi or Nadia, my sitter. Who knows what would have happened once her career took off if I hadn’t been here so Uncle Harvey could take me? I’m glad she left me here. If not, I’d never have had the Musketiaras.” Her cheeks pinkened, and she added, “Or you. And this way, she can chase her dream, and I can chase mine.”
“You’re a better person than I’ll ever be, Rosebud.” He wasn’t kidding. No way would he let his mother be a part of his life if she’d treated him like Terry Daily treated Suzi. “Are you hungry?”
“No, I’m fine,” she said, her stomach taking that exact moment to growl.
“Do you want to try again, little girl? Tell Daddy exactly what was going on in your mind when I asked you that question.”
The way she squirmed on his lap, there was no way he could keep his cock from responding. He almost laughed when, eyes rounded, she glanced at his crotch and then quickly back up to his face.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean… I shouldn’t have…”
“Babygirl, you’re going to have to get used to that. My cock is going to respond anytime you’re near. All that means is my cock has excellent taste. Just ignore it for now. Now tell me, what is the rule about lying to Daddy?”
“I wasn’t lying, Daddy. I was trying to be nice. I don’t know if you’re hungry, so I didn’t want you to feel like we had to eat just because of me.”
“I appreciate that, little one. But you let me worry about me. I was asking about you. From now on, the only person you need to consider when I ask a question like that is you. Daddy will take it from there. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Daddy. But that’s gonna be hard. I’m not used to thinking only about me.”
“There are a lot of places you have to be big girl Suzi and think of everyone else. But when we are home, and it’s just the two of us, you don’t have to worry about Daddy.”
“But, Daddy, isn’t that selfish.”
He shook his head. She was so precious. She had put everyone else first her whole life. “No, Rosebud. It’s what will make me happy. That’s not selfish at all.”
She smiled and lit up his world. The past two weeks had been the best of his life.
His mornings were no longer spent alone, making a protein smoothie and reading the news on his phone before work. Now, he got to make food for breakfast that made her glow. He got to talk with her about her day.
She was one of the smartest people he knew. That’s what almost always got her into trouble. She always thought of the smart comeback or the clever zinger. It was never mean-spirited but mischievous. His Little girl was learning to tease him, and he loved it. Oh, she was racking up the punishments, but he’d make sure she enjoyed that, too.
He had no doubt there would come a time when she would earn a harsher punishment. But this was a way for her to ease into testing limits and experience being Little. And he was lucky enough to be the one she had chosen to be by her side.
Now that Suzi’s life had settled down everything would hopefully stay calm, at least for a while. He wanted to pamper his Rosebud and start delivering on his promise of helping her get to know her Little.
Deke hit the garage door opener and cursed. He had to do something about all the copies of The Daily Nugget he’d started buying back before Thanksgiving. The problem was, once he started, he couldn’t stop. It had made him feel connected to her, his way of still being supportive.
A nightmare episode of “Hoarders Need Help” was probably the best description of his garage at this moment. At first, he’d thought it was noble, but now it just looked weird.
So far it hadn’t been a problem, but now that they were headed into cooler temperatures and eventually snow, he would need to be able to get his Knight out of the elements.
He’d been successful so far at keeping Suzi out of the garage, but it was only a matter of time before she saw them. He really didn’t want that to happen. He had no idea how she would react. She might think it was funny, or she might be pissed, thinking he was trying to pull something over on her.
Just as he slid past the last towering pile of newsprint, the garage door flew open, and Suzi raced into the garage.
“Daddy, I know you said stay out of the garage, but I wanted to show you…” Suzi’s voice faded as she took all the stacks of newspapers, filling almost every square inch of space.
Eyes wide, she plucked a paper from the closest stack and waved it at him. “Daddy, what is all this?”
Well, fuck.
“Let’s go inside, and I’ll explain. Then you can explain why you came into the garage when I told you not to.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I want to know now.” She picked up a copy of the paper from the pile closest to her and read the date. “This is from last year before Thanksgiving.” She dug in another pile. “This one is old, too. Why is your garage filled with back issues of The Daily Nugget ?”
