Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sam
Something was up with Dylan.
For the past three days he’d just been off. Distant. He still acted like her Daddy, enforcing her rules and giving her space to be Little after work in the evenings, and then wringing every ounce of pleasure he possibly could from her body before tucking her into bed at night.
But there was a space between them that hadn’t been there before. It wasn’t anything concrete she could really put her finger on, but it was there. She knew it, and what was more, she was convinced he knew it, no matter how many times he smiled and told her everything was fine when she asked.
For once, she was up before him on a Saturday morning, and she watched him as he slept.
His hair had grown out a bit and it flopped over one eye in a way that made him look impossibly young.
She was mostly over feeling weird about it, even if they did sometimes get odd looks when he kissed her in public, but sometimes it just hit her straight in the chest, how very different they were.
Now, combined with that growing distance between them, she found herself wondering if he’d tired of the novelty of their relationship.
No. That wasn’t Dylan. He was her Daddy, and he’d proven over and over again that he was all in. It wasn’t fair for her to keep questioning him when he hadn’t given her any reason to doubt his feelings for her.
Annoyed with herself, she climbed out of bed to use the bathroom and brush her teeth.
But on her way back to the bed, her gaze landed on the leather cuffs he’d surprised her with the night before.
He’d hooked her to her headboard and then tormented her for what had felt like hours before allowing her to come.
At the time, she’d had the fleeting thought that it would be a good interrogation tactic because by the time he’d finally taken pity on her and let her have her release, she’d been ready to do or say anything to end her torment.
Hmmm.
Moving as quietly as she could, she picked up the cuffs, sliding the leather through the buckle to open the first cuff. Her heart felt like it might actually leap out of her chest as she slid the leather around his wrist and locked it in place.
Somehow, he didn’t wake up, so she slid the second cuff between the bars of her headboard like he’d done the night before. She was just about to wrap the second cuff around his wrist when he stirred, shifting and inhaling deeply, but still, miraculously, not waking.
Maybe this was a bad idea. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t be mad about waking up tied to the bed, but he was probably going to spank the daylights out of her anyway.
But wasn’t it worth the spanking if she got the answers she needed?
Yes. Definitely yes.
Drawing on that certainty, she fixed the other cuff around his wrist and climbed back into bed, tugging the sheet down to expose his half-hard length.
God, he was beautiful, which wasn’t something she’d ever expected to say about a man’s cock before.
But Dylan really did have a gorgeous dick, and she loved having it inside her, any way she could get it.
Ducking her head, she swirled her tongue around the tip, focusing on that spot on the underside of his cock he enjoyed so much. The one that made his eyes cross when he was awake. And she was rewarded with a low groan of pleasure as his cock twitched beneath her.
“Such a good girl.” His voice was thick with sleep and amusement. “Good morn—”
There was a clanging sound as the metal chain of the cuffs scraped against the wrought iron of her headboard, and she had to fight the urge to laugh when he yanked at them again.
To her relief, his deep laughter filled the room. “Naughty girl. What are you up to, Samantha Kay?”
“Playing,” she replied without lifting her head, before taking as much of him into her mouth as she could manage.
“God, baby.” His groan shot straight to her clit and if she wasn’t so determined to get answers from him, she would have climbed right on top of him and ridden them both to ecstasy. “Just like that. My good, good girl.”
Using everything she knew about him, about what he liked, she sucked and teased until she felt him tense beneath her—and then she stopped.
“Fuck, Sammie-girl.” His laughter was strained. “You’re killing me, here.”
Sitting up, she wrapped a hand around his rock-hard length, gently stroking him as she met his amused gaze. “We need to talk.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now.” Nerves fluttered in her stomach. “Something’s up with you and I want to know what it is.”
Because she was so completely focused on him, she saw the moment he shut down. The moment he deliberately chose to keep his feelings from her instead of trusting her with whatever was going on.
And she grieved the loss.
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Bullshit.”
The butterflies in her stomach went nuts at the narrowed-eyed look he sent her, but she wasn’t about to back down now.
