Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
CHASE
I lunged, but she was too far away and fell too quickly.
Her knees and palms hit the table with a thud, and I was left clutching air.
“Ow,” she said in a small voice.
“ Fuck .” Before anyone else could, I put an arm behind her back and the other beneath her thighs to scoop her off the table, clearing the pink-haired tyrant from her own carnage.
She blinked up at me and repeated, “Ow.”
Something tightened in my chest. For the—admittedly short—duration of our acquaintance, this woman had been an unstoppable force. She moved from one thing to the next, never slowing, never faltering. Having her in my arms like this, looking at me with frank gratitude, was satisfying in a way I didn’t want to unpack.
Francis appeared at my shoulder. “Is she OK?”
“She’s fine.” The whirlwind in my arms answered for herself. Noticing her bleeding knee at the same time I did, she clapped her hand over it .
“Take her up to the bar.” Francis indicated to the upper level, which was partially out of sight of the main lounge space, then waved the ma?tre d’ over. “Max, get the first aid things.” To her, he said loudly, “I’m pleased to hear that, Teddy, because after I get your blood out of my tablecloth, I’m going to ban you from Lueur for life, and then I’m going to unban you, just to ban you again. You got that, fun size?”
She giggled. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.” Then she patted me on the head with her free hand and pointed at the bar. “Onward, Daddy Long Legs.”
“Excuse me?”
The outrageous con artist twisted in my arms and shouted over my shoulder to the rest of Greta’s guests, “I said onward, Daddy Long Legs!”
“All right, enough.” I hoisted her higher and walked faster. People were staring at her; at the show she was putting on. All of which was an act. It was act after act with this woman.
“I bet being called Daddy Long Legs scandalizes you,” she said happily as the ma?tre d’ fussed in front of me, clearing items off the bar and procuring medical supplies. “Ooh, blue!” She pointed at a bandage. “I want that one.”
“It doesn’t,” I answered.
The truth was so much worse.
It was obvious this impostor had worked out I was battling an ill-advised attraction to her and was going to use it against me. The best course of action was to tell her I knew she wasn’t Teddy and talk her through her options.
Instead, my thoughts veered down another path.
I imagined leveraging what I knew over her. It was repugnant to blackmail someone, especially if the undertone was sexual—I should be disgusted by that thought, not turned on by it. And I was. Disgusted.
I didn’t want to whisper what I knew in her ear and savor the look of surprise on her face. I would hate to watch her nervously swallow and lick her lips, wondering what I wanted in exchange for my silence. There was no way I would step closer to her, pressing my thickening dick into her soft body, letting her feel her only option. And I definitely didn’t like the idea of her eyes widening in shock as she realized that the next time she called me Daddy, it wouldn’t be with teasing eyes and laughter in her voice.
It would be as she begged me to let her come.
Heterosexual congress often centered the male experience, so I always made a point of ensuring my partner reached satisfaction first.
But not in this fantasy.
In this fantasy I imagined her getting me off first, hard and fast. After that, I would build her fervor, getting her wet and slippery until her legs were shaking and she was begging me to let her come. Which I would, of course I would.
As soon as she told me her real fucking name.
The inappropriateness of my fantasies plagued me, coaxed me, threatening both shame and ecstasy. But that’s all they were. Fantasies. They wouldn’t deter me and I would never act on them. I was a good man.
“Get me the blue Band-Aid, Chase,” she demanded.
This woman.
Carefully, I put ‘Teddy’ down on top of the bar. It wasn’t staffed as Lueur’s employees were all busy clearing the mess she’d made on the main table. Francis had reached his limit and called an end to tonight’s festivities.
Apropos of nothing, my scammer piped up, “Just to be clear, Chase, I didn’t nickname you Daddy Long Legs because you’re a spider.”
“Observant.”
“Or because you’re taller than me.”
“Everyone is taller than you.” I picked up a bandage—blue, as she’d demanded—and peeled it.
“Calling someone Daddy is a sex thing,” she explained.
I couldn’t help it. I snorted.
She kept talking. “It’s stuff like, ‘ Mmm, pull my hair, Daddy ,’ or, ‘ Ooh, spank me if I misbehave, Daddy .’” She used a breathy little voice for her examples, eyes sparkling.
She wanted to shock me.
She thought I was flustered, overwhelmed.
She had no fucking idea.
“Maybe, ‘ Choke me, Daddy ,’ for some people,” she continued thoughtfully. “I don’t like hands around my throat, personally. But I don’t mind something down my throat…” She misattributed the color on my cheeks and grinned. “Oh no, have I embarrassed you? I’m sorry, Chase!” She patted my hand in a gentle, insincere way.
The need to shock her, to turn the tables on her, was so visceral that I could taste it. I wanted to see surprise washing those pretty features, and maybe a whisper of alarm. I wanted her to stop looking at me like I was some kind of… pet.
Saying anything was a bad idea, but if there was one thing this candy-haired tyrant excelled at, besides ruining dinner parties, it was eroding my better judgment.
I took my time applying her bandage and stowing the wrapper in my pocket—because I hated people who littered. Carefully I ran the zipper around the side of the first aid kit, making sure everything was tidied away so that the staff at Lueur didn’t have anything additional to clean at the end of the night.
When I was finished, I leaned down so my mouth was beside the soft skin under her ear and said in a low voice, “If I spanked you every time you misbehaved, the only thing redder than my hand would be your ass.”
Her mouth fell open.
For good measure I added, “Brat.”
She made a small gasping sound, as if she’d forgotten to breathe.
Satisfaction roared in my chest, tangling with hunger and need.
Got her .