There was nothing to do but tell her. “It’s not that big of a deal, Rosebud. When I realized how much my interference in what articles you wrote could affect your circulation, I decided it wasn’t fair for you to eat the loss of revenue. So, the night before a new edition of the paper came out, I went around the county and bought up all the papers that were left. It wasn’t a big deal.”
Silence. Absolute silence as Suzi stared at him without moving.
Shit. Why hadn’t he gotten rid of the papers after she fell asleep one night? She’d been living there for two weeks. The fact she hadn’t already found them was a miracle. Now, he’d have to face the music.
“Look, Suzi, I wasn’t trying to trick you or keep something from you—oof!”
Suzi came at him in a dead run, knocking him off his feet. It was a good thing the newspapers were there. They help cushion his fall. Not that he was complaining. Having his girl lying on top of him, squirming to sit up, had all the blood in his body rushing to his cock.
He hadn’t added anything more physical than kissing to their relationship. She needed time to acclimate to living with him and having a Daddy. He didn’t need to rush the physical side of things. But God, the wait was killing him. She was so damn cute, and she’d taken to wearing one of his T-shirts with either a pair of cutoff shorts or yoga pants.
When she pranced around the house in shorts, he had to make sure his shirt wasn’t tucked in so he didn’t embarrass himself. She only came to the middle of his chest, but she was all legs. All toned, shapely, hot as hell legs he imagined being wrapped around his hips as he plowed deep inside her.
And those buttery soft leggings were no better. He wanted to peel them off her and spread her wide so he could drive his tongue deep in her pussy until she came, screaming out her pleasure all over his face.
And now he was lying on his back with her sitting on his rock hard cock, staring down at him. She was killing him.
Placing his hands on her hips, he was about to shift her off him when he saw the tears brimming in her eyes.
“Suzi, baby, I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was trying to help.”
“You did that for me?”
Who else would he have done it for? “Of course, babygirl.”
“But you were upset with me. And I wasn’t talking to you. And the Musketiaras were being mean to you. In spite of all of that, you still did that for me? Why? Why would you do that?”
That she had to ask him that question told him more than anything else they had experienced together what a loveless upbringing Suzi’s mother had inflicted on her. For a moment he fantasized about what havoc Sawyer could rain down on Suzi’s mother with just a few keystrokes of his computer. Having the word international in her job description wouldn’t do her much good if Sawyer got her name added to every no-fly list in the country.
“Babygirl, of course I did. I care about you. I cared about you then. I would never want to make your life harder. My job as your Daddy is to make your life better, not worse.”
“But you weren’t my Daddy then.”
“I was. I didn’t know it yet, but I have been your Daddy since the day we met.”
He would have continued but didn’t get the chance. She pressed her breasts into his chest and ground her pussy into his cock.
Evidence would suggest she wasn’t angry at him for what he did or that he kept it from her. He let her explore for a few minutes, loving her passion and excitement. But then, he rolled her over to the side and took control.
His mouth was on hers, and as soon as her lips parted, he took the kiss deeper. Deeper than he intended. He didn’t need to rush this. It was too important. But he couldn’t help himself. Her lips were soft, and she tasted like innocence and desire spurring his desire higher, almost to the point of losing control.
But he had to have control, so he slid his fingers into her silken hair and fisted them, turning her head to have better access to her sweetness.
A groan vibrated up the back of her throat, and the feel of it almost robbed him of what little control he’d gathered. This woman could own him if she wanted. Hell, maybe she already did.
Even as he told himself to hold back, he slipped his hand from her hair and slid it down the soft skin of her neck. Tracing down the center of her shirt, he ran his hand underneath, and the heat of her almost pushed him over the edge.
He roughened their kiss, becoming strong and demanding. He needed it, even as he told himself to slow down. When she writhed against him, his control snapped. He needed to be inside her, but that wasn’t an option. Not yet.
Instead, he loosened the fastenings of her shorts and slid his finger inside her panties. Just as he knew he would, he found her soaking wet and hot. He parted the folds of her pussy and circled her clit gently with his middle finger. She arched into him and rocked her hips.