“All right. Enough. Unlock the cuffs, Samantha Kay, and we’re going to talk about your language.”
“No.” Feigning a boldness she didn’t remotely feel, she jerked her head up. “Not until you tell me what you’ve been hiding from me.”
His expression hardened. “Samantha. Take the cuffs off right now, little girl.”
Uncertainty crept in, shaking her resolve. “Only if you promise to talk to me.”
“This isn’t a negotiation. If you do not take the cuffs off right now, I promise you won’t sit comfortably the rest of the day.”
She almost caved. The pure Daddy in his voice, combined with the quiet anger burning in his eyes had her reaching for the cuffs.
But then it hit her that he wouldn’t be so angry if he didn’t have anything to hide. And that realization sparked her own anger, so hot it burned away any inclination she had to be a good girl.
“You don’t get to do this.” Tears that were both fury and betrayal sparked in her eyes.
“You don’t get to make me fall in love with you and then keep secrets from me, Dylan.
That’s not how this works. And if you’re done with me, if you don’t want me anymore, be a fucking man and tell me to my face. ”
Shock widened his eyes, and she might have laughed at the way his mouth fell open if she hadn’t been so fucking hurt. “How could you possibly think I don’t want you anymore, Sammie-girl?”
“Because there’s obviously something you’re keeping from me and I can’t think of what else it could be!”
The silence that enveloped them was so thick she could barely hear herself think through it. And then he sighed, a deep, from-the-soul kind of sigh and she was hit with the sudden, terrifying thought that her entire life was about to come crashing down around her.
“Unlock the cuffs, baby. I promise I’ll tell you everything.”
He’d never given her a reason to doubt his promises, so she slowly nodded and leaned forward to release him. And then she was in his arms, being held so tight she could barely drag any air into her lungs.
“I had a call with Pacificum Biomedical yesterday. They’re a—no. They’re the biotech research facility in the country. The world, really.”
Excitement rushed through her and she wiggled out of his arms to grin up at him. “Dylan! That’s amazing! Why wouldn’t you just tell me that?”
“Because I’m not going to take the job. I’m hoping I can use their offer to push ATL to hire me.”
“What? Why the hell wouldn’t you go to work for them? This sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“It is. It’s also on the other side of the country.”
And just like that, his huge, exciting, amazing news imploded around them. “You’re turning them down because of me.”
“No.” Pushing himself up in bed, he shook his head. “No, baby. I’m turning them down because this is where I want to be.”
Grief welled in her chest, threatening to smother her. “Dylan… you have to take the job.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.” Gathering every bit of courage she had, she met his gaze—and prepared to break her own heart. “I spent five years attached to a man who resented me for ruining his life. I can’t and won’t do that again.”
“I could never—”
“It’s easy to say that now, when you’re in the thick of all these big emotions. But a year, five years, ten years down the road? Yeah. You’re going to resent me and what we have for holding you back. And I love you too much to watch our relationship die that kind of slow, painful death, Dylan.”
“Sam…”
“We don’t have to make any decisions right now.” Even though in her mind it was already done. “When do you need to give them your answer?”
“By next Friday.”
“Okay. Then promise me you’ll take the rest of the week to think, really think about what’s best for you.”
“I already know what’s best for me.” Cupping her cheek in his hand, he brushed away a tear she hadn’t even known she was shedding. “You are, and will always be what’s best for me, Sammie-girl.”
Maybe it made her a coward, but when he leaned in to kiss her, she didn’t push him away. She surrendered to it, to him, to letting herself be loved in a way nobody else had ever loved her before as he nudged her onto her back.
“My beautiful, perfect babygirl,” he murmured, skimming his lips down the side of her throat, lighting her nerves on fire with a simple touch. “I love you, so fucking much, Samantha. I can’t live without you.”
Shifting over her, he settled between her thighs and she arched up with a gasp as he filled her. “I love you.” Too much to keep you.
They moved together, soft, whispered words and gentle touches driving them both closer and closer to that shimmering peak.
And when they went over together, she clung to him, to the love they shared.
She held it tight against her chest, knowing it was only a matter of time before she had to let it go for good.