Sliding his hand further between her thighs, he slid one finger into her tight channel. Curling to just that perfect spot, he stroked the flames of her arousal higher. Her breaths were coming in gasps as she said, “Please, please. I need…”
“Oh, Rosebud. You have to ask better than that. Please, who? Who am I?”
“Daddy,” she answered immediately. “Please, Daddy.”
“That's such a good girl. Now, what is it you need Daddy to do?”
She whimpered, and he almost came in his pants at the desperation he heard.
“Do you need Daddy to make you come, Rosebud?”
“Yes, please, Daddy. Can you please make me come?”
In answer, he circled her clit with his thumb and rubbed that sensitive place inside her harder.
“Oh…oh, Daddy! Daddy!”
She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand tighter against the front of her pussy. He brushed the top of her clit harder, pushing her over the edge.
“Daddy! Yes, Daddy. Oh, god! Oh!”
Her face was beautiful when she came. He made a note to see that expression every single day. As she came down from her orgasm, he slowed his movements, gentling his touch and drawing out her pleasure.
When she was finished, he slipped his finger out of her heat and brought it to his mouth. She tasted like hunger and honey. Delicious.
Her eyes widened as she watched him suck her juices from his finger.
“Do you want to see how sweet you taste, babygirl?”
Her cheeks flamed at his words. She looked away, but after only a moment’s pause, she nodded. His brave girl.
He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lowered his mouth to her, thrusting his tongue in and letting her taste herself.
He shifted, breathing deep and trying to grab the few tendrils of control he had left. The first time he put his cock inside his Little girl, it was not going to be on the floor of his garage.
Suzi wasn’t helping, using his arm as a pillow and smiling with contentment. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, and she gazed up at him and smiled. Her eyes drifted down to his thick, needy cock. She caught her lip between her teeth, causing his cock to pulse. Worry filled her eyes as she looked at him.
“What about you, Daddy? Don’t you want me to do something to make you feel good, too?”
“You already did, babygirl. You gave me your trust and showed me the most beautiful orgasm I’ve ever seen.”
“But what about you? You didn’t get to have an, well, I’m mean, I don’t want you to feel left out.”
“Rosebud, I couldn’t get any more involved than I was. Believe me. I loved every second. This isn’t something that comes with paybacks and keeping score. I will come plenty of times soon, don’t you worry.”
Her smile was shy and adorable as she nodded. “Okay, Daddy. I can’t wait for soon to be here.”
He smiled back. That was something they could agree on.
Deke had put off telling his Babygirl about his newest assignment as long as possible because he knew it would cause problems. Luckily, it was just a long weekend, so his brothers and the Musketiaras would be able to check in on her and keep her company. He’d thought about having her stay across the street with Gage, and he still might do that at night, but he wanted her to know she could stay at his house if she felt comfortable.
When he sat her down and talked to her about it, she had responded as he’d expected. She still saw herself as a guest in his home. He wanted her to think of it as their home.
“Are you sure you want me to stay here while you’re out of town? I can probably stay with Gabi,” Suzi said.
Deke’s chest froze at the thought, but he didn’t comment.
Suzi’s friend Gabi was a nut. He didn’t know how Rayleigh stayed sane with Gabi as a receptionist. Or how he hadn’t been sued, what with Gabi always handing out free legal advice. First, because she wasn’t a lawyer. And second, because, well, Gabi was a nut. A loveable nut, but the woman was crazy.
“I’m sure, Rosebud. I want you here so I can call and check on you and know you’re safe. I told you, as long as Gage or Reid is here with you, Gabi is welcome to hang out with you here.” Deke paused long enough to glare at the soft leather briefcase she carried. “Did I not tell you to leave that in the car and I would get it in a minute?”
Before she could answer, he reached her side and took in from her. She tried to hold on to it, but he wrestled it from her hand. The damn thing had to weigh twenty pounds. But what concerned him was the panicked look in her eyes.
“Just what do you have in this thing, bricks?”
“Ha, ha. No, I have my laptop, my iPad, my planner, and a folder with all the articles I have to go through for next week’s paper. You can just put it on that table over there if you don’t mind.”
He placed it where she asked, but he hadn’t made it this far in life as a Daddy without knowing a thing or two about Little girls, even ones who weren’t sure they were Little. His Little girl had something in this bag she didn’t want him to see.
“Here, I’ll get you set up,” he said and pulled out her laptop.
“That’s okay,” she said, hurrying in his direction.
Was that panic edging her voice? He hadn’t been a Daddy as long as he had and not learned a few things. His Rosebud was worried he’d see something in her briefcase.
“There’s nothing that important there. I’ll get it out later. Hey!” She made a grab for the folder he pulled out next. Luckily for him, all her efforts accomplished was accidentally spilling the folder’s contents on the table.
He righted all the pages so he could see and made quick work of glancing through them. Whatever he’d expected to find, it wasn’t what lay scattered before him. Scattered across his table lay pages of transcribed conversations between Rickson Everett and Alexander Boucher.
That would be police officer and psychotic stalker Rickson Everett and now missing District Attorney General Alexander Boucher. Evidence would suggest Suzi had been a busy Little girl each day while he was at Sabre.
There was no need to overreact. He took a moment to remind himself she was a journalist, and this is what journalists do. Littles sometimes acted on their impulses by, say, pursuing a story about outlaw motorcycle clubs, psychotic killers, and power-hunger megalomaniacs.
He just needed to sit down and talk things over with her, calmly and rationally, to see what was going on in her head.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Holding up one of the pages, he demanded, “What the hell is this?”
This time, he was going to do it. He was going to blister Suzi's ass. They had talked about whether she would write the article about DA’s involvement with the Lawless Warriors and The Society in everything Breezy had gone through. She’d agreed to wait.
Suzi held up one hand to fend him off and covered her backside with the other. “Now, Deke, I mean, Daddy, let me explain,” she said.
“Oh, I’m waiting with bated breath. So, please explain why you went through the trouble of transcribing and writing an article about something you aren't planning to publish.”
“For now,” she said. “I said I wouldn’t publish it for now. That doesn’t mean I can’t write it so it’s ready to go when the time comes.”
“And when, do you think, that time is going to come?”
“Well, I didn’t put it in this past issue, but I’m not going to sit on it forever.”
She had that right. She wasn’t going to be sitting at all when he was done with her.
He got it. When it came out Hutch’s Little girl, Georgia, had her life upended by The Society, she’d felt the need to alert the public of the danger. He hadn’t been there to caution her against it, and when she’d run the story, he’d handled it wrong. He didn’t want to repeat that mistake.
Then, when Reid’s Little girl, Winnie, had become the second victim of The Society, she must have felt the same pressure to do something. He loved her heart and enthusiasm. But she had no idea who she was dealing with. She’d chosen not to make as big a deal of that, even though he knew how much that decision must have cost her.
He hadn’t been able to talk to her, but she had obviously decided she didn’t have enough concrete proof and if she waited, someone might be able to find the smoking gun. She waited, probably still burdened by what he’d said before. But she couldn’t have been happy.
So now, after everything Breezy had endured, he should have known. When had she ever been able to let something rest? She was worried about betraying the public’s trust.
He was more worried about Suzi becoming victim number four.
“I know you are worried about your friends, and the people of Darling, and the whole damn world, but all I care about is you. What you are investigating is more dangerous than you can imagine. I cannot stand by and watch you get hurt. Let Sabre do what we’re trained to do. We will keep the town safe. If you run that piece, you are going to ruin the case Sabre is building. You have to be patient.”
He knew her heart was in the right place. Suzi didn't just care for people with her words. She put actions to her feelings. So now she felt responsible for what had happened to Breezy because The Daily Nugget hadn’t reported what happened to Winnie. He got it. She wasn’t alone.
He struggled with that, too. Hell, he'd been there, in charge of Georgia’s security, when she was snatched. He was still battling the guilt from that, much less that he hadn't been able to stop those douchebags from taking Breezy.
But that was no excuse for Suzi to reverse her decision to leave Breezy's story alone for now. Especially without telling him. She had given him her word she would wait. He’d had no clue what she was up to until this moment.
Holy. Fuck.
Yeah. His tenuous grip on calmness disappeared. Calmness never met a Little named Suzi Daily. She was never going to sit down again.
“I am being patient. I didn’t publish it, did it? I didn’t break my promise. You can’t be mad at me just for writing it out. There’s no danger if it’s just on my computer.”
Was she kidding him right now? She was already caving to the temptation to get the story ready. How did she think she could resist putting it out there once it was written and ready to go?
“There damn sure is. It is one step closer to being out there for all to see. One moment of weakness and that article could be in the hands of everyone in the county.”
Her lips trembled, and tears glossed her eyes. But he had to stay strong. This was important. But damn, the pain in her eyes gutted him. He could understand her anger but not her pain. He was missing something.
“What’s going through that head of yours, Rosebud?”
“I thought you believed in me,” she said.”
What the hell? “I do believe in you. You are an amazing journalist. But just because you can write something doesn’t mean you should.”
The tears broke free. “I said I wouldn’t publish it. I promised. I thought you didn’t believe I was like my mother.”
And there it was. He had gone a long way to healing the hurt he’d caused when he’d thrown that crap at her, but there were tiny pieces still there.”
She gathered the papers strewn around the table. “I’ll just throw the papers away and delete them from my computer.”
Deke placed a firm hand on hers as she reached for the last page. First and foremost, it was important for his rosebud to know he trusted her and believed in her. But he also needed her to understand.
“Stop, babygirl. Let’s talk this out.” He sat on the couch and pulled her to sit next to him. “You don’t need to throw away the work you’ve done. This isn’t about trust. It’s about human nature. Tell me honestly, if the next time the Society pulls something, it wouldn’t be hard to resist publishing a story that’s already written.”
The light of comprehension dawned in her eyes. “I see what you’re saying. I just feel like I need to be doing something.”
“I understand that, baby. I do. I just worry your need to do something will override your need to stay safe. Your mother is out to help herself. You are only thinking of others. That’s what I worry about, that big heart of yours. I need you to hear this, you are not like your mother in any way, and I’ll repeat it as many times as you need me to until you believe it.”
At the same time, she had to decide if she trusted him or not. Just because he had some concerns about a choice she had made, it didn’t mean he thought she was lying to him or was in any way like her mother. She couldn’t be less like Terri Daily if she tried.
After brushing her bangs out of her eyes, he took her hands in his and kissed each knuckle one at a time. The tension slid from her shoulders a little with each kiss.
“First of all, I would never call you a liar, Rosebud, because I know that’s not true. Saying it would make me a liar, and Daddy’s not a liar either. Do you believe me?”
The smile she gave him trembled, but he’d take it.
“I don’t want you to have a target on your back. When you called me and told me the bad men were in your office, I thought I might not be able to get to you in time. I don’t want anything like that to ever happen again. Can you understand that?”
She studied him for half a second, then smiled, a real smile this time. “I’m not used to someone worrying about me like that. It feels nice. I’m not planning on publishing that article any time soon. And I promise I will talk to you before I do. Is that okay?”
This time, it was Deke who smiled. “That is perfect, Rosebud. I’m very proud of you.”
She crawled onto his lap and stared at him. He wasn’t sure how to read her expression.
Finally, she said, “Daddy, I’m waiting.”
Her lilting tone drew a smile to his face. Her Little was getting closer and closer to the surface. “Oh really? And what are you waiting for, Rosebud?”
“Well, in all the books, this is the place where the Daddy kisses his Little girl and makes up.”
“Oh, sorry. I missed my cue. I’ll take care of that right now.
He’d never read any of those books, but he was now a big fan. He wasn’t about to keep his Little girl waiting.
She squealed with delight when he shifted her on his lap and tipped her back into the crook of his arm. “By all means, babygirl. Let the kissing begin